There are several other stories or medieval romances with Gawain as the central hero. And one of these, The Turk and Gawain, also contains a beheading motif (but not the beheading game motif). In this tale Gawain encounters a castle in the underworld (the place of death) and discovers that giants inhabit the castle. Gawain is challenged to several tests of skill and bravery, and the hero is nearly killed when a Turk (someone from Turkey) saves his life. The Turk asks Gawain, in return, to cut off his (the Turk’s) head. Gawain is, at first, reluctant; but eventually he agrees to do this favor for the Turk. After he beheads the Turk, the Turk magically transforms into a handsome knight; and all the people of his castle are set free from a spell of enchantment. The tale is much shorter than Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and not very sophisticated. But it does show (1) the importance of bravery that is prominent in medieval romances and (2) the medieval fascination for mystical places and magical spells. The tale also bears some similarity to a later fairy tale: “Beauty and the Beast.”
Two other medieval romances also feature Sir Gawain in a prominent role:
The first of these is called The Awyntyrs [Adventures] of Arthur at Tarn Wadling. This romance is also short and unsophisticated. It contains two separate episodes: in the first part, King Arthur, Queen Guenivere, Sir Gawain, and others are out together hunting. Gawain and Guenivere become separated from the rest of the group, and they encounter a hideous ghost. The ghost turns out to be the spirit of Guenivere’s own mother; and the spirit gives a warning, a prophecy, about the future of King Arthur. The second part of the romance occurs some time later. Gawain is in a tournament against another strong and noble knight. The fighting is fierce, and Gawain receives some terrible wounds. Eventually, though, he wins the tournament.
Once again, the short romance basically presents a simple tale about the courage, strength, and perseverance of the hero. And once again, the romance reveals the medieval fascination with the supernatural. However, the two parts of the tale are tied together by a courtly love motif: there is a suggestion that some type of relationship exists between Sir Gawain and Queen Guenivere. The relationship is not adulterous, and the connection between the two is only suggested, not stated directly out right. However, the story hints at the idea that Gawain is a lady’s man (a Casanova or Don Juan type of figure).
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The second tale is called The Wedding of Sir Gawain. This tale is nearly identical to the tale told as “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. However, the central figure is not Sir Gawain. Actually, both Chaucer’s version and The Wedding are based on an older, but even shorter, Irish story.
The tale begins with King Arthur being attacked and captured. The man who captures Arthur promises the King that he will be released if he agrees to solve a riddle. The King agrees to find the solution to the riddle and promises his captor (the man who captured him) that he will return with the answer in one year or give himself up so that the man can take his head (again, the beheading motif).
The riddle that Arthur agrees to solve is this: What is it that women desire most? King Arthur tells his closest and most trusted knight, Sir Gawain, about the promise (or oath) that he had made to his captor. Gawain agrees to help his King, so both Arthur and Gawain travel for many months, going to many different lands, so that they can ask each woman they see what it is that women desire most.
Gawain and Arthur travel separately, and both write down the various answers that they get in large books. Unfortunately, they get so many different answers that they cannot come up with a single solution to the riddle.
The year is almost up, and King Arthur worries that he cannot find the answer. Then he encounters a hideous, loathsome old hag, the ugliest woman that he had ever seen. She promises to tell King Arthur the answer to his riddle if he, in return, will promise Sir Gawain to her in marriage. Sir Gawain agrees to this terrible bargain because he wants to save his king.
The hag tells Arthur the answer is “sovereignty” (meaning power or control over men in marriage), and this is the correct solution. So, King Arthur’s life is saved, but Gawain is then forced to marry the hag.
After Gawain marries the hag, she transforms herself into a beautiful maiden (since she is actually a fairy). She then asks Gawain what would he prefer: for his wife (1) to be beautiful by day and ugly at night or (2) to be ugly by day and beautiful at night. Gawain is perplexed. If he had a beautiful wife, he would want everyone to see her during the day. However, the idea of sleeping with a loathsome hag at night does not appeal to him.
In “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” the choice given to the knight is different: (1) to have a beautiful wife who is unfaithful or (2) to have an ugly wife who is faithful. Neither choice is appealing to the knight. If he had a beautiful wife who was always sleeping with some other man, he would be tormented with jealousy. He would not be able to stand it. But he also could not stand looking at the most hideous woman every day either.
Gawain finally tells her that she can decide which of the two she wants to be. Since Gawain gives her sovereignty in this matter, she tells him that she will be beautiful both day and night for him forever after.
Except for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, this tale is the best of the Gawain stories. The story has a better structure with a unified theme. And, once again, a reader can see the elements of bravery (Arthur agreeing to forfeit his head if he cannot find the answer), oath-making, and the supernatural.
THE ARMING OF THE HERO:
One of the ways in which the story-teller of ancient and medieval times could memorize long narrative stories, like the epic of Beowulf or the numerous tales about King Arthur’s knights, is by including Oral Formulas. Although each tale told in the Oral Tradition would be unique and different, each one would contain lines, long passages, or even entire scenes that would be remarkably similar or even identical to passages or scenes in other tales. Rather than create entirely new passages for each tale, the story-teller would “borrow” or copy an Oral Formula (which could be any length) from one tale and insert that passage in another tale, making only minor changes if necessary.
The “Battle of the Champions” is an example of one such Oral Formula. In many of the great stories about war in ancient literature, there often was a scene where the two greatest heroes, one from each side, would meet and do battle with one another. This would be the “Battle of the Champions,” and the outcome of that battle would usually reflect the outcome of the entire war. In The Iliad the battle between Achilles (the Greek) and Hector (the Trojan) represents the best example of this particular Oral Formula.
Each story-teller would memorize dozens of Oral Formulas, some of which might be only a couple of lines long, others could be 20 or 30 lines long (or longer). The story-teller could then recite the lines or passages directly, changing the names and possibly a few other details to fit whatever story he would be telling on any given day.
Another example of an Oral Formula is the “Arming of the Hero.” Before a great battle or challenge, the hero would carefully and thoughtfully put on his armor. The story-teller would take great care to describe this dressing procedure in fine detail, naming each piece of cloth and plate armor that the hero places upon himself.
The poet in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight devotes one entire stanza in Part II (lines 566-89), a total of 24 lines in length, to the arming of the hero. In addition, the longer part of the following stanza (lines 597-618), another 22 lines in length, concerns the armor and appearance of Gringolet, Sir Gawain’s horse (8 of the 22 lines), and Gawain’s own helmet and headgear (the remaining 14 lines). The description of the armor even extends to a third stanza, where the poet discusses Gawain’s shield and its symbolism.
The scene is important for several reasons: (1) it is a fine example of how an Oral Formula can be used creatively in a newer work of fiction; (2) it reflects the courtly ideal regarding manners and procedures; and (3) it reflects or symbolizes, perhaps,
Sir Gawain’s pride.
The imagery of the scene is worth noting.
Gawain has a coat made of silk (line 571), a cloak or coat lined with fur (573), leg-fasteners made of gold (577), the best cloth covering his body (581), and gold, silk, diamonds, and gems covering his visor and helmet (608-10, 617). He is decorated more like an ornament or model than a warrior. The reader might try to imagine Sir Gawain flashing and shining as if he were a rich jewel himself. (In fact, some literary historians even connect the character of Sir Gawain to Gwalchmei, the sun-god of Welsh mythology.) Gawain surely has a good reason to feel proud about his appearance, but maybe he should not be too proud.
The poet even tells us that Gawain wears “sharp spurs to prick with pride” (587), that is, to get his horse moving. The still-life image of the decorated Gawain now comes to life as we might imagine Gawain atop his horse as the horse prances and struts proudly away from Camelot.
The image (and the idea of pride) is in sharp contrast to the purpose of Gawain’s trip. Gawain is, after all, not off to seek bold adventures. Instead, he is going off to seek his own death that will be given to him by the mysterious Knight of the Green Chapel. And the reason that Gawain has to submit to this death-blow is due to his own foolish pride (and that of King Arthur’s). Gawain cannot, or should not, be so proud.
Thus, the poet in this scene brings to the readers’ attention his central theme: too much pride is a dangerous and foolish thing.