Free College Essays - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight :: Sir Gawain Green Knight Essays

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight The poet begins his work by reminding us that the history of Britain is both ancient and glorious; Aeneas, whose deeds in the Trojan War are legendary, whose exploits in war are recorded in Virgil's Aeneid, and who is legendary for having founded the city of Rome after the Trojan War, was the ancestor of a man named Felix Brutus who founded Britain ("Britain" comes from "Brutus"). The most noble of the kings that followed Brutus was Arthur; the poet says that he intends to tell one of the wondrous tales of Arthur. One Christmas at Camelot, the king, his queen Guinevere, and the court gather for fifteen days of celebration. The best and noblest of people and activities are there: brave and famous men who compete in military games, beautiful and gracious ladies who play kissing games with the men. There is the most wonderful entertainment-dancing, feasting, singing. On New Year's Day, there is a tremendous feast at which all gather together. Arthur, young and impulsive, has a feast-day tradition, though, which has to be observed before the meal. He would not eat on such an occasion until he observed something marvelous: the telling of an amazing story, the fighting of a glorious battle, or the like. Arthur presides over the feast at the high table with Guinevere and Gawain and other famous knights as music plays and the food is brought in-so many delicacies and elaborate dishes that the poet says it would be impossible to describe them all. In the midst of the preparations for the feast, and as Arthur waits for a marvel to take place so that he can eat, a huge and terrible man bursts into the hall-a giant of a man, his chest and limbs are massive even while his proportions show him to be fit and attractive. The most shocking thing about him is that he was completely green. The poet spends most of the next three stanzas describing the Green Knight in detail; first, we learn of his clothing, trimmed in fur and embroidery, all green and gold. Then we learn that the horse he rides, the saddle, and the stirrups are all green. The man's long hair matches that of the horse, and he has a great, thick beard, also green.