Introduction

In medieval Europe, honor was a social concept woven into the hierarchies and moral codes that dictated how people lived their lives. The chivalric codes of medieval knighthood emphasized it to elevate knights’ moral expectations and status, combining Christian ideology with the need for obedience to powerful monarchies. As a well-established medieval text, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight takes this concept of “honor” and creates two opposing knights who embody it in completely different ways. The poem prompts the question: does a knight have to follow a chivalric code to be honorable? The complex relationship between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has long been examined through a variety of critical lenses—gender and queer theory, ecocriticism, new historicism, psychoanalysis, and others. Stephen Manning, for instance, in “A Psychological Interpretation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” argues that Gawain represents the “ego” and Bercilak/the Green Knight the “shadow.” Many have also argued that the Green Knight merely manifests Gawain’s flaws. But this paper looks closely at how the poem’s visual imagery sets up Gawain and the Green Knight as opposing forces that are both interconnected and equal in honor.

I argue that in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Gawain poet shows that embracing either chivalry or human nature as a way of life is equally honorable. He does so by associating green with the Green Knight and the theme of human nature, red with Sir Gawain and the theme of chivalry, and gold with both characters as a symbol of honor. The text then uses these color and thematic associations to show how, by the end of the poem, the two knights embrace each other’s nature and stand on equal moral footing, just like the forces they come to represent. I’ll first look at the association between the Green Knight, green, and nature, then the association between Gawain, red, and chivalry, and finally gold’s association with honor and its role as a mediator. I’ll close by looking at how the poem reverses the thematic positions of red and green while centralizing gold, and therefore honor, in both.

Green, the Green Knight, and Human Nature

Beginning with green: how does the poem establish this thematic connection between green, the Green Knight, and human nature? The poem starts with the infamous scene of the Green Knight barging into King Arthur’s court uninvited during New Year’s holiday celebrations. Here, the Gawain poet employs vivid visual imagery to establish this connection between the Green Knight’s unruly nature and the color green. As he rides into the hall, all of the knight’s clothing, down to his tunic, cloak, and leggings, is completely green. Even his horse is described as “[a] steed of pure green stock” (SGGK 175). And in an unconventional fashion, he is also wearing no armor, no shoes, and bears no weapon but his axe, which is also green. It’s described as being “forged in green steel with a gilt finish” (SGGK 211) and decorated “with green pigment picking out impressive designs” (SGGK 216). The knight also “held in one hand a sprig of holly— / of all the evergreens the greenest ever” (SGGK 206–207). These rich visual descriptions of the knight’s appearance, and the repeated image of green, create the association between him and the theme of human nature and its wildness.

But in his lengthy description, the Green Knight is also described as barefoot—perhaps a strange wardrobe choice in the middle of winter, particularly when the rest of his body is fully dressed. I argue that his barefootedness symbolizes how he is rooted to the earth like a plant or a tree, and further contributes to how he represents this idea of human nature. Even his legs are described as “those tree-trunk legs” (SGGK 431), as if he were the green leaves extending from a tree branch. Gillian Rudd, in examining nature in the poem, says, “It thus works well to read the Green Knight as the embodiment of the natural world, whose bursting in to Camelot’s Christmas festival easily lends itself to being interpreted as the powers of nature interrupting the rituals of culture—a reading which again fixes that Knight as a personification of all aspects of the non-human world” (Rudd 52). Bercilak represents a primal human instinct that ignores human-invented social constructs and established ways of life. Later in the poem, when Sir Gawain seeks out the Green Knight a year after his initial challenge, the knight’s head has fully grown back since Gawain chopped it off. The Green Knight is essentially able to regrow his own body, tying him further into the themes of growth and rebirth associated with nature. Even in the poem’s description of the changing seasons, nature seems to wear the Green Knight’s cloak as he wears its colors, described as the “woods and grounds wear a wardrobe of green” (SGGK 508).

Red, Sir Gawain, and Chivalry

In direct contrast to the green of unruly nature that Bercilak represents, Sir Gawain’s armor is outfitted with a chivalrous ruby red. I’ll now look at the thematic association between Gawain, red, and chivalry. “Nails of red gold were arrayed all around, / shining splendidly like splintered sunlight” (SGGK 603–604), the poet describes his armor. His shield is also colored “shining scarlet” (SGGK 619). “So the star on the spangling shield he sported / shone royally, in gold, on a ruby-red background” (SGGK 662–663) describes how the pentangle on his red shield is gold. Red is historically associated with both royalty and Christianity through the blood of Christ, and it is similarly associated with Sir Gawain as green is with the Green Knight: through his armor. Through Sir Gawain, the poem creates an association between red and chivalric knighthood. Red becomes associated with royalty as well—in particular, a sense of obedience and loyalty to the crown.

Sir Gawain’s chivalric nature appears in numerous ways throughout the poem and has been widely discussed. Markman writes of Gawain in his paper “The Meaning of Sir Gawain”: “If we consider the most favorable report of the character of knight-hood from, say, Guillaume le Marechal to Edward, the Black Prince, we shall find that in the aspect of Gawain presented in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight there is reflected the ideal of chevalerie which the feudal age tried to maintain” (576). As a loyal knight and nephew to King Arthur, Gawain is well respected both within the court and within the kingdom. His introduction in the poem is as the “Good Sir Gawain” (SGGK 109), and when he leaves to fulfill his quest a year later, “[a]ll sighed at the sight” (SGGK 672) and whispered to each other, “[a] pity, by Christ, / if a lord so noble should lose his life” (SGGK 674–675). He demonstrates his loyalty and respect to King Arthur when he takes up the Green Knight’s challenge in his place, volunteering himself humbly and courageously: “Were I not your nephew my life would mean nothing; … / Such a foolish affair is unfitting for a king, / so, being first to come forward, it should fall to me” (SGGK 356, 358–359). Gawain takes on the initial challenge of the Green Knight in King Arthur’s stead, and has the determination to follow through, ultimately seeking out (what he believes is) his own death, as per the agreement. He does so in a way that represents the courage of a royal knight, not shying away from his fate but insisting upon it: “Yet keeping calm the knight / just quipped, ‘Why should I shy / away. If fate is kind / or cruel, man still must try’” (SGGK 561–565). Even when his servant, on reaching the green chapel, tells Gawain to run away from his agreement and swears not to tell anyone, he still completes his task—not out of seeking fame or glory, but out of fulfilling his duty. Gawain also shows chivalrous restraint when the lady tries to tempt him in his bedroom, refusing her respectfully as she makes advances toward him: “That lovely looking maid, / she charmed him and she chased. / But every move she made / he countered, case by case” (SGGK 1259–1262).

The Reversal of Red and Green

Once the text has established these thematic, color, and character associations, it argues that both ways of knighthood (chivalric code vs. human nature) are equally honorable in two main ways: the reversal of red and green toward the end of the poem, and the use of gold as a symbol of honor.

The colors evolve throughout the poem in parallel with their respective characters and the themes they represent. Green is at first associated with a rude and abrupt interruption, violence during a sacred time, and the solemnness of Sir Gawain as he reflects on his accepted fate. Over the course of the poem, however, green comes to represent the value of growing from one’s mistakes and failures when Sir Gawain decides to wear the green girdle as a sign of his sin forevermore. He says, “I will drape across my chest till the day I die” (SGGK 2510). Sir Gawain even inspires the other knights to wear green sashes over their armor to represent the honor of accepting one’s mistakes: “So that slanting green stripe was adopted as their sign, / and each knight who held it was honored ever after” (SGGK 2519–2520). This is the final usage of green in the poem, transformed from a disruptive, fantastical, and unruly force into a symbol of honor.

However, the last mention of red in the poem is the blood drawn from Sir Gawain’s neck as the Green Knight cuts it: “Finely snicking the fat of the flesh / so that bright red blood shot from body to earth” (SGGK 2313–2314). Prior to this, red was associated with how loyal and honorable Sir Gawain is in his royal knighthood and courage; now it comes to be pictured with horrible scenes of violence that seem almost unneeded. Given that Bercilak is initially framed as using violence unnecessarily through his beheading challenge, and Gawain is positioned as the chivalric knight restrained by his code of laws and loyalty to the king, having red become synonymous with unruly violence by the end of the poem marks a significant change. By the poem’s close, the forces of nature and chivalry carry entirely different emotional connotations than they did when first introduced. Where green evolves from a violent connotation to one of respect and honor, red does the same in the opposite sequence.

Although red and green clash throughout the entire poem, just as the two knights do, a closer reading reveals the rare instances where they interact in a harmonious way, reflecting onto each other. When the Green Knight first bursts through the doors of King Arthur’s kingdom bearing his challenge, he holds in one hand a sprig of holly, which contains relatively equal amounts of red and green and is symbolic of the Christmas holiday. And hidden within the long description of the Green Knight’s every shade of green is the one part of his appearance which is actually red. His eyes are red as he looks around the room: “looking left and right, his red eyes rolling / beneath the bristles of his bushy green brows” (SGGK 304–305). Perhaps the two forces are not so separate from each other as the two knights at first seem.

Gold as a Symbol of Honor and Honor Beyond Chivalry

Gold is established as a symbol of honor and it is embedded on both the Green Knight and Gawain. Embroidered onto the red and green colors of these two knights, gold is woven throughout the clashing forces of green and red in this poem, as is honor in what both colors come to represent. For the Green Knight, the poet uses “green beads emblazoned on a background of gold” (SGGK 167) and “his sparkling spurs / were green-gold” (SGGK 158–159) to describe his clothing. Even the green shades of his horse are strewn with gold: “The mane of his mount was groomed to match, combed and knotted into curlicues / then tinseled with gold, tied and twisted / green over gold, green over gold” (SGGK 187–190). Gold bells are also attached: “And a long, tied thong lacing it tight / where bright and burnished gold bells chimed clearly” (SGGK 194–195). On Sir Gawain’s armor, there are “gold spurs which gleam with pride” (SGGK 587) and “every link looking golden to the last loop” (SGGK 591). Most notably, Sir Gawain brandishes a red shield with a large golden pentangle painted onto it: “For Gawain was as good as the purest gold— / devoid of vices but virtuous, loyal / and kind” (SGGK 633–635). Ultimately, both the Green Knight and Sir Gawain come to represent the forces of nature and chivalry through their associations with green and red, but both of them also represent gold, which symbolizes honor.

With gold acting as a balance prevalent in the forces of nature and chivalry, the poem argues that honor and nobility are present in both forces, not just one. When the lady offers Sir Gawain “a ring of rich, red gold” (SGGK 1817) and he refuses it, she accuses him of thinking it too proper a gift: “You refuse my ring because you find it too fine” (SGGK 1827). So she offers him her girdle, made of green silk and trimmed with gold. He rejects the chivalrous gift, a golden ring, and instead takes the more unruly gift of the girdle, tempted by her promise that it will protect him from death: “From around her body she unbuckled the belt / which fastened the frock beneath her fair mantle, / a green silk girdle trimmed with gold” (SGGK 1830–1833). Notably, a girdle was used in medieval times to keep one’s underwear in place when there was no elastic, so it is an inherently intimate object to gift someone. Both of these gifts, like the two knights’ sets of armor, are red and green but are both embroidered and decorated with gold. Sir Gawain, a character who by this point in the poem has been established as a figure of chivalric knighthood, rejects the inherently chivalrous gift and accepts the one associated with unruly human nature. While this choice can be read as a simple moment of weakness for Gawain in breaking his moral code, I think this crucial moment shows how honor transcends chivalry and nature as opposing forces. He breaks his moral codes of honor both by accepting such a gift and by not returning it to the lord, but still maintains the virtue of his honor by embracing the nobility present in both wildness and chivalry. Gawain can fulfill his character’s development only by interacting with not just the honor present in chivalry but also the honor present in human nature. It’s not a flaw or an imperfection—it’s a needed acknowledgement of what honor truly is in this poem.

Conclusion

The two colors are used in parallel with the characters of this poem to illustrate that honor is present in both the wildness of nature and the chivalry of royalty, despite their vast differences. In the end, the Green Knight and Sir Gawain develop a strong level of respect for one another, just like the themes they represent. The Green Knight “studies how Gawain is standing in his ground, / bold in his bearing, brave in his actions, / armed and ready. In his heart he admires him” (SGGK 2333–2335). To the Green Knight in their parting, Gawain says, “The Lord bless your life / and bestow on you such honor as you surely deserve” (SGGK 2409–2410). Although the Green Knight and Sir Gawain may not abide by the same moral codes, nor pledge loyalty to the same power, they find that honor is present in the other, for it is beyond one form.

Works Cited

Gawain Poet. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Translated by Simon Armitage, W. W. Norton, 2008.

Manning, Stephen. “A Psychological Interpretation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” Criticism, vol. 6, no. 2, 1964, pp. 165–77. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23094207.

Markman, Alan M. “The Meaning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” PMLA, vol. 72, no. 4, 1957, pp. 574–86. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/460169.

Rudd, Gillian. “‘The Wilderness of Wirral’ in ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.’” Arthuriana, vol. 23, no. 1, 2013, pp. 52–65. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43486009.