Search results
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English alliterative verse. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot combining two types of folk motifs: the beheading game, and the exchange of winnings.
Learn about the medieval romance poem by an anonymous author, featuring Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Find full text, flashcards, overview, themes, characters, quotes, and more.
A Middle English poem about the adventures of Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's court. The poem tells of his encounter with a mysterious green knight who challenges him to a beheading game and a quest for a green girdle.
A medieval tale of chivalry, magic, and temptation, in which Sir Gawain accepts a challenge from a mysterious knight and faces a series of tests at a castle. Learn about the plot, characters, themes, and analysis of this classic poem by Anonymous.
The court of King Arthur is celebrating New Year’s Eve, but at the height of the festivities, a massive green figure bursts in, terrifying them. This Green Knight tells the court that he desires their participation in a game, in which he and one of the knights present will trade axe blows.
Gawayne enquires after the Green Knight of the Green Chapel, but all the inhabitants declare that they have never seen "any man of such hues of green." The knight thence pursues his journey by strange paths, over hill and moor, encountering on his way not only serpents, wolves, bulls, bears, and boars, but wood satyrs and giants.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight incorporates glorious descriptions of an imagined past as a backdrop for the test of Gawain, a nearly impossible challenge to his ability to maintain honor and abide by the chivalric code.
