![]() The knight accepted, and the next morning it began. So Gawain stayed in the comfort of the castle, and the lord made a wager with Gawain – that tomorrow he would go hunting and whatever he won on it he would present to Gawain, whilst Gawain would remain in comfort in the castle and present to the lord what he had won that day. The land of Britain around the Green Chapel The lord laughed and told him to stay a while, for the Chapel was but two miles away. Gawain tells them of his vow and how he must reach the Green Chapel soon, as New Year was almost upon them. Gawain’s humility and piety were met by the lord’s kindness as a host, and earned him the deep respect and admiration of all there, - including the lord’s wife. Then one day he reached a castle, whose lord was a man with a large red beard and possessing a kindly spirit, received Sir Gawain as an honoured guest. Sir Gawain spent many days wandering the cruel wilderness of Britain, at times fighting Giants and Dragons, in search of the one who would certainly deliver his own death blow. He took up his armour, sword, spear and shield, mounted his horse Gryngolet and rode forth from Camelot. The head then spoke and warned Gawain to find the Green Chapel and remember his vow, before the Knight rode off into the night.Īlmost a year passed and Gawain remembered his vow and, renowned as the most virtuous of all Arthur’s Knights, he prepared to seek the Green Chapel, despite protests from Sir Lancelot and Sir Bedivere. After a moment of exultation from the court, all looked in horror as the headless knight strode across the hall to claim his head. After telling the Knight his name, and swearing to uphold the agreement, Gawain took the great axe and with one swift blow severed the stranger’s head. Young Sir Gawain, the cousin of Arthur, begged the King to allow him to accept. The Knight’s taunts were intolerable to the chivalric knights, shaken awake by the insults to their majesty. Since all keep silence for dread ere they have ever seen a blow!” - THE GREEN KNIGHT TAUNTS ARTHUR Now are the praise and the renown of the Round Table overthrown by one man’s speech, Where are now your pride and your conquests, ![]() The hall was struck dumb by the Knight’s challenge, as he drew himself up and taunted Arthur:Īnd these the knights whose renown hath run through many realms? The Green Knight vowed he would kneel and not flinch and receive the blow, on the sole condition that he may give a stroke in return. The Green Knight then issued his famous challenge: that any man there who dared to call himself brave should come forth and strike off the Knight’s head with his mighty axe. So rose Arthur, as the rest of the hall stood transfixed in fear at the sight of the strange knight. A vast knight clad entirely in Green, the size of several men, astride a mighty green stallion, wielding a great axe, demanded to speak with the noblest among the crowd. Then on New Year’s Day, suddenly a strange visitor entered Camelot. One Christmas when Arthur ruled the Britons, there was magnificent feasting and joy, and ‘the most famous knights in the annals of Christendom’ jousted and sparred and made merry. The poem has a very strong message of its own, which can be seen only through the story as a whole, which I present to you here in its shortest form. An old English poem from the fourteenth century, composed by an unknown soul somewhere in the Midlands, it tells of the perilous quest of Sir Gawain – a Knight of the Round Table in the court of King Arthur – and his trials of faith and honour along the way. There is such a tale which I look at today. It is scarce wonder that chivalry is so highly prized a code today as it ever was in the time of armoured knights thundering down the lists, lances lowered in the joust. ![]() To be strong and pure of heart, to have no fear, to be a servant of God and to be willing to lay down one’s life in defence of those who cannot defend themselves – that is chivalry. Tales of chivalry and knightly ventures were stories that many a boy in a medieval hall dreamed upon. ![]()
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