Homework Due Tomorrow - October 8th

Gawain + Green Knight
Originally uploaded by Sporko

Hey kids -

Please read "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" on pages 159-165 in the text book or go to the online text book at my.hrw.com and set the tabs to "Collection 2" and "from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and then click on "Read the Narrative Poem".

Pay close attention to the repetition of the magical number three and think about Sir Gawain's initial sin and his cycle of redemption.

Before you read the story, however, take a moment to read this background information; it leads up to the beginning of your reading assignment:


As Sir Gawain and the Green Knight opens, King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table are feasting. Suddenly an enormous green stranger bursts into the hall. King Arthur greets the Green Knight and asks him to state his business. The Green Knight, after a few scornful words about the manliness of King Arthur’s knights, says he only wishes to play a New Year’s game. He challenges any knight there to agree to “exchange one blow for another”—he will even give that knight his gisarme, his two-bladed ax. The stranger says he will stand for the first blow; the knight must agree to let the Green Knight have his turn in a year and a day. Gawain accepts the challenge—no other knight except Arthur himself has dared to, and Gawain refuses to let the king give up his life.

Gawain hefts his ax and chops off the giant green head. But the Knight never falters. He picks up his green head, repeats his challenge, and gallops off with the head in his arms.
Just before Christmas the next year, Gawain sadly sets off on the long journey to honor his pledge. One day he comes upon a beautiful castle. The lord of the castle invites him to rest a few days and then suggests an odd “game.” The lord says that he will go hunting each day and whatever he wins in the hunt he will give to Gawain. In return, Gawain must give anything he has won that day to the lord.

Each day when the lord goes off hunting, his beautiful young wife tries to seduce Gawain. For two days, Gawain accepts only kisses, and true to his bargain, he gives the lord the kisses when he returns from hunting. But on the morning of the third day, the lady not only kisses Gawain but also makes him accept a magical green girdle, or sash. She says that if he wears the sash, he cannot be killed.
When the lord returns from the hunt, Gawain gives him the kisses but keeps the sash a secret.

Now it’s New Year’s Day. Gawain sets off to find the Green Chapel and the dreaded Green Knight. Snow and sleet have fallen, and howling winds have piled up drifts of snow. Gawain leaves the castle with the green sash wrapped around his armor. He is certain he is headed for his death.