Commentary: Fitt IV

Commentary: Fitt IV

The extract from Fitt IV describes the first intended blow of the

Green Knight against Gawain. Many lines at the beginning of the

extract are dedicated to creating the image of the Green Knight

picking up his weapon and preparing himself to deal the deadly blow to

Gawain. Much of the focus is on the Green Knight’s physical strength,

for example ‘With alle the bur in his body’ and ‘Hade hit dryven adoun

as drey as he atled, / Ther hade bend ded of his dynt that doghty was

ever’. Moreover, the description of the weapon also provides a

formidable presence for Gawain, ‘Gederes up hys [the Green Knigh’s]

grymme tole, Gawayn to smyte’.

However, instead of landing the fatal blow on Gawain’s neck, as

discussed in the contract of the game, Gawain flinches away from the

axe. The Green Knight is outraged and tells Gawain ‘Such cowardise of

that knight cowthe I never here’ as Gawain recoiled in fear before

encountering any pain. The Green Knight sees Gawain moving away from

the blow of the axe as compromising his reputation as a knight at the

court of Camelot. Throughout the first three fitts of the story Gawain

can be seen as the epitome of chivalry, a virtue essential to an

Arthurian knight. His behaviour when first accepting the challenge of

the Green Knight demonstrates the chivalric asset of selfless loyalty

towards his King, but also shows his humble attitude by the language

he uses ‘And lest lur of my lyf, quo laytes the sothe / Bot for as

much as ye ar myn em, I am only prayse; / No bounte bot your blod I

in my bode knowe’. These chivalric qualities are further stressed by

the Gawain-poet when describing Gawain’s armouring scene. Gawain’s

shield, featuring the pentangle, is an iconic i...

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seems more virtuous than himself at that moment.

The extract from Fitt IV is an essential moment of the story of ‘Sir

Gawain and the Green Knight’. It encompasses part of the climax of the

story, depicting that which Gawain has been working up to all year.

The section also acts as a moment of tension within the final

beheading scene as it is expected that Gawain will endure the blow and

lose his head. However, the act of Gawain flinching away from the axe

works as an anticlimax, a pattern which is repeated for the next two

attempts of beheading. It is also surprising from the readers’

perspective that Gawain should recoil from the blow as up until this

point he has been characterised as knightly, loyal and truthful. This

moment in the story is an interesting change in pace and foresees the

sudden twist in the plot at the end of the beheading scene.