The Green Knight bows his head, baring his neck for the blow, and Gawain swings the ax and chops off the Knight's head. The head falls to the floor and rolls around the hall, but the Green Knight picks up his head and mounts his horse. He turns the head toward Gawain and tells him to seek him at the Green Chapel next New Year's Day. He rides away, and Gawain and Arthur hang up the ax and finish their feast. In November of the next year , Gawain rides all around Arthur's kingdom searching for the Green Chapel, but no one he asks has ever heard of it or of the Green Knight.
In the story Sir Gawain and The Green Knight the author is Sir Thomas. The story has a religious background and is about a rivalry between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that all started at a festival on New Year’s Eve at King Author’s court. The Green Knight challenges the leader or anyone willing to take the challenge to a “game.” The knight states he will allow whoever takes on the test to strike him with his own axe, on the grounds that the acceptor find him in about a years’ time to receive the same blow back in return. King Arthur is shocked but accepts the challenge. Just as he begins to agree to the terms Sir Gawain jumps up and asks to take on the test himself.
Also, changing seasons and the coming of winter symbolize the passing of life and reminds us that Death is unavoidable. The author also skillfully illustrates human weaknesses in the descriptions of Gawain's temptations. The story tells about adventures of Sir Gawain, who takes the Green Knight's challenge. One year after cutting Green Knight's head off, which did not kill him, Gawain has to travel to find the Green Knight and take his blow in return. He finds a strange castle, and while he awaits there for the final day, his knight's ethical code is put to a test by the host and his wife.
An ell is equivalent to forty-five inches. This is no ordinary axe. He claims that the branch shows he comes in peace but the axe belies his deadly mission. Although his green color may symbolize rebirth and the coming of spring, surely the axe is reminiscent of the executioner and the coming day of judgment. The Green Knight rides directly up to the dais and demands the audience of the "captain of this crowd."
A main event where King Arthur shows his power without showing his braveness is when the Green Knight defeats him. In the New Year’s Ball, King Arthur wants someone to tell him a marvelous story before he starts to feast. (Gawain; line 90) In that moment a huge knight comes in the ball saying he is not harmful and he does not war. “All I ask for in this court is one Christmas game, at this New Year holiday with young people all around”, said the Green Knight to the King. (Gawain; lines 284-285) The game’s rules were that King Arthur should get the Green Knight’s axe to cut him and then a year and one day from the New Year’s Ball, the Green Knight would come back and do the same thing to King Arthur.
Sir Gawain and The Green Knight Summary The story begins in King Arthur's court, where he and the Knights of the Round Table are celebrating New Year's. While they are enjoying their feast, a gigantic Green Knight rides in on a green horse with an immense axe in his hand to offer them a challenge. His offer is: "I shall bide the fist blow, as bare as I sit…….., but in twelve month and one day he shall have of me the same." (Norton Anthology,208) After a moment of consideration, Sir Gawain accepts the terrifying challenge. As he tries to perform the first part of the challenge, he stumbles into an even bigger surprise.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Passage Analysis 1532-1622) Sir Gawain and the Green knight is an Arthurian story about the adventure of Sir Gawain to find the Green knight. King Arthur and his court are gathered for a Christmas celebration. Suddenly, the Green Knight appears and challenges king Arthur's court to a game. He asks one man to hit him with the ax. In return, this man will have to seek the knight out at the Green Chapel within a year and a day to receive three hits from Green Knight.
In one swift movement Gawain beheads the knight, and in one more swift movement the Knight unwaveringly stands up and picks his severed head from the floor. In the spirit of the game, the head begins to croak that in one year he will return the favor to Gawain at the green chapel in the hopes that Arthur’s Champion will be brave enough to face the challenge. Gawain is in good spirits, and a year later he stumbles the home of Lord and Lady Bertilak on his way to fulfill his end of the bargain. Lord Bertilak insists that Gawain stay and enjoy whatever he finds on his hunt, on the condition that Gawain gives him whatever h... ... middle of paper ... ...he helpless Gawain are reminiscent of Adam and Eve succumbing to the serpent and the apple on the promise of receiving knowledge. Upon being found out for their crimes, Adam and Eve as well as Gawain are in shame for deceiving the honors bestowed upon them and must therefore live with the repercussions of being weak willed or unable to comply with the rules they are given.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Lines 928-994) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a tale that was written in the fourteenth century. It is an intriguing tale including romance, magic, action, and betrayal. The story opens with a Christmas celebration in which King Arthur refuses to eat until he hears a knightly tale or receives a challenge. The Green Knight enters the scene, and King Arthur receives his challenge. The challenge is a strike for a strike, and the prize is the Green Knight's axe.
If Sir Gawain chops off the Green Knight's head, one would think that the Green Knight would die. So why does the Green Knight ask to meet Sir Gawain in a year and a day to return the strike? The answer to this question shows the Green Knight's supernatural powers because he knows that he is not going to die because of the strike. The Green Knight appears to have a hidden agenda, which will be revealed at the end of the story. As a reward for the knight who is brave enough to participate in the game, the Green Knight gives him his ax to keep and use for the game.