Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

In the fourteenth century, an unknown author wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and now this poem is one thought to be of the finest Arthurian romance that belongs to the Alliterative Revival. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a story about many complicated issues, and mainly it concentrates on the character of Gawain who is one of the best knights in Arthur’s kingdom. The action takes place when Arthur is still young and enjoys big celebrations in Camelot. The passage from lines 60 to 129 describes the New Year’s celebration in Arthur’s court around his famous Round Table.

Celebrations at Christmas and the New Year’s holidays at Arthur’s court last for twelve continuous days. Nobility, knights and other guests gather in Camelot to enjoy music, entertainment and double portions of delicious cuisine: “This fair folk at feast two-fold was served”(line 61). Even though all plates are full, guests wait for the royal leader to arrive. Guests welcome Arthur with music, and they all sing Christmas songs: “When the king and his company were come in together. The chanting in chapel achieved and ended. Clerics and all the court acclaimed the glad season, Cried Noel anew, good news to men”(line 62). Before their meal, all guests gather to exchange gifts: “Then gallants gather gaily, hand-gifts to make, called them out clearly, claimed them by hand”(line 66). During the celebration, people exchange kisses, and the author describes some women who kiss many men: “Ladies laughed aloud, though losers they were” (line 69). Then all the visitors wash their hands before the meal, which may give us important information about social practices at the fourteenth-century English court: “When they had washed them worthily, they went to their seats”(line 72). Arrangement of seats is precisely defined and the most powerful persons sit at the head of the table.

GRAPH

The queen Guenevere, Arthur’s wife, sits at the top

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