Green Knight

The Lovely Appearance of Sir Gawain

"All colored green were the creature and his clothes. He spotted a very tight straight-coat that stuck to his sides. With a lovely mantle on top and a lining within. Whose fur clearly was trimmed with a facing that was fair...I swear, a gorgeous green: Both of the bosses on his belt and the brilliant, shiny stones that were elaborately arranged on the noble array of his saddle and on his own clothes spun from silk....With the gay, gaudy green and the gold interwoven on the hanging of his breast-band...The stirrups that he stood on, stained the same color..."


I find this passage to be an interesting description of Gawain sue to how much the story gasses him up.  I didn't think he actually was green or even had a ton of green accessories on him. This is also an incredibly long winded explanation in an attempt to explain how stoic and epic he is despite this being a ridiculous concept overall. In fact, this goes on for about two pages until we get back to the story again. I love this.

This was the image I had in my head the whole time

The Actual Reaction to a Missing Head

“He brings it down brusquely upon the bare-skinned neck,... It shears the shaft of the neck, splitting it in two,” (Wilhelm 423-5).  After Gawain had dramatically sliced off the Great Green Giant’s head off, the court was astonished and disgusted. Not only were they so surprised that he had committed such an act of violence in front of the fair maidens of the land, but for how the head continued to roll throughout the feasting hall with no one to stop it. 

Breaking the silence, King Arthur turned to the court and said, “I am sorry for this cruel act of violence that you have seen before your meal, but now it is time for us to eat our lovely feast.” 

Queen Guinevere looked at her husband like bats had flown out of his ears, which wouldn’t have been the craziest thing she had ever seen, “My Lord, I’m sure you want someone to clean up this mess, so that we don’t have to look at it while we feast tonight.”

“You are right,” Arthur replied. “We should not just leave the head of the Green Knight on the floor, but rather he should become one of the trophies adorning our halls.” 

That night while the King and knights happily ate their feast with no regard to the man that was just killed in front of them; the ladies of the court were rather squeamish and barely touched their food.

Can I Interest You In Some Soccer

"The fair head flips from its foundation to the floor, And the crowd begins to kick it as it caroms their way. " (Wilhelm, 422)

I chose this quote because they make it seem that kicking the head is a normal thing to do when someone’s head falls off. It seems like this is viewed as an event that you and your wife would attend on a Friday or Saturday night. It is also making it seem that it’s an accomplishment to get to kick the head while in the crowd.

'Tis but a scratch

The Headless Knight

When the Green Knight's head gets cut off and the rest of the court is freaking out but the Green Knight's now detached head remains calm.

Gawain A Real One

“For I find it unthinkable, if the truth may be told

That when such a weird request is raised in your halls

You alone should have the yearning to undertake it yourself,

While so many bold warriors are warming these benches,

Who, I know, stand second to none in fighting spirit…

I’m the weakest of all, I’m aware- the feeblest in wit.

The loss of my life would surely be the least important.

My only claim to fame is that I call you my closest kin.

My body has no blessing except what comes from your blood;

And since this is all a foolish fuss, it shouldn’t fall upon you” (lines 348-358, pg. 410).

In this passage, Sir Gawain truly reflects self-deprecation and loyalty. Self-deprecation, according to dictionary.com, is defined as belittling or undervaluing oneself while being excessively modest. He claims that he is the “weakest” of all and most “feeble” in wit, while saying his life is next to worthless and he is nothing without King Arthur. It is kind of sad that Gawain views himself to be this way, though his excessive modesty is respectable and admirable. But this is a clear-cut example of the undying loyalty and respect that King Arthur’s knights are supposed to have for him. Despite thinking that he is the weakest link of all the knights, he is willing to take up arms with the giant Green Knight just so that his leader will not have to. Even if Sir Gawain does not see himself as a worthy knight, the fact that he is willing and able to stand up to this beast shows that he has just as much strength and will power as all of the other knights that he stands with. Gawain recognizes his role as a knight and his duty is to serve his king regardless of the way he may view himself.

Prose Merlin

At the beginning of the passage of Merlins birth it is said that Merlin has the body given to him from the devil and the mind and soul given from God. A point is brought up that Merlin will have to choose which path to go down(the devils or God). However, right after his birth he is baptized, by doing this did it affect his decision or was his decision already made for him by baptizing him?

"This Child Frightens Me!"

In the second part of this reading the audience gets a detailed description of Merlin's birth. While I was reading this part of Merlin's life I could not help but laugh at the way his mother treated him upon hearing him speak. "When his mother heard him speak, her heart almost failed her; her arms suddenly dropped from the child, and she let him fall to the floor" (328). The true reaction that we get from Merlin's mother is something that is not seen in many of these stories. Arthur and his Knights are always described in such a glorious manner; seeing that Merlin was an individual who was unwanted was startling. Even after his mother dropped him Merlin remained on the floor for a while, before the other women walked back in. Once they picked him up, they proceeded to treat him like a magical doll. I thought that this scene was something quite different from other stories. When magical creatures were introduced in other Arthurian tales the people in the story did not seem to react at all, it was something quite normal to them. Here in this story we finally see a true reaction and it sets Merlin's birth apart from the rest.

The Life of our Good Friend Merlin

Seven Years - Lukas Graham

This song is closely related to the reading in that The Prose Merlin gives a detailed recounting of the life of Merlin. The reading starts with a description surrounding the events of Merlin's birth, and then continues on to Merlin 's adulthood. This song is basically a story of Lukas Graham's life.

Clueless much?

Why is the all knowing Merlin portrayed as being so clueless with the Lady of the Lake?

"When she heard that he would come with her, she felt struck to the quick, because she hated no on else so much as Merlin" (Robert de Boron 363).