A principle can be adhered throughout one’s life from either following the beliefs and morals of others, or doing so through their own personal beliefs. For Sir Gawain, his are from a bit of both options. Given the fact that Gawain is considered to be King Arthur’s nephew, it is implied that he was given a strict conduct of rules to follow whilst growing up due to royalty. Also, being that he decided to stick by Arthur’s side and become one of his knights, it is shown that he had his own principles that he developed. Gawain has several principles that he lives by, but some of the main ones shown are courage, honesty, courtesy, and humility. When the Green Knight, also known later on as Bertilak of Hautdesert, enters Arthur’s hall, everyone
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To make him appear to the knights as even more intimidating, he wielded an enormous green axe that no sword would stand a chance against. The writer of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight states within the story that “It seemed no man there might survive his violent blow” (Greenblatt pg.190). The massive knight spoke of a game he came all this way to play, which required a knight of Arthur’s to chop his own head off, then he would get to return the favor to them. He then began to mock the knights calling them cowards due to the fact none of them would step up to the plate and accept the challenge. Then, with Arthur and Guinevere’s permission, Gawain rises from his seat and accepts the call of the Green Knight. He takes the axe from the giant knight and chops his head off. To the hall’s surprise, the body picked up the head and mounted the horse again. Before leaving, he tells Gawain to seek him out in a year for the favor to be returned or be considered a coward forever. Gawain waited for the time when it came for him to depart on his dreadful journey. As if the fact of him going to face his possible death wasn’t enough to show his courage, the trial of getting there was. The ways of his surroundings along his journey were …show more content…
But, even when he slipped up just the once when he wasn’t completely honest with the host, it ended up being his biggest downfall as well. An example of Gawain’s honesty is when the host of the palace that he discovered along his journey made a deal with him. He offered Gawain whatever he would collect from his hunt at the end of the day if Gawain would reward him with whatever he received while he was staying at his palace. The first two days of his stay he was honest and did exactly as the host had asked. The hosts’ wife had given Gawain at least one kiss a day, and he returned it to his kind host in return for him bringing in his kill to him. But the last day, the hosts’ wife gifts Gawain with a green girdle that he believed would protect him against the Green Knight, as well as a kiss. When he went to exchange with his kind host, he only gave him the kisses he had received and decided to keep the green girdle he was given a secret. At this point he is “disloyal to his host and their Exchange of Winnings Agreement in not giving Bertilak the girdle” (Zott Vol.54). On the day he is to depart from the palace and go seek out the Green Chapel, he wears the girdle among his apparel in hopes that what Lady Bertilak claimed was true and that it would protect him against the Green Knight. He finds the Green Chapel and he finds the knight awaiting his presence. After only receiving
To make him appear to the knights as even more intimidating, he wielded an enormous green axe that no sword would stand a chance against. The writer of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight states within the story that “It seemed no man there might survive his violent blow” (Greenblatt pg.190). The massive knight spoke of a game he came all this way to play, which required a knight of Arthur’s to chop his own head off, then he would get to return the favor to them. He then began to mock the knights calling them cowards due to the fact none of them would step up to the plate and accept the challenge. Then, with Arthur and Guinevere’s permission, Gawain rises from his seat and accepts the call of the Green Knight. He takes the axe from the giant knight and chops his head off. To the hall’s surprise, the body picked up the head and mounted the horse again. Before leaving, he tells Gawain to seek him out in a year for the favor to be returned or be considered a coward forever. Gawain waited for the time when it came for him to depart on his dreadful journey. As if the fact of him going to face his possible death wasn’t enough to show his courage, the trial of getting there was. The ways of his surroundings along his journey were …show more content…
But, even when he slipped up just the once when he wasn’t completely honest with the host, it ended up being his biggest downfall as well. An example of Gawain’s honesty is when the host of the palace that he discovered along his journey made a deal with him. He offered Gawain whatever he would collect from his hunt at the end of the day if Gawain would reward him with whatever he received while he was staying at his palace. The first two days of his stay he was honest and did exactly as the host had asked. The hosts’ wife had given Gawain at least one kiss a day, and he returned it to his kind host in return for him bringing in his kill to him. But the last day, the hosts’ wife gifts Gawain with a green girdle that he believed would protect him against the Green Knight, as well as a kiss. When he went to exchange with his kind host, he only gave him the kisses he had received and decided to keep the green girdle he was given a secret. At this point he is “disloyal to his host and their Exchange of Winnings Agreement in not giving Bertilak the girdle” (Zott Vol.54). On the day he is to depart from the palace and go seek out the Green Chapel, he wears the girdle among his apparel in hopes that what Lady Bertilak claimed was true and that it would protect him against the Green Knight. He finds the Green Chapel and he finds the knight awaiting his presence. After only receiving