Mind Your Head

While reading  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, I was at first struck by the rhythmic beat of the lines and the jovial feel given off by the poem's alliteration. When the first description of the Green Knight came, with the line "a mountain of a man," I immediately thought of Hogwarts' favorite gamekeeper Hagrid, but this image quickly faded from my mind as the description continued. The poet spared no detail as they illustrated this impressive spectacle of a man, who is entirely decked out in green. What were the connotations of the color green during that time period? When I think of the color, I mostly think of trees, leaves, and walks in the woods. Soft shades of it seem to evoke peace. However, the color is also synonymous with envy and perhaps greed. I wonder, to a medieval reader of this poem, what feelings the color green evoked? Did the connotations associated with it change over time, and do they differ from the connotations associated with it today?

The first indication of the Green Knight as being a magical figure is indicated on line 198, where he is described as "otherworldly." This isn't just some weird guy with an unhealthy color obsession; as we later find out, "otherworldly" is almost an understatement, and poor Sir Gawain deals with that otherworldliness firsthand. Here, though, the word has only a neutral connotation. Another reference to the Knight's magical nature is on line 240, when he is described as "a miracle or magic," which is perhaps a neutral-positive connotation because of the use of the word "or."

When the Green Knight's massive war axe is being described, the poet writes that its head is "an ell in length at least." I had never heard of an "ell" as a unit of measurement before so I looked it up on my handy dictionary app. An ell is a unit of measurement that is equivalent to 45 inches, which is 3.75 ft. The freaking head of the axe is 3.75 FEET. Not the whole axe, jUST THE HEAD. I am unsure as to whether or not this description is supposed to be exaggerated or not but in any case: how impressive is that?

When the Green Knight does the whole "take me to your leader" business, King Arthur steps up and we learn (or at least I just did because I don't pay attention to things) that this is a story set in the famous King's court and his knights of the round table.

♫ We're knights of the round table, we dance whene'er we're able ♫

When the Green Knight first relayed his challenge, I at first didn't understand what he meant. I couldn't comprehend this mad challenge up until Sir Gawain actually delivers that nonfatal blow to his opponent because it was just that crazy. 

When I think of the word magic, though, the Green Knight's headless horseman type stunt isn't exactly what comes to mind. Where are the witches and potions and spells? The Green Knight was used by the evil sorceress Morgan Le Fay to test the bravery of King Arthur's court, yet that is the extent of it. After the Green Knight gallops out of his court, Arthur's guests merrily resume their feast and that's the end of it. The spectacle doesn't seem to greatly disturb them. It's almost as if this is just another day in the Arthurian world. Another day another chivalric obligation right?