The Headless Horseman

At first when Dr. MB told us about this excerpt, my initial thought was the Headless Horseman from Sleepy Hallow. I’ve only vaguely heard of the Headless Horseman from an episode of Scooby-Doo so I do not know much about the story line behind Sleepy Hallow, but that was the image I had engraved in my head. Then Dr. MB asked us what the color green meant. Instantly, I thought of the famous phrase “green with envy” and how in TV shows characters’ eyes would turn green when they were jealous. Going in to read this excerpt, I imagined a green, headless knight, filled with jealousy, galloping on a horse into the sunset. To my surprise, I was more correct than I thought I would have.

It amazed me at the end of the excerpt when the Green Knight rode off into the night carrying his head. The image I had before reading the poem was correct. Now, because I do not know the story of Sleepy Hallow, I do not know if these two characters are relatable in any other ways, but have some sort of connection. I believe my theory of the Green Knight being jealous is possible. The other meanings of green are renewal and rebirth which I do not think are the case for the giant. Many other students mentioned how the Green Knight was a giant, maybe meaning he was an outcast or misunderstood. If this is the case then is it possible he was jealous of King Author and the knights are the round table. Maybe he just wanted to get their attention with his ridiculous request? Any attention is good attention, right? Maybe the Green Knight wanted to scare the people of the round table to prove that he was better than them? The thoughts of the Green Knight are unknown, and there are many different theories of why he is the way he is.

My favorite element of the poem was the alliteration. I struggle with reading and understanding poems, and the alliteration rolls off of the tongue easily so it keeps me focused because of the rhythm. Line 182 mentioned his “bushy green beard growing down to his breast” which created great imagery for the Green Knight. The Green Knight is given a hulk-like description, but is still attractive as all knights are, but the bushy beard gives him a lumberjack-vibe, along with his giant green ax. Line 324 also has great alliteration: “and folly finds the man who flirts with the fool.” This line stuck out to me because 1. “folly” is a great word and needs to be used more often and 2. “flirts with the fool” is a great expression along with “flirting with the devil” and it shows how idiotic the Green Knight’s request is. The alliteration made a big impact on the poem and made it much more interesting to read.