Chivalry the Shield and Sir Gawain

Chivalry and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Introduction In the medieval world, chivalry was a code of conduct—a principle of behavior—expected of courteous knights, as endlessly expressed by one of the most famous knights of all time, Don Quixote.[footnoteRef:2] In the medieval story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, chivalry takes center stage in the action, as the plot essentially pivots on what it means to be chivalrous and how chivalry should be embodied.

Sir Gawain undergoes a moral test; the Green Knight is a kind of mythical, mystical judge who puts him through the test; and at the end of it, Sir Gawain emerges humbled and conscious of his shortcomings. The tale is a moral one[footnoteRef:3] and this paper will examine how the medieval concept of chivalry is applied in the story and what it means for Sir Gawain personally after he realizes the fullness of his behavior and all its ramifications.

[2: Miquel Cervantes, Don Quixote, http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/996] [3: Gerald Morgan, "The Significance of the Pentangle Symbolism in" Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"." The Modern Language Review 74, no. 4 (1979), 769.] Chivalry and the Knight Chivalry stemmed from the Christian ethic prominent in the medieval era: it was based on the idea that men and women had precise duties in life, and that, as a man, one had to demonstrate courage, courtesy, honor and strength to be chivalric.

A knight, who was dedicated to serving a king, had to use arms in that service—and so the use of force became part of the concept of chivalry: “As a code of honour, chivalry had as much investment in knightly autonomy and heroic violence as in any forms of restraint, either internal or external.”[footnoteRef:4] Chivalry created an atmosphere and environment in which one could be compelled in two opposites ends at once: a knight might boast in his chivalry and become full of self through demonstrations of valor and pride; on the other hand, chivalry could impose upon the knight certain constraints that would induce him to behave morally.

The story of Sir Gawain is a story in which a boastful knight is taught a lesson about what it means to have modesty—a disposition much expected to be found in a chivalrous person in the medieval age. [4: Richard W. Kaeuper, Chivalry and violence in medieval Europe (Oxford University Press on Demand, 2001), 150.] Aside from its association with manly violence, chivalry was also associated with courtesy. A courteous knight was one who respected the persons of others, particularly of ladies.

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the idea of courtesy is linked to the concept of Christian virtue. Faith, modesty, courage, perseverance, honesty—all of these qualities are aspects of chivalry and are touched upon by Sir Gawain during his test, which essentially turns him from the proud, boastful knight at the beginning of the story into a sort of pupil of the Green Knight.

After all, it is the Green Knight who tests Sir Gawain thrice within his castle (though Sir Gawain is ignorant of the identity of his host). Gawain’s test concludes not with a beheading, as agreed upon at the beginning of the story, but instead with a gentle reminder of what chivalry means—i.e., how a knight should conduct himself: with honor, integrity, honesty, courtesy and modesty.

The ending of the story is also one in which violence is not imposed: the violent rush comes at the story’s opening; the ending displaces violence for mercy—and Sir Gawain’s lesson is tied to this idea that chivalry also extends to mercy and should reflect the Christian concepts of charity whenever possible.

This lesson is emphasized in the knick on the neck that Gawain receives from the Green Knight—it is a slight reminder of sacrifice of Christ on the Cross—His blood shed for the sins of mankind. Gawain’s sin (failure to hand over to his host everything given him by his hostess) is thus punished with a reminder that his sins have been atoned for by God—but that he himself must conduct himiself with more deportment in the future.

Sir Gawain’s lesson is an important one—but it is also one that he himself has devoted himself to learn. His own shield stands as a message to others that he will be mindful of the duties that he owes to the world as a knight. His shield represents that ideas that he is meant to profess, and so it is worth considering the symbolism in Gawain’s shield to better understand what exactly the knight is meant to represent in his person.

Sir Gawain’s Shield The shield of Sir Gawain represents the qualities of chivalry that he professes to uphold. On the shield is depicted a pentangle—a five-pointed star, with each point representing one of the values of chivalry.

It is a symbol that Solomon designed long ago / As an emblem of fidelity, and justly so; [...] Therefore it suits this knight and his shining arms, / For always faithful in five ways, and five times in each case, / Gawain was reputed as virtuous.”[footnoteRef:5] Gawain’s virtue is extolled in five ways: first through the use of his five fingers, which aid him in battle; second, through the use of his five senses, which provide him with intelligence and the ability to judge rightly of the world around him; third, of his spiritual devotion to God, especially to the five wounds suffered by Christ during His persecution; fourth, by the five joys experienced by the Virgin Mary, Mother of God; and, fifth, through his five virtues, which are identified as charity, piety, generosity, chastity and courtesy.[footnoteRef:6] [5: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 625-626; 631-633.] [6: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 663.] The symbol on Gawain’s shield is also meaningful because it shows how all of the virtues are integrated—how one runs right into the other.

There is no break in the pentangle on his shield: it is a single line that intersects over and under itself as it creates the star shape. The star could equally serve as a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem, which guided the three Wise Men to the child Jesus during the nativity period. In this sense, Gawain is supposed to serve as a star for mankind—a sign that points them towards Christ.

His actions, way of life, words, thoughts, and decorum are all meant to be a reflection of the saintliness expected of a virtuous person who is filled with the spirit of God.[footnoteRef:7] [7: Gerald Morgan, "The Significance of the Pentangle Symbolism in" Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"." The Modern Language Review 74, no.

4 (1979), 780.] As Morgan notes, Sir Gawain is a medieval poem and as such it has certain moral characteristics that have to be considered for the poem to be fully understood: “The dominant characteristic of medieval poetry is its objectivity; the primary interest, that is to say, is moral and not psychological. In his description of the device of the pentangle on Sir Gawain’s shield, the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight reveals to us that such a moral interest can take exceedingly intricate forms.

If we are to believe the poet, the pentangle passage is crucial to the understanding of the poem.”[footnoteRef:8] However, at the same time, the concepts that the pentangle represents are not all pursued in the narrative poem with the same expedience. For example, Gawain’s faithfulness takes center stage during the test, and his fidelity to his pledged word is what is at stake.

He is doubly tested in the sense that he keeps his word to the Green Knight and presents himself of his own free will for what he expects will be his own beheading and death. He also keeps his word (for the most part) with the host of the castle where he stays prior to going to meet the Green Knight to uphold his end of the bargain.

That the host and the Green Knight are one and the same shows how important the concept of fidelity is at the center of the story—and this concept is associated with Gawain’s chivalry through the symbol of the shield, as faithfulness is one of the virtues Gawain is meant to extol.

Faithfulness is likewise “given the leading place as the total significance of the pentangle,” as line 626 shows.[footnoteRef:9] [8: Gerald Morgan, "The Significance of the Pentangle Symbolism in" Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"." The Modern Language Review 74, no. 4 (1979), 769.] [9: Gerald Morgan, "The Significance of the Pentangle Symbolism in" Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"." The Modern Language Review 74, no.

4 (1979), 769.] The Challenge of Chivalry What the story makes clear is that chivalry is a challenge: it is not simply something that one can pay lip service to and feel as though his job is complete. The rashness of Gawain’s behavior in the beginning of the story when he boldly accepts the challenge of Green Knight shows a certain impulsiveness and boastfulness in his nature that has to be weaned out.

The Green Knight is like an interventionist—a being of supernatural quality (after all, he leaves the scene holding his own head after Gawain lops it off with one swing of his sword), the Green Knight represents a purifier of sorts: a being that will enable Gawain to transform in his character and adopt a humbler presence among the people, wearing, as he does his badge of shame with honor to remind himself of his own fallen nature—a concept that would have been central to medieval thought, relating as it does to the concept of Original Sin.

Gawain of course does not anticipate that the Green Knight will survive having his head cut off—which is why he so readily agrees to the challenge. He does not expect to be challenged in return, as he is given the chance to swing first. He thinks that the Green Knight is a fool who deserves to die for making such a rash request, and he views it as a challenge of his five fingers—i.e., his strength—more than anything.

He assumes rightly that he will be able to decapitate the Green Knight with one swing, as he is well-known for his strength—and, after all, his use of his five fingers is represented on his own shield, so there should be no doubt that Gawain will be able to dispatch the Green Knight quickly. Where Gawain comes up short is in his modesty.

A more circumspect and thoughtful knight would have studied the Green Knight more closely and carefully before accepting such an odd challenge—for there is in it the hint of some surprsing twist. And, of course, the surprise is that the Green Knight lives in spite of losing his head and so has the opportunity to cut off Gawain’s within the year. Being a man of honor, he knows he has to be true to his agreement and keep his word with the Green Knight.

Nicholls refers to this moment as an important one in the validation of Gawain’s chivalry: it is the “testing of courtesy”[footnoteRef:10]—will Gawain be courteous enough to uphold his end of the challenge or will he be cowardly and withdraw? But of course Gawain is a man of honor andd so Gawain agrees to yield up his neck, regretably, to the Green Knight.

The act mirrors the action of Christ, Who agreed to take up his cross and be sacrificied for the sins of man. Gawain submitting to the Green Knight is of a similar character, which thus helps to flesh out his own chivalry still more. [10: Nicholls, Jonathan.

“The Testing of Courtesty at Camelot and Hautdesert.” Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 1985.] And yet there is even more to the story than that, for it shows that courtesy must be more than a superficial or surface level respect shown towards other. One must actually live one’s life in courtesy, that is to say fidelity to the Christian ideal, to maintain the chivalrous code.

So while the challenge is what allows the plot of the poem to continue, the real test lies further on ahead—and it will be a test that Gawain undergoes in the castle of the Green Knight upon agreeing to play a game with his host. In total, Gawain meets with the Green Knight on three separate occassions, each one being an occasion in which some aspect of Gawain’s chivalry is tested.

In the first trial, he believes his strength or five fingers are being tested (he is wrong: his courtesy and fidelity are what are at stake); in the second trial, his honety is tested; and in the third trial, his courage is tested. Gawain ultimately passes his tests, though imperfectly—and the clemency that the Green Knight shows him by not taking his head is ultimately a symbol of the mercy that God shows to sinners.

The medieval age would have appreciated this concept and likened mercy, too, with the quality of chivalry. Indeed, it is one often pointed out as important for a chivalrous knight to exercise by Cervantes in his epic on knight errantry.[footnoteRef:11] [11: Miquel Cervantes, Don Quixote, http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/996] The main test that Gawain undergoes is conducted when he is in the castle of the Green Knight and the host informs Gawain that he must show to his host everything he is given while the host is away hunting.

Gawain complies in this game, but does keep for himself one single keepsake from the lady of the castle—an item he keeps because he feels it will give him strength as he goes off to his beheading. It is not out of some desire to offend his host, but rather out of weakness and a feeling of vulnerability. Likewise, it is an act of courtesy on his part towards the lady to bestow favor on a gift given by her to him.

It is part of the delicacy of the knight’s profession and code of chivalry that he will put a lady’s feelings before all else and do her the courtesy of honoring her with favors, if she will honor him in return. Thus, for the chivalrous knight, there is the sense that the exchange between the lady of the castle and Gawain is both spiritual and sexual—but it is also a failure on the part of Gawain.

The failure to show his host what the lady had given him sets up the final scene between the two knights, however, and it is here that an opportunity for another Christian practice is provided: the practice of confession. The medieval world was very familiar with the practice of confession.

As Kaeuper notes, knights and piety were like hand and glove in the medieval era: “Along the way, cellular acts of piety structured the religious component of their daily lives: they heard mass, they made confession, they said prayers, they gave alms. Many reinforced this lifelong cycle by some major act, going on crusade or founding a religious house.”[footnoteRef:12] What is more important is the role of the priest in this practice of confession.

The priest was the one who allowed the sins to be forgiven, as he represented God in the confessional and had the power to forgive sins as a part of their sacramental station. When Gawain goes to make his way towards death, he has to confess that he has not been completely honest with his host—he.