It is easy to think that there is one set of stories surrounding King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. But this is not the case.
As we have it today, the tradition began with Geoffrey of Monmouth’s The History of the Kings of Britain, produced around 1138. This was an immediate hit, manuscripts circulating around the courts of Christendom. It depicted a majestic and imperial Arthur, a monarch who unified Britain, conquered Europe and established a kingdom founded upon faith, virtue and justice. Its influence was almost immediate.
By the end of the 12th century Chretien de Troyes adapted the Arthurian legends into French romances. He introduced new characters, such as the heroic Lancelot, and brought to the fore new themes, such as that of courtly love and the quest for the holy grail. His poetic masterpieces inspired the poets and authors of the time, giving rise to several French treatments, perhaps climaxing in the 13th century Lancelot-Grail Cycle.
It was only in the late 15th century when the Englishman Thomas Mallory synthesised these stories into one consistent narrative entitled by the printer William Caxton The Death of Arthur. It is his version that has come to dominate the shape retellings of the tales, such as in Alfred Tennyson’s Idylls of the King and John Boorman’s 1981 film Excalibur.
Standing somewhat apart within the Arthurian tradition is a poem dated to the late-14th century: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It is a poem of exceptional quality, with several commentators comparing it favourably to the contemporaneous works of Geoffrey Chaucer. The poet, though unknown, was probably from Cheshire or the West Midlands, as by his vocabulary, dialect, metre and the lands he describes. Though drawing on Celtic motifs, the poet has produced an original work that reworks ideas central to the French Romances in a novel and compelling way.
The story begins with King Arthur, Queen Guinevere and the Knights of the Round Table enjoying a feast. Camelot is a place filled with song and merriment, courtly custom and exquisite finery. Just as the days of rugged warbands and steel-clad knights were fading into luxury and fine taste by the end of 14th century, so we see this reflected in the place we find Arthur. We may wonder if the prestige of the Round Table is based on past glories.
As the gathered throng revel in their games, the doors of the hall burst open. A giant man, riding a huge horse, rides into the court. To the horror of the onlookers, he is completely green. His skin, clothes and mount are all emerald. What is more, the hulking Green Knight shows little respect towards Arthur and his knights, calling them weak. He laughs at their supposed bravery, offering them a challenge. One of their number should strike him with his large green axe on the condition that he will be able to return the blow in a year’s time.
At first those in attendance sit in silence. The Green Knight mocks the King for his lack of courage, which rouses Arthur to put himself forward. To save his liege from embarrassment one of the youngest of the number, Sir Gawain, takes up the game. With a hefty strike he beheads the Green Knight. To the astonishment of all, the great, green torso picks up the head, which speaks to Gawain. It reminds him that he must fulfil his part of the bargain and face a blow from the Green Knight at the Green Chapel in a year’s time. The rest of the tale explores Gawain’s attempts to uphold his part in the game, wrestling with the temptations of lust and fear.
The Green Knight has been the subject of much speculation. He is an entirely original character. He is a being who belongs to a world of magic and faerie, as indicated by his green skin and his supernatural powers. Some have seen him as a representative of nature, not only due his colour. At the centre of the drama is a conflict between the natural desires for life and love with knightly virtue. The Green Knight, as the source of challenge, stands in for the vital energy of our bodily longings. They burst through the finery of courtly custom, through our carefully manicured self-conceptions. A man like Gawain, the greatest of Arthur’s knights within the English tradition, can restrain them for so long. But eventually even he will struggle.
Beyond the dialectic of virtue and desire, the poet just loves life. He revels in description, bringing to his subject a vim that is captivating. Take for example his description of Spring:
After Christmas, the crabbed fasting-time of Lent
When people eat fish for meat, and simple fare.
Then the world’s fresh weather fights with winter:
Cold shrinks into the ground, clouds rise;
Warm rain shuttles down in flashing showers
Over the flatlands; flowers poke up,
Fields and groves put on their freshest green;
Birds start building, they call out loudly
For the calm of summer that spreads its balm on valleys and slopes.
Rich hawthorn-blossoms swell
And burst in rows; in the copse
New bird-sounds run, pell-mell,
Through the glorious full tree-tops.
Sensuous, delicious; the poet conveys his heightened sense of the dynamism and energy of life. He appreciates the qualities of the world around him, the multi-sensory feast we are treated to when amidst the wonders of nature.
There is much more that could be said about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. But I hope that this taster of what it involves will encourage you to read it for yourself. It is an underrated classic within English literature, a lesser known work within the Arthurian canon. Nonetheless, it is a torrent of poetic imagination that strikes at the heart of what it means to be a good man. Love, Life and Death: these are the heart of this masterpiece.
Nathan Hood has a YouTube channel, Nathan C. J. Hood where you can watch his content. You can also find him on X, Nathan Hood. This post is part of King Arthur Day. You will find more videos about Arthur on his YouTube channel.
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