In Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight, the story has many connections to earlier Arthurian literature
like the Green Man as discussed in class. But also its alliteration and use to
the Bob and wheel end rhyme at the conclusion of each paragraph is what drew me
in. I love the repetition with the same first letter in each line but it
doesn't make it sound like some Doctor Seuss made up, mixed up meaning poem.
This poem exhibits the tradition of honor and chivalry because of Sir Gawain
taking the challenge so his young king did not have to. Now, what reasons that
may be were argued about in class: the king's honor, the reputation of the king
if he were to lose, and many others. I think that Sir Gawain was being very
honorable by taking up the challenge when no one else would. When the Green Knight
gives Gawain his challenge he also says that the blow will be returned in a
year and a day. This later became known as the "beheading game". Once
Sir Gawain beheads the green knight, the green man gets to his feet, picks up
his head, and reminds Gawain of the appointed day that Gawain must come and
seek him out so the green knight may return the favor. Sir Gawain inquires
about his name and place of residence but is barely given anything in that
respect.
As for the manuscript of Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight, it was written by a poet nicknamed the “Pearl
Poet”. The Poet also wrote Pearl,
Patience, and Purity.
And the verse of the poem is written in what is called
"Alliterative Revival" style that was very common in the 14th century.
It has also been called the Bob and Wheel. The alliterative form in this poem of
this period usually relied on the similarity of stressed syllables at the
beginning and end of the line. This type of style is called a Bob and Wheel
because "bob" is a very
short line, very regularly only two syllables in length, then followed by the
"wheel," longer lines with rhyme internally and alliteration and repetition.
My thoughts on Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight are that I love this poem! It is defiantly what
I am interested in reading. It has a lot of literary background and stuffing in
the poem. I love the Arthurian legends and really want to read more of them.
It sounds like you should be in Dr. Haas' Malory class! There's lots of Arthur stories in there. Have you read The Mists of Avalon (or seen the mini-series)? It's one of my favorite modern Arthur stories, probably because it focuses more on the female characters.
ReplyDeleteI found it pretty difficult to read the rhyming lines of Gawain out loud (just in terms of words rolling off my tongue easily) and wonder what they sound like in the original. I like what they add, but they're awkward to read in modern English. I'm finding the translation of Chaucer to be awkward as well, because it lacks some of the beauty in language that the original has, which is what has me wondering about Gawain. I'll have to listen to some readings of the original and see.