Introduction to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

The Manuscript Like Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (SGGK) is found in only one source, a single manuscript. The same manuscript contains three other long poems: Patience, Purity (Cleanness), and The Pearl. Based upon stylistic evidence, poetic form, and the dialect of English in which SGGK was written, it is reasonable to assume that the same man also wrote the other poems in the same manuscript.

Although record of ownership dates back to the middle 1500’s, the existence of the manuscript was unknown to scholars and the public until 1824. The text of SGGK was not published in full until 1839.

The Where and the When of SGGK Based upon certain textual details, the style of handwriting, and the dialect of the poem, scholars have been able to date the poem to the late 14th Century. Professor Tolkien was able to narrow the date down to after 1375 based upon the style of shoe Gawain wears. This date range would have made the author of SGGK a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer.

The Poet’s Identity Little of fact is actually known about the unknown author of SGGK, who is called the Pearl Poet or the Gawain Poet. He was fairly religious, “a man of serious and devout mind,” and “he had an interest in theology, and some knowledge of it, though an amateur knowledge, rather than a professional.” He had studied in both Latin and French and had read fairly widely in French books, both romantic and instructive. Since he demonstrates detailed first-hand information about hunting and armor among other things, we can presume that he had connections with some nobleman’s household.

Sources for the Poem’s Narrative Material The earliest known myth or story that contains a “beheading game” is found in the 8th Century Middle Irish Bricriu’s Feast. A similar beheading challenge is found in the late 12th Century Life of Caradoc, which is in the part of the French romance Perceval, the Story of the Grail. Several older stories contain something like the temptation plot found in SGGK: Yder, the Lancelot-Grail, Hunbaut, and The Knight of the Sword. These two key plot elements, the beheading challenge and the temptation test, are blended in a masterful way and in a manner not seen in any other romance.