1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Fit IV

2. Gawain the Solar Deity Celestial figure
Life of the hero = course of the sun through the year
Gawain’s quest begins in fall = sun/hero preparing for death and rebirth

3. Gawain the Solar Deity Clothing and gear all decorated in shining gold
Begins his quest on Michaelmas, the winter solstice
Rises daily with the strength of the sun while the lord rises at night

4. The Green Man

5. The Green Man Ancient chthonic figure
Associated with foliage, woods, and wilds
Deity of the trees = Dionysus
Sacrificial/vegetation ritual = dismemberment and decapitation (from John Frazer)

6. The Green Man

7. The Green Man

8. The Green Man

9. The Green Man

10. Gawain’s Tests
Promises to appear at the Green Chapel in a twelvemonth and a day
PASSES

11. Gawain’s Tests
Remains loyal to the lord and behaves honorably to the lady
PASSES
Relinquishes his daily winnings
Partly PASSES
Partly FAILS

12. Gawain’s Tests
The squire suggests that he run off rather than face the Green Knight
PASSES

13. Gawain’s Tests
Fulfills his vow to submit to a single, defenseless blow
FAILS
PASSES

14. Gawain’s Faults Succumbs to cowardice (fear of death)
Succumbs to covetousness (possession of the girdle/baldric)

15. The Hero-Quest Tests bring out Gawain’s best qualities
Cannot be heroic if he does not face a challenge

16. The Hero-Quest
Must undergo a ritual “death” before he can be reborn into new life and strength

17. The Hero-Quest Must master the shadows of death
Only then can he assimilate some of the dark power

18. Bertilak de Hautdesert
Compelling in his complexity
Rude as the Green Knight, genial as the castle lord
Terrifying yet ultimately humane and benevolent
Compliments Gawain’s virtue

19. The Temptress
Enchantress to enslave the knight or deflect him from his quest
The wife and the crone are the same type
She ties the Temptation and Exchange of Winnings Game to the Beheading Game

20. Morgan le Fay Igraine’s daughter/Gawain’s aunt
Originally a goddess figure associated with water
An ancient love goddess
Banished by Guinevere

21. Morgan le Fay Healer = takes Arthur to Avalon Temptress = the wife
Scourge = the crone

22. Evil to him who evil thinks
Epigram
Honi soit qui mal pense
Evil to him who evil thinks