Study Guide Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Author:
Unknown, commonly known as “the Pearl Poet” wrote around 1400 in the
West Midlands, in a rather archaic north English dialect, even for 1400.He is a
contemporary of Chaucer, who wrote The Canterbury Tales. Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight is a medieval Romance – a fairy tale for adults on one level and a
serious exploration of Christian knighthood and its requirements on another level.
There are elements of folklore and mythology embedded in the text – the Green
Knight, for example, is a vegetation god or a god of rebirth and the Beheading
Game and the Quest occur in numerous other medieval works.
Conventions of Courtly Romance (medieval romance) –
Basically written to the audience of upper class nobles; depicts their idealized
life; commoners need not apply for these. Such common elements as the bravest
knights, the fairest ladies, elaborate descriptions of feasting, clothing, arms, etc. are
common. The “courtly love ethos” is also common: the knight is vowed to
