The late-medieval poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is an excellent resource providing insight on the culture of the age. As with many literary works of the era, it stages its protagonist, Gawain, against a supernatural challenger, the Green Knight. Gawain finds himself making a deal with his adversary, agreeing to deal him one blow to the head with an ax on the condition that he finds him a year and a day later to receive one in return.
Throughout this tale, the Green Knight represents nature, and when Gawain crosses the Green Knight, he is in fact contending against the environment. The interactions of Gawain and the other knights with the Green Knight exhibit the Arthurian society's mutual fear and respect for the forces of nature.
When Bertilak de Hautdesert takes on the form of the Green Knight, he displays his supernatural power with nature as his medium. When the Green Knight makes his appearance in King Arthur's court, the knights are in awe to see the “verdant green” (161) man with “butterflies and birds embroidered” (166) on his clothes, and a head of hair that “to his horse suited” (180). Although the Green Knight is a human, his appearance is at once vegetative and animalistic, as if he had just emerged from the bushes into the human realm.
He is a mélange of all facets of the natural world, representing many types of flora and fauna all coexisting on a human body. The knights of the Round Table do not know what to make of him, so they both fear and admire him in their confusion. When Gawain hits the Green Knight's neck with the ax, the Green Knight “fell not… nor faltered a whit” (430), then picked up his head and left so easily in a way that was “a wonder past compare” (466). Much like a tree, he is able to lose parts of his body without enduring substantive harm.
This regenerative power is fantastical and even frightening to the human world, but a very unexceptional ability for plant-life. The Green Knight could well be described as an evergreen embodied in human form, and represents the intersection between humanity and the natural world. His ambiguity makes him a dubious visitor to King Arthur's court, causing the knights to be uncertain whether he is friend or foe.
The Green Knight further perturbs the knights by challenging their belief that humans are superior to the rest of the natural world. When he appears in Camelot, he does not arrive unarmed: “In his one hand he had a holly barb… and an ax in his other” (206-208). Traditional pagan belief holds the former as a symbol of life and rebirth, and the latter as a symbol of death. By bringing these he is, in a sense, offering the knights a choice between life and death.
He shows them their mortality, reminding them that it is a natural concept that humans can never gain control over. This is further aggravated by the fact that the symbol for life is a plant, whereas the symbol for death is a man-made weapon, implicating humanity in its own death. Whereas the knights display their power by adorning themselves with “fastenings of the finest gold” (577) and diadems “with diamonds richly set” (617), the Green Knight does so with his bold disposition that causes “a swooning silence in the stately hall” (243) of Camelot.
The Green Knight garners his strength from his natural body and mind instead of depending on material luxuries. When he appears, the knights sense that he is more powerful than they are, so they allow him to take control. They are afraid that, even with their steel weapons and all their man-made accessories, they cannot overcome him. The knights are forced to see that the power of nature is ultimately stronger than their own.
However, Gawain's conflict with the Green Knight shows more than just the negative sentiments toward nature; it shows the society's respect for the intrigue and mystery of nature. By introducing an adversary that derives his power from nature, the poet of Gawain can give this character mystical, superhuman powers that cannot exist in the man made world. The Green Knight is “as lightning quick and light” (199) and has plant-like rejuvenating powers.
The society recognizes that this is something impossible for humans, but it is not outside the capacity of other parts of nature. They respect that nature can so easily achieve something that is completely magical for them. The Green Knight also has “a beard big as a bush” (182) to represent his age, whereas the knights of the Round Table are “but beardless children” (280) and “young bloods” (284).
The Green Knight, as the representation of nature, is old as the earth, and brings with him the wisdom of many epochs of life. Although he mocks the other knights for their youthful nature, it does less to insult them than it does to make them revere his age. In the Arthurian society, it is customary to honor elders, and the age of the earth is just about as old as anyone can be. After Gawain meets the Green Knight to complete their deal, he confesses, “Your cut taught me cowardice, care for my life” (2379).
