Sir Gawain and the Green Knight By the Pearl Poet

Notes – Sir Gawain Composed in England around 1370 A romance poem: a narrative set in the world of knights, kings, and supernatural creatures. Exciting story full of adventure Derived from the word “Roman”

Notes, cont. Romance poem includes three stages: a dangerous quest, a test of honor or courage, and a return to the point from which the quest began. Author is anonymous but is known as the Pearl Poet b/c he also wrote the poem “The Pearl.” Author was probably a member of the court b/c he’s so familiar with court life, costumes.

Notes Sir Gawain, the main character, appears in several tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. King Arthur: Legendary king, probably warrior during the invasion of Britain by the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons. Arthur was head of the Knights of the Round Table.

Notes Knights of Round Table: the greatest fighters, represented chivalry at its best. Camelot: fictitious place where the Arthurian legends take place Chivalry: the code by which knights lived. Courteous, courageous, and honorable

Knights Characteristics of a knight: strength, skilled at arms and horsemanship, courageous, loyal, and courteous. Sir Gawain – a knight of the round table. At first considered the weakest of most insignificant knight. Volunteers to accept a challenge from the Green Knight.

Literary Terms Symbolism – use of symbols that exist on a literal level within a work but also represent something on a figurative level. Symbols can be a person, animal, place, object, event, color, etc. Alliteration-the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.