AE Draft

Warrior Chivalry in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Draft

There are three types of chivalry that exists in the medieval era: warrior chivalry, courtly love chivalry, and religious chivalry. Warrior chivalry contains virtues of mercy, courage, valor, fairness, protection of the weak and the poor, the servant-hood of the knight to his lord, and the willingness to give your life for a poor man or your lord. Courtly love chivalry stresses the importance of serving one’s lady and all other ladies after her. Religious chivalry would have a knight be faithful to God, faithful to the church, protect the innocent, be the champion of good versus evil, and be generous and obey God over his lord. Because the chivalric code has three parts that are in contradiction to each other, since a knight cannot be loyal to his lord, lady, and God if they all want different things, it is impossible to follow the chivalric code to a tee. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, however, is the ideal representation of the warrior chivalry aspect of the chivalric code. Sir Gawain can be seen as the embodiment of that aspect of the chivalric code. The games that the Green Knight challenges Gawain with, even if they are violent in nature, also adhere to that chivalric code. The temptation that Bertilak’s wife imposes on Sir Gawain plays on the courtly love aspect of the chivalric code and Sir Gawain responds accordingly to the seduction of Bertilak’s wife in accordance to the warrior chivalry aspect of the chivalric code. Because of all of these representations of warrior chivalry Sir Gawain and the Green Knight can be seen as the ultimate guidebook of warrior chivalry in its era.

Sir Gawain, the main character of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the embodiment of the chivalric code. Sir Gawain is described as being the perfect knight:
First he was deemed flawless in his five senses;
and secondly his five fingers were never at fault;
and thirdly his faith was founded in the five wounds
Christ received on the cross, as the creed recalls.
And fourthly, if that soldier struggled in skirmish
one thought pulled him through above all other things:
which Mary had conceived in her son, our Savior.
For precisely that reason the princely rider

had the shaper of her image inside his shield,

so by catching her eye his courage would not crack.

The fifth set of five which I heard the knight followed

included friendship and fraternity with fellow men,

purity and politeness that impressed at all times,

and pity which surpassed all pointedness. (640-654)

His senses are perfect, meaning, he is able to experience the world around him to its maximum degree. Which would then allow him to delineate between what is good and bad based on his senses. Because he is able to have such a clear delineation of what is good and bad, it would help him to follow the chivalric code. Especially since his fingers are never at fault, he would always be on the side of good. His faith is also being displayed as being strong, and with a strong faith comes a strong sense of chivalry. Since a part of the chivalric code requires a knight to have strong faith, it is a perfect trait for Sir Gawain to have. He also uses his faith as a source of courage in order to face the dangers and hardships a knight that follows the warrior chivalry aspect of the chivalric code will face. Finally, Sir Gawain is also shown to have gotten along with everyone, be well mannered, and have pity. Because Sir Gawain is a perfect human being, when it comes to his senses, as well as his actions, and has faith, and through that faith, he acquires courage, as well as being a well mannered and virtuous knight, he is the embodiment of the chivalric code. (Gawain stepping in for King Arthur) (Gawain abiding by the rules of the head chopping game) (Gawain abiding by the rules of the head chopping game and the hunting game)
It is not only the character of Sir Gawain that represents warrior chivalry, but also the games present in the story do so as well. The games in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight incorporate mercy, courage, valor, and fairness in the way that they are played. The game that the Green Knight proposes to King Arthur and his court may seem violent and barbaric, but it can still be seen as being chivalrous. The Green Knight challenged anyone present to “strike me one stroke and be struck in return” (287) and that “I’ll afford one free hit from which I won’t flinch, / and promise that twelve months will pass in peace, / then claim / the duty I deserve . in one year and one day” (294-299).
(Courtly love chivalry in conflict with warrior chivalry) (Bertilak’s wife’s advances)