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History
Green Knight
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The Green Knight is a heroic character of the Matter of Britain, originating in the 14th-century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the related medieval work The Greene Knight. His true name is revealed to be Bertilak de Hautdesert in Sir Gawain, while The Greene Knight names him "Bredbeddle". The Green Knight later features as one of Arthur's greatest champions in the fragmentary ballad "King Arthur and King Cornwall", again with the name "Bredbeddle".
A painting from the original manuscript of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Green Knight is seated on the horse, holding up his severed head in hi
A painting from the original manuscript of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Green Knight is seated on the horse, holding up his severed head in his right hand.
The Green Knight preparing to battle Sir Beaumains in N. C. Wyeth's illustration for Sidney Lanier's The Boy's King Arthur: Sir Thomas Malory's Histor
The Green Knight preparing to battle Sir Beaumains in N. C. Wyeth's illustration for Sidney Lanier's The Boy's King Arthur: Sir Thomas Malory's History of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table (1922)
Michael Pacher's painting of a green Devil with Saint Augustine in 1475. Poetic contemporaries such as Chaucer also made associations between the colo
Michael Pacher's painting of a green Devil with Saint Augustine in 1475. Poetic contemporaries such as Chaucer also made associations between the colour green and the devil, causing scholars to make similar associations in readings of the Green Knight.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English alliterative verse. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot combining two types of folk motifs: the beheading game, and the exchange of winnings. Written in stanzas of alliterative verse, each of which ends in a rhyming bob and wheel, it draws on Welsh, Irish, and English stories, as well as the French chivalric tradition. It is an important example of a chivalric romance, which typically involves a hero who goes on a quest which tests his prowess. It remains popular in modern English renderings from J. R. R. Tolkien, Simon Armitage, and others, as well as through film and stage adaptations.
First page of the only surviving manuscript, c. 14th century
First page of the only surviving manuscript, c. 14th century
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (from original manuscript, artist unknown).
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (from original manuscript, artist unknown).
The Shrine of St Erkenwald: the Saxon prince, bishop and saint is thought by some to have inspired the poet who wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Shrine of St Erkenwald: the Saxon prince, bishop and saint is thought by some to have inspired the poet who wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to write another eponymous poem.
The legendary Irish figure Cúchulainn faced a trial similar to Gawain's (Cúchulain Slays the Hound of Culain by Stephen Reid, 1904).
The legendary Irish figure Cúchulainn faced a trial similar to Gawain's (Cúchulain Slays the Hound of Culain by Stephen Reid, 1904).