Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

      Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is without doubt the finest of all the Middle English romances, for its mastery of plot handling, its realism, characterization, descriptive powers, and use of the alliterative long lines. At times the poet achieves real heights in his poetry which can stand comparison with that of any period. It occurs in the same manuscript along with Pearl, Purity and Patience, which are supposed to be the work of the same man, of whom nothing is known.It describes how Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, accepts a challenge from a mysterious "Green Knight" who challenges any one of the assembled Knights to give him one stroke on the head by the great axe he holds in hand, provided that he comes to him in a twelve month and a day and receives a same stroke from him. As they are all hesitating, for the honour of the Round Table and King Arthur, Sir Gawain, the King's nephew takes the axe and beheads the unknown Knight. Unmoved the Green Knight picks up the head calling upon Gawain to keep his word, departs at a gallop. In his struggles to keep his bargain, Gawain demonstrates chivalry and loyalty until his honour is called into question by a test involving Lady Bertilak, the lady of the Green Knight's castle. It is an important example of a chivalric romance, which typically involves a hero who goes on a quest which tests his prowess. In the liveliness and variety of its scenes, mingling of the marvelous and the natural, human and dramatic interest and the delicate psychology of characterization, the poem is unique among romances. It is a medieval romance in which Sir Gawain is held up as the model of virtue and chivalry.