Season 3 Podcast 67 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Pt I The Pledge

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Part I “The Pledge” Welcome again to a selection from Poet’s Corner. The subject of this podcast is from one of my all-time favorite stories from the King Arthur tales of the Knights of the Round Table. It tells the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The tale is from 14th Century England. Originally written in Middle English, the translation I use is by Jessie Weston, dated 1898. The author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is that ubiquitous writer, the invisible Anonymous, sometime referred to as the Pearl Poet. I know that I cannot do justice to the poem. It is for all people in all ages, recognized for its genius in every age, and the fabric never wears thin. I shall divide the epic poem into four parts, each presented in a separate podcast. Part I is entitled “The Pledge,” in which Sir Gawain makes a covenant with the Green Knight to come to his green chapel in a year’s time to have his head cut off. Part II is entitled “The Quest,” in which Sir Gawain takes the long and treacherous journey to find the Green Chapel. Part III is entitled “The Three Temptations,” which forever determine the fate of Sir Gawain. And Part IV is entitled, “Justice,” in which Sir Gawain submits himself to the ax of the Green Knight and justice is served.The journey into the unknown is a journey we all take. As with any Christian epic, the author strives to teach us how to prepare for that journey. The story could by titled “The Anatomy of Temptation.” Sir Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew, is the youngest Knight in King Arthur’s Court.  He is the son or son-in-law every Christian mother would like to have. In that lawless time, the only safety people had was the knight’s code. It was a strong mixture of chivalry and Christian virtues. In Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, King Arthur is almost a Christ figure who represents all the virtues. The Knights of the Round Table are extensions of those virtues.The story begins at Christmas Tide, from Christmas Eve till after New Year’s Day. Linda, as always will read from Mr. Weston’s translation.King Arthur lay at Camelot upon a Christmas-tide, with many a gallant lord and lovely lady, and all the noble brotherhood of the Round Table. There they held rich revels with gay talk and jest; one while they would ride forth to joust and tourney, and again back to the court to make carols;  for there was the feast holden fifteen days with all the mirth that men could devise, song and glee, glorious to hear, in the daytime, and dancing at night. Halls and chambers were crowded with noble guests, the bravest of knights and the loveliest of ladies, and Arthur himself was the comeliest king that ever held a court. For all this fair folk were in their youth, the fairest and most fortunate under heaven, and the king himself of such fame that it were hard now to name so valiant a hero. While the noble knights were sitting around the round table telling tall tales, a very strange monster appears dressed all in green. Even his horse is dressed in green.