Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
A towering green knight challenges Camelot to a beheading game. Gawain accepts, must seek a return blow in a year and a day, and faces tests of honor, temptation, and truth.
Story beats
- 1) At New Year’s feast, the Green Knight invites a blow-for-blow bargain. Gawain beheads him; the Knight lifts his head, reminding Gawain to meet him in a year at the Green Chapel.
- 2) Gawain journeys through winter wilderness, reaching a hospitable castle where Lord Bertilak and Lady Bertilak host a three-day exchange-of-winnings game.
- 3) While Bertilak hunts, Lady Bertilak tempts Gawain. He returns kisses honestly each night but conceals a green girdle she claims will keep him safe.
- 4) At the Green Chapel, the Knight feints twice, then nicks Gawain’s neck—the penalty for hiding the girdle. The Knight reveals himself as Bertilak, enchanted by Morgan le Fay to test Camelot’s pride.
- 5) Gawain returns ashamed yet alive; Camelot adopts the green sash as a sign of humility and fellowship.
Context & symbolism
The poem blends Christian chivalry with pagan-otherworld tests. The beheading game probes courage; the exchange game probes honesty. The girdle’s protection tempts self-preservation over honor. Green signals nature, the otherworld, and renewal. Morgan le Fay’s role critiques Arthurian arrogance.
Gawain’s flaw is small but human; the story values confession and community humility over perfection.
Motifs
- Beheading game with delayed return blow
- Temptation in a guest-chamber
- Magic girdle as false security
- Threefold trials and exchanges
- Green as otherworldly color
Use it in play
- A duel with a supernatural foe who survives beheading; PCs owe a return blow in a year.
- A host’s hospitality hides a testing scheme; every gift must be exchanged honestly.
- A protective sash trades safety for a future penalty.
- A fae patron uses hunts and temptations to measure truthfulness.
- A minor wound becomes a badge of honor and humility.
Comparative threads
- Beheading games: Echoes Irish legend Bricriu’s Feast and folklore of headless returns.
- Three temptations: Similar to biblical/folktale triple-test structures.
- Fae bargains: Parallels with selkie contracts and elf riddles.
Hooks and campaign seeds
- A green-clad giant invites a brutal game; refusal has social costs at court.
- A magic girdle can save a PC once but marks them for a future duel.
- A court adopts a visible badge to remember humility after a failed quest.