Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

The Green Knight of the North dares Sir Gawain of Camelot to a rare and unusual challenge in a test of courage and honour.

A massive boom and bang were followed by the thundering of iron hooves on a stone floor. Then the enormous doors of Camelot Castle's banqueting hall swung open. A massive man galloped in on a massive horse. He came to a standstill in the centre of the room.

King Arthur and his Knights leapt up from their seats at the Round Table, startled. They were speechless as they peered at the weird interloper. He was completely green from head to toe. His jerkin and cloak were green, as were his spurs, as were his hair, beard, and skin. His horse was also green.

"Who of you is the leader of this gathering?" demanded the intruder.

King Arthur took a step forward. "Who wants to talk to him?" he questioned boldly.

"I am the powerful Green Knight of the North!" exclaimed the respondent. "I've come to Camelot to see if all I've heard about this place is true."

"How about what you've heard?" King Arthur was curious.

"That this castle is the residence of the bravest knights and the mightiest and most gracious Monarch," replied the Green Knight. He gazed about with disgust. "But now that I'm here, it appears that you're all weaklings and beardless youths. I could murder all of you with a single stroke of my axe."

Several Knights rushed to their feet and readied their swords, ready to murder this impudent invader. Arthur raised his hand to stop them. He shifted his gaze to the Green Knight. "You've made a huge brag, sir," the King said. "You have to demonstrate it. You've made disparaging remarks about my Knights. They are honour obliged to challenge you as a result."

The Green Knight chuckled wildly as he flung back his enormous head. "No Knight of yours would dare to take up my challenge," he boasted.

"I shall do it, whatever it takes!" exclaimed the youthful, rash Sir Gawain. He was one of Arthur's most brave knights. "Can you tell me about your challenge?" Sir Gawain sobbed. "Speak!"

The Green Knight reached forward and pulled a massive green axe from the side of his horse. Its blade was at least twice the length of a man's hand, with a perfectly sharpened edge that gleamed and shone in the torchlight.

"I dare you to go blow for blow with this mighty axe of mine," shouted the Green Knight. "I'll kneel on the floor and take the first hit. "You must pledge on your honour to meet me next Christmastide and endure the second strike from me," the Knight added menacingly."

There was a collective gasp from everyone in the banqueting hall. The Green Knight must be insane! His axe could cut through the head of an ox. Everyone, even Sir Gawain, was in awe and bewilderment as they stared at the Green Knight. The Green Knight misinterpreted their quiet for terror. He laughed mockingly.

"As I suspected," he said. "You are all cowards," I say, "my task is too tremendous for you!"

Sir Gawain's cheeks went bright red with rage. "This fellow's insults are too much for me," he sobbed. "I will take up your challenge."

The Green Knight grimaced as he slid his leg over the saddle and fell to the floor. He was a behemoth, half the height of Sir Gawain. Yet, Sir Gawain was unfazed.

"Give me the axe," he said.

Gawain seized the axe and practised swinging it back and forth. "I am prepared," Sir Gawain stated. "Are you ready, Sir Knight, for the first blow?"

The Green Knight crouched on the floor, pushed his long hair aside, exposed his neck, and lowered his head forward. "Attack immediately!" he yelled.

"Gladly," Sir Gawain exclaimed, and with one great swing of the axe, he swung it around towards the Green Knight's neck. The blade slashed through the Green Knight's head, causing it to fall to the floor.

Sir Gawain blanched in horror, but the Green Knight laughed. "I am not injured!" he exclaimed. His body lifted, crossed to where his head rested, and grabbed it by the hair. The Green Knight then remounted his horse.

"Remember your oath, Sir Knight," the Green Knight advised. "Look for me at my castle in the North next Christmas."

With that, the Green Knight turned his horse around and rode off as loudly as he arrived.

The following December, Sir Gawain set off from Camelot in search of the Green Knight's castle. The journey was long and difficult, and the weather was rough and extremely cold. He wished he was back in Camelot many times when snow blizzards blew all about him and the wind seemed to slash into his very bones.

But that was simply a fleeting thought. Sir Gawain had every intention of keeping his weird contract with the Green Knight. It was strange, though, that Sir Gawain met so many people on the route who sought to divert him from his goal.

The first was the nobleman who stopped him on the way and offered to entertain him at his nearby castle.

"There are big fireplaces there to keep you warm," the nobleman promised. "And a fantastic feast with as much wine as you can handle. Following the feast, you can relax in a bed made of soft feathers."

Sir Gawain expressed gratitude to the nobility but declined his offer. "No, dear sir," he said. "I am sworn to meet the Green Knight at his castle."

Sir Gawain rode on, shivering and famished. He then met a huntsman. The huntsman greeted him and, like the nobility, appeared to be quite kind and generous.

"The Green Knight's castle is a long way away, Sir Gawain," the huntsman explained. "Surely you'd like to go hunting with me and my friends? It's a warm, lively sport with plenty of deer and wild pigs nearby. After that, we can have a big feast. What do you think, Sir?"

Sir Gawain declined once more. "Sir, I thank you. Your offer is kind," he answered, "But I am obliged by my pledge to meet the Green Knight."

Then a knight came on the road, fully armoured and clearly on his way to a tournament. The knight offered to take Sir Gawain with him to test their fighting talents against one other, followed by a feast and conversation around a roaring fire. Gawain rejected once more and continued on his trek to the Green Knight's stronghold.

Finally, the castle came into view. Of course, everything was green. Its lofty towers and massive battlements created stunning patterns against the cold sky. Sir Gawain rode into the courtyard as the sky began to darken. It was the eve of Christmas.

The Green Knight was waiting for him there. His head was back on his shoulders, and there was no trace of the axe stroke that had severed his neck a year before.

"Welcome," exclaimed the Green Knight, joyously greeting Sir Gawain. "Let us get right to work. I've been waiting for this moment for over a year."

The Green Knight was as terrifying as Sir Gawain remembered him, and his enormous green axe appeared to be as mighty and keen as before. Sir Gawain mumbled his prayers silently as he followed the Green Knight into the castle.

When they arrived in the hall, the Green Knight indicated a location on the stone floor. "Kneel there, Sir Gawain," he told him. "Here is where I respond to the blow you dealt me last Christmas."

Sir Gawain knelt, pulled his hair aside, and leaned his head forward for one last prayer.

"Be ready to strike," Sir Gawain said emphatically to the Green Knight.

"I am a Knight of the Round Table, and I will uphold my promise to you even if it means my death. Unlike you, I cannot replace my head if it is cut off by your axe. Gentleman, come strike!"

The Green Knight raised his axe and struck it quickly towards Sir Gawain's neck.

Sir Gawain could feel the surge of air. Yet the sword never touched him.

The Knight came to a halt a finger's breadth from Sir Gawain's neck. Sir Gawain looked up, intrigued and surprised.

"You're playing with me!" he charged the Green Knight. "This is hardly chivalrous behaviour!"

Then he noticed the Green Knight was smiling at him, not with disdain as he had seen him smile before, but with a kind expression. The Knight hoisted Sir Gawain to his feet by placing his large hand under his elbow.

"No, I am playing no game " merely testing your courage and honour," remarked the Green Knight softly. "You didn't flinch at my axe blade right now. That took a lot of guts. Although I placed all manner of temptations on the road between here and Camelot to divert your attention away from your goal, you denied them all, even though you were cold, exhausted, and hungry. That requires a truly noble spirit."

Sir Gawain exclaimed. "That was you!" he said. "But, Sir, you enticed me with the most delectable luxuries any knight could desire!"

"Then enjoy them all now," the Green Knight said with a smile. "I completed Merlin's mission of ensuring that King Arthur and his Knights remain the bravest and most honourable Knights in Britain. You've clearly demonstrated that they are. Now, Sir Gawain, we will feast and hunt, and tomorrow there will be a tournament held here at my castle. And you can sleep soundly tonight. You thoroughly deserved it."