Paganism and Christianity’s Roles in Sir Gawain and the...

Paganism and Christianity’s Roles in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Gawain’s belief by the end of â€Å"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight† is that he has failed—in honesty, fidelity, and faith. As a representative of an ideal Christian whose priority is to remain godly (and knightly), he sees the outcome of his quest quite differently than the Green Knight. The Green Knight also prizes honesty, though not always at the cost of life, a view not necessarily shared by Gawain. Strangely enough, King Arthur’s court, ideally as devout as Gawain, sees Gawain’s small human flaws not as a failure (as Gawain does) but as an overall achievement—he returned to court alive and bravely kept his word to the Green Knight. Considering these three†¦show more content†¦This process seems to have been set into motion by the abundant appearance of morality instructing green men and vegetation figures. Also, the Green Man myth appears to have had a powerful impact on early Christian writing. The Celtic head cult, for example, seems to be linked with legends of St. Denis and St. Winifred, both of which involve decapitation. The theme of a head having life even after it has been severed is prominent in the stories of St. Denis and St. Melor: [St. Melor] was a young prince whose lands were usurped by his uncle. His uncle persuaded his guardian with bribes to kill St. Melor. His guardian cut off the boy’s head and sent off to show it to St. Melor’s uncle. On the journey, the assassin became ill and weak with thirst and near to death. He cried out for help. The head spoke and told him to plant the staff in the earth. The staff instantly took root and turned into a beautiful tree. The tree put forth branches and fruit and a healing fountain poured from its roots which cured the assassin (Anderson 59). When reading this story, a vision of the Green Knight might well come to mind, for his severed head, like St. Melor’s, lives on after it has been severed from the body. Once the Knight’s head has fallen to the floor and terrified the court, his body calmly collects it and climbs back onto his horse. He then taunts the court by opening his eyes and reminding Gawain that he must uphold his