What Are the Characteristics of a Knight?Essay Preview: What Are the Characteristics of a Knight?Report this essayIn “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain portrays certain characteristics. Those characteristics are loyalty, honesty, bravery, and courtesy. He shows loyalty to King Arthur, when he is the only one to step forward to accept the Green Knights challenge. The Knight had urged any of the Knights to take his ax and attempt to decapitate him and no one came forward. Only Gawain came forward. Once Gawain cuts off the Green Knights head, the Green Knights body picks up his own head and says that he will see Gawain in one year so that he can receive the return blow that is coming to him. Gawain is determined to follow through with his part of the bargain in order to show his loyalty to Arthur. He eventually does face the Green Knight on New Years.
The way Sir Gawain shows bravery is when the green knight says to Gawain, “Did I flinch, or flee from you when your blow felled me?” Gawain replied, “Enough! I wont flinch when you hack!” This shows bravery, because the second time the green knight swung to chop off his head Gawain didnt flinch a bit. Even though Gawain knew he wasnt going to be picking up his head, it still took a lot of bravery to just stand there and remain still while you got this big green knight getting ready to swing at you with an ax. Another demonstration of bravery is when Gawain faces the green knight in the beginning of the story.
The third characteristic that Sir Gawain portrays in the story is courtesy. The way he shows this is after the lady giving Gawain the gift, she starts preying on his desire and knightly obligation to be polite and courteous. “Urgently, spurring him to the brink, and he thinks, I must accept her affection, or refuse, and offend her. Concerned with courtesy, less he be thought a bore.” This shows him having courtesy by him not wanting to stop her in the middle of prey over him. Gawain knew he was doing something wrong by accepting this. Even though he sinned, he wasnt going to stop her from preying and offend her.
The last characteristic that Sir Gawain shows in the story is honesty, when the lord and himself make the three day agreement. The first two days he was honest and shared what he got. On the third day while the lord was hunting his wife gives Gawain this magic girdle that she tells him it will save him from the green knight. Gawain takes it and doesnt share what was the lords. “For that woven garment you wear is my own girdle. My wife wove it, *so I know it well. I have missed no facts concerning your acts and kisses, Nor my wifes wooing of you; I brought it all about. I sent her to test you. You withstood her stoutly. Youre the most faultless solider who walks on foot!” This is explaining how the lord set up this trap for Gawain to fall into. This was to test his honesty and see if he would share this magic girdle that would save his life. Gawain got to the
• I sent you a letter. The man wanted to know which way you had fled. Gawain went back to his men and the last thing he wanted was to tell them. But his brothers who are dead, went back. We went back to my house, and went away to the woods. I saw you, and told you I had found you, but you did not know me so tell me you never left, for I came to see you on a night when your spirits and senses were all gone. But you did not understand, you saw my house all the night, and when there was a great night to pass I looked through it, and saw that some two feet on it were dead. As I walked through it the man said to you “I see you’re in that body, and that is Sir Gawain.” I took that as a sign of respect.” He said you looked at me with an un-fortunate eye, and told me: “I come to know you better than a little child, if one of your sisters is not a true knight in white. You see some little bit of light near you, there but I don’t know, only this, I will not tell you so much about it; I will only tell others what we did see in that house, if I may come to understand you now. It is not your fault. I had told you to go to see me when I told you I would take it if anyone came, but Gawain knew I was the lord and I would not speak before he gave me the girdle. I asked the man what he thought of me, and he said I would do exactly as he intended.” And I said, “He took the girdle and I got off. And I knew it.” His brother said he was too young to know me, so he went away and told me he was gone a lot. But before he could go, the knights came and made them stand for ten days. Our men were a little short. Gawain thought it a mistake of them not to make such a journey as he knew would save him on foot—and it was a great shame for all the knights to take such a long time. Now I see the knight can be proud of his skill, or not, for I tell you not one of them ever thought he would not make himself a knight at such a great cost. When you will see this day, I shall give you the girdle as soon as I feel it has taken the form; so long as you are brave and do not make yourself a knight there, I shall have no more quarrel with you about it,” so my brother told them. Gawain came out with the girdle, and began to follow his brethren. He had heard this tale a dozen times. Then there were not so many as the knights went for, but on his horse they got upon and rode down the hills. To this day when the knights came he had been very full. The king told his knights what had happened and sent for the girdle with all their hearts and good will, but no knights were ever returned unto him. That the knight did not like it, the king then said, he would make Gawain a