“The Green Knight.” Fairy Gold : A Book of Old English Fairy Tales Chosen by Ernest Rhys, Ernest Rhys, London: J.M. Dent & Co.; New York : E.P. Dutton & co., 1907, pp. 19-36.

Tale Summary

One winter-tide at Camelot, when Arthur was King of Britain, there were fifteen days of celebration amongst the Knights of the Round Table. Just as the first course commenced, an unfamiliar knight appeared at the doorway. He was huge, dressed all in green and riding a green horse, carrying a holly bough in one hand and an axe in the other. Unafraid, King Arthur welcomed him, and asked why he had come. The knight replied he was looking for a worthy opponent; whoever was willing would strike him with the axe, and be prepared to receive a counter-blow within twelve months and a day. Sir Gawayne, Arthur’s nephew, volunteered, and the Green Knight had him swear to find him for his returning blow. After Gawayne struck and decapitated him, the Green Knight picked up his head and rode away, but not before telling him to go to the Green Chapel to receive a blow on New Year’s morning. The year passes, and the day after All-Hallows day, Gawayne and his horse are prepared and set off. On the morning of Christmas Eve, he was lost in the woods trying to find the chapel. After praying, he stumbled on a magnificent palace, and was invited to stay. He spent time merrymaking with the lord, and learned that the Green Chapel was only two miles away. The lord of the castle asked him to stay until the next morning, so that he could bring the knight whatever he caught during his hunt in the early hours, and gave him in token a ring which he could not give even to the fairest lady. The next morning, awaiting the lord, Gawayne met with the lady of the castle. He told her he would freely give her anything in token of his service and her courtesy, except for the ring. She begged for it but he would not give it up. The king returned from the hunt with meat, and Gawayne again agreed to spend another night. The same things happened that day and the next; Gawayne refused to give his ring to the lady, and the King returned from his hunt with game. On the third day, however, Gawayne accepted from the lady a green girdle which was to protect him from being wounded. The next day, a servant took Gawayne near to the chapel, and for the rest of the way the knight searched for it alone. Suddenly, he was met with the Green Knight, who held a new Danish axe. On his orders, Gawayne lowered his head and exposed his neck, but flinched before the blade touched him. The Green Knight reproached him, saying he did not flinch at Gawayne’s blow, and so again he showed his bare neck but this time did not flinch. The axe hit him but did not kill him, and Gawayne demanded the Green Knight not strike him anymore, because their agreement was a blow for a blow. The Green Knight revealed that he was the lord of the castle he had stayed at, and knew that he had taken the girdle from his wife, which meant he had sinned a little even if he did not give up the ring. Gawayne confessed and was forgiven, and was told to keep the girdle as a souvenir. He asked the knight’s real name, which was Bernlak de Hautdesert, and learned that he was acting under Morgan le Fay, who wished to terrorize Queen Guinevere, King Arthur’s wife. Gawayne returned to Arthur’s Hall, and told all of his adventures, and of the green girdle he now wore as remembrance of his shame. Afterwards, all the knights decided to wear green girdles for his sake.