One
thing I really enjoyed about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was the level of description and imagery that accompanied every section of the story. We were given descriptions of people, clothing, places, landscapes - every description given just as much as importance as the last. My favorite lines (or at least the ones that resonated most as I was reading it) were these:
“but then the weather in the
world makes war on the winter,
cold creeps into the earth,
clouds are uplifted,
shining rain is shed in
showers that all warm
fall on the fair turf,
flowers there open,
of grounds and of groves
green is the raiment,
birds are busy a-building
and bravely are singing
for the sweetness of the
soft summer that will soon be on the way:
and blossoms burgeons and blow
in hedgerows bright and gay;
then glorious musics go
through the woods in proud array.”
This
seemed very appropriate for the weather outside my house today. Among all the
stresses of the week, it's nice to stop and notice the world moving through such
familiar motions and see that things continue on being beautiful and warm and
connected even when we may feel disconnected and worried.
What
were your favorite descriptions from Sir Gawain? And why do you think
the author chose to put as much time into describing the landscape and the field-dressing
of the hunted animals as they put into the descriptions of people and actions?
In class we've talked a lot about Tolkien's use of descriptions to form a visible and complex world, even when it doesn't actually exist I our physical world. When reading Sir Gawain and he Green Knight, I was able to visualize the world in pretty much the same way. The author of this story isn't just trying to tell you a story, he wants the reader to be there with Sir Gawain. By doing this, I think we get much more invested in the trials and temptations that Gawain faces, especially as he finally meets with the green knight a second time. The fear and delicacy of his life, as well as the shame he feels for betraying the trust of the knight is much more palpable than if this was a short story rather than a fully developed character and environment. I found he overall description of the green knight in the beginning of the story to be very interesting and important. He is a fantastical and strange being, but the way he is described makes the reader understand his strange power, and why everyone was so fearful of him, making Gawain's brave act all the more honorable.
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