Loosening_Knots_In_Sir_Gawain_And_The_Green_Knight

Loosening Knots In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight In Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, the poet represents the protagonist Gawain with two different types of knots. Initially, Gawain is portrayed as the noble knight of King Arthur’s court who is the quintessence of chivalry; he is loyal, courteous and above all honest. The poet portrays his chivalric character with the pentangle on the shield because he is void of faults and “tulk of tale most trwe/ And gentylest knygt of lote.” (ll. 638-639). These traits are put to the test, and he proves himself honorable except for the last test in which he accepts a girdle from Lady Bercilak for the sake of saving his life. The poet uses the girdle to show how Gawain’s character and motivations change. The evolution of symbolic identification reveals that the love of life causes human beings to lose virtuousness but can be redeemed with spiritual and humanistic moral correction. In stanza 27 the poet introduces the symbol of the pentangle and draws a parallel between trawþ and endlessness. The image of the pentangle dates back to King Solomon and was used by the Hebrews as an attribute of Truth and the five books of the Pentateuch. Already, one can see gawain, girdle, bercilak, pentangle, gawain’s, poet, green, þe, þat, word, says, lord, hit, life, one, ll, lady, knight, god, trawþe, human, token, perfection, arthur’s, yow, virtues, shows, show, moral, lines, king, fyue, endlessness, endless, character