Humility,_The_Virtue_That_Saved_Gawain’s_Life

Humility, The Virtue That Saved Gawain’s Life Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by an anonymous author, is the tale of a brave but humble knight. Sir Gawain is not painted as a superhuman hero; rather, he is depicted as a man with a brave heart, but with very human flaws. Those who know Gawain still consider him a hero even though he makes mistakes. They hold him in even higher esteem because, even though he falls from grace, he displays complete humility and keeps trying to better himself. Sir Gawain’s humility at the beginning of the poem sets the standard for his future humble behavior. A knight dressed in green, called the Green Knight, rides into King Arthur’s court during a Christmas feast and extends a challenge. He challenges any of the people of the court to strike him once if the person will allow him to strike his assailant one year hence (ll. 289-300). No one in the court accepts it at first, but when King Arthur rises to accept the challenge, Gawain comes forward and takes his place. Gawain then gives a humble speech, saying “I am the weakest, well I know, and of wit feeblest; /And the loss of my life would be gawain, one, knight, green, lady, humility, humble, ll, day, court, because, girdle, temptation, life, first, even, castle, time, though, promise, mistakes, made, lord, king, human, himself, hero, gives, everyone, cut, accepts, wit, virtues, very, truly, three