Sir Gawain & the Green Knight - From Poem to Film: Arthur's Court and Fading Glory

 Potentially nothing excites the Medievalist in me more than a new film adaptation of a Medieval poem. I am fascinated by the ways in which we re-invent these tales to suit our own current needs. We can read much from these adaptations about our contemporary struggles with identity, masculinity, femininity, gender in general, power, and so much more. Directed by David Lowery and starring Dev Patel as Gawain, The Green Knight (2021) is a stunning film with great performances and its own, unique, take on the Middle English (ME) poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (SGGK). Composed roughly around 1400, the poem survives in a single manuscript, Cotton Nero MS A x, currently held in the British Library. The below summary is from the British Library website:

Gawain is a story of knightly deeds, sexual enticement and wild landscapes. It tells the story of the young Gawain, who is a knight at the legendary court of King Arthur. The poem opens with a description of a Christmas feast at Camelot, the Arthurian court. During the feast a mysterious knight, with green hair and green skin, riding a green horse, arrives and challenges the assembled crowd to a bizarre game, which sets off a chain of events in which Gawain faces trials and temptations. - British Library

In this series of posts I will address a number of themes that occur in both the poem and film. A full "review" may follow. I would love to know your thoughts on the things I highlight and discuss, so feel free to air your thoughts in the comments! It is by no means my intent to paint the poem as the "original" or the "benchmark" against which the film must be compared. A key aspect of Medieval literature is its variance, by which we Medievalist denote the fact that no two manuscripts of the "same story" actually contain the same story. Each manuscript has variant words, spellings, and even story details. So I will be following in the footsteps of other academics in considering the ME poem and Lowery's film as two variations on a theme.

Note: I will be referring to the film by The Green Knight and to the poem by its academic abbreviation SGGK.

Note 2.0: Inevitably these posts will contain spoilers although I do my best to limit them. Read at your own discretion.

King Arthur's Court: Fading Glory

Today we are starting at the beginning, at home base so to say: the court of King Arthur. 

King Arthur and his court are legendary. I feel like this is as close to a fact as we can get. Not only are a whole variety of myths and legends written about this court, but the concept of it continues to shimmer through in our own ideas around power and renown. Only consider Arthur's Round Table which finds its echo in countless seats of government and meeting rooms. The tales of King Arthur and his Knights exist in a number of vernacular (non-Latin) languages, but most consistently in French Romances. While Arthur stars in the central role in popular culture, he is, in fact, frequently at the periphery of these romances, which act as vehicles for his Knights. Whether it is Lancelot and his tragic love-life, Galahad and his successful Grail quest, or Yvain and his lion companion, it is Arthur's knights that consistently confirm the grandness of his court. They are the ones bringing back tales of wonder and glory, while King Arthur remains on the throne, unable to endanger himself by going out on adventures. Alongside Arthur's stability, the Knights provide glamour.

SGGK starts with a short prologue in which the creation and ancestry of Arthur's court is explained. It grounds not just the court but also the poem itself in historical and literary tradition. We start with the burning of Troy, followed by Aeneas' escape and his role as the forefather of Romulus and Remus. From Rome we then move to the founding of "Britain", admittedly something that did not exist at the time. This long line of proud and bold men, who work through strife and joy to found great sites and kingdoms, allows us to see Arthur, and his Knights, as part of this tradition of greatness.

In The Green Knight we do not see a grand and illustrious court full of life and cheer. While in SGGK one gets the impression that Arthur's Court is still young and that even the king himself is childlike and eager for entertainment, the Court in The Green Knight is waning. King Arthur and Guinevere are old and the former hardly has the strength to hold his own sword. While a whole set of knights sits around them, none of them are recognizable. Only two famed characters of the round table are either implicitly mentioned or hinted at. Arthur comments that one dear to him and his queen is currently absent from his seat near them. This is a reference, no doubt, to Lancelot, Camelot's pride and glory. Arthur seems unsure when, or if, Lancelot will return. Secondly, we have Merlin. He is never actively mentioned, yet an old, druid-like figure, named on the cast list as 'Magician', does appear at Court. He is seen advising Arthur with slight movements and features later on in Gawain's story as well. His actions are, however, muted like the rest of Arthur's Court and Merlin functions on a different level within Arthuriana than the Knights. 

One thing to bear in mind is that the Knights of the Round Table are as easily recognizable as Saints, to those in the know. They are frequently depicted with attributes that link them to their tales, that allow them to be identified on sight in manuscript illuminations and other depictions. For example, as mentioned above, one tale about Yvain, Chretien de Troyes' romance Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, has him befriend a lion, who comes to stand for his knightly virtue. If you were to see a depiction of the Knights of the Round Table and saw one accompanied by a lion, it would be a safe bet that this was Yvain. So even if they are not introduced by name, a film as highly aware of visual language and visual imagery as The Green Knight would most definitely have made them recognizable. So what does it mean that none of them are present?

According to the cast list no one in The Green Knight's Court is named, aside from Gawain. We have 'King' and 'Queen', we have 'Mother' and 'Magician'. Renown and adventure are what makes the name of a knight, it is what establishes his name as one of Arthur's Knights, it is what ensures that his name is mentioned in poems and tales amongst the people. The Green Knight's court is nameless and thereby without renown. The Green Knight's mocking request whether anyone there is strong enough to meet his challenge is now also a genuine question. What The Green Knight shows us is a court lacking not in heart, per se, but in ability. It is a court that is waning, losing in power and vitality. We are shown decline. While I will go further into this theme of decay in a different post, it is worth highlighting here as well. How does one flourish if one's home base is rotting away, slowly dying out?

SGGK as well as The Green Knight are coming-of-age tales, stories in which a young man sets out to prove himself worthy. In SGGK the challenge for Gawain is, in part, to prove himself worthy of his familial tie to Arthur, of a position amongst the likes of Lancelot. In The Green Knight, however, one has to wonder what Gawain is supposed to live up to. While there is, as I mentioned above, plenty of heart at the Court, there is no Knight to provide an example for Gawain. He is free to get drunk and visit brothels, to lose his boots and get into bar fights. While the challenge of the Green Knight eventually requires him to get on the road towards, hopefully, honour and renown, he has no real example for how to do so. The Green Knight, then, shows us a court that has lost its ability to inspire. While a position at Arthur's Court, a position as Knight, is still something Gawain aspires to, it is not something he seems to be working towards until the Green Knight's challenge requires an answer. Gawain's motto, for the first ten or so minutes of the film, is "I still have time". Greatness is delayed, honour is something that can wait until its easier to achieve. That this spells disaster can surely be imagined.

I think this is a fascinating decision by Lowery which, surely, mirrors the way current younger generations feel. When (Western) Millennials and, to a larger extent, Generation Z look around, do they also see a society in decline? How can they not, with rising wealth disparity, housing crises, financial crises, climate change, and now a pandemic? How could they not, if so many in positions of leadership seem unable, or even unwilling, to face any of these challenges constructively and, crucially, with honour? SGGK shows Gawain something to live up to, from the very beginning. There is a tradition of greatness he wants to participate in, and in order to do so he has to pass a variety of tests and, most importantly, face himself and his own failings. In The Green Knight the sense of glory has long since faded and its Gawain therefore has no practice in passing tests or facing himself. While I would argue that many people, young and old, these days set out looking for honourable ways to confront our societies' challenges, The Green Knight presents the bleakness of our current situation starkly.

 This theme of faded glory and fear of greatness will be continued in the next post, 'On The Shoulders of Giants'.