Let's Discuss: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Plus, 2025 Plans & Voting on January's WRW
‘By God Himself,” said Gawain,
‘I’ll neither weep nor wail.
To God’s will I am bound
and dedicated to Him.’
In this issue:
- Discussion Prompts
- Stand-out Quotes
- Further Reading
- Plans & New Format for 2025
- Vote for January’s WRW
Discussion Prompts
Below are a few prompts to inspire discussion in the comments. Feel free to use these as a starting point, if you need, and expand from there.
How does the Green Knight’s game challenge or reveal the virtue of Gawain?
How does Gawain approach battles as a knight? Does he approach the Green Knight in the same way?
In what ways does the author draw connections between this Arthurian legend and epics of Greece and Rome?
Who or what does each hunted game animal symbolize?
What would you say of the author’s tone and general presence throughout the poem?
(Bonus) Did you compare translations? If so, what stood out to you between each?
Stand-out Quotes
Below are a few stand-out quotes. All are from the Penguin’s edition of the translation by Bernard O'Donoghue.
On the pentangle:
What it is is a symbol the Solomon devised
to represent truth in balance with justice,
because it is a figure with five points,
each overlapping and interlocking with the rest
so it has no end.
That’s why he displayed
this pentangle on his shield,
as the man of truest fame
and pure in his speech.
On chivalry and virtue:
He was worried for his chivalry, in case he’d seem boorish,
but more for his virtue lest he’d fall into sin
and betray that good lord whose castle it was.
‘I am deeply in your debt
because you are so kind,
and will ever, come what may, remain your devoted knight.’
‘But there you fell short a bit and failed in fidelity,
not from love of artwork or libidinous urges,
but because you like being alive. I don't blame you for that!’
The hunted fox’s fate:
He drew out his bright sword and struck at the fox,
who ducked from the blade and would have dodged back,
but a hound leaped upon him, just at that point,
and at the horse’s hooves they all fell upon him,
savaging the trickster with fearsome clamour.
My favorite lines:
Bitter snow slanted down and stung the wild beasts;
the screaming wind whipped from the heights
and filled every valley with swollen snowdrifts.
The knight listened where he lay in his bed.
Though he closes his eyes, he sleeps very little;
by each crow of the cock he knew well the time.
Further Reading
If you enjoyed Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, you may also enjoy…
Howard Pyle’s King Arthur and His Knights of The Round Table
Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey
Pearl, another poem attributed to the “Gawain Poet”
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales
Plans & New Format for 2025
Format
Looking to 2025, I plan to move the discussion format away from its own post and instead to the comments of the month’s WRW post. This means you can expect one post each month that includes both 1) an introduction to the month’s WRW classic pick and 2) the discussion happening in the comment section below it.
Weekenders Community & Voting
In 2025, voting for monthly WRWs, subscriber perks, and community-only comments will be held in the new Weekenders Community section of this website. You can join this community section by becoming paid subscriber.
Upcoming Classic Reads
I recently polled you Well-Read Weekenders and learned you’re interested in reading all genres with heavier skew toward fiction.
For 2025’s WRWs, we will read at least one philosophical short classic, one dramatic (play) short classic, and eight fiction short classics. This gives us two WRW months to choose any genre or to choose more classic fiction.
Vote for January’s Well-Read Weekend
Paid subscribers can vote below for January’s Well-Read Weekend.
(Starting in 2025, voting for each WRW month will take place in the Weekenders Community area only.)
Cheers to a classical 2024! See you all in 2025!