GREEN!!!

I finished reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight earlier today. So here I am to make my post. . .

1. An epic hero is often thought of as being braver, stronger, smarter, and more clever than the average person. Sir Gawain meets these stereotypes to certain degrees, but he also fails to meet them. In the beginning of his tale, he is not really that much more extraordinary than anyone else; he only takes the challenge because he thinks himself less worthy than others, therefore a less troubling loss. However, while his motives for taking the challenge seem strange, they prove him to be brave because he is willing to risk his own life to save that of King Arthur, or any of the other knights.
Sir Gawain does take on the Green Knight's challenge and holds true to his covenant to meet him a year after delivering him a blow to receive the same in return. Along his quest to find the Green Chapel and the Green Knight he comes to a lord's castle, where he stays and makes a covenant with him. At first he holds honest to it, but on the last day of it he does not. So, he can be seen as being flawed in the aspect that in fear of losing his life, he takes the queens corset and hides that from the king in spite of their covenant.
Sir Gawain is an epic hero type character because he is brave and goes on a quest to uphold his end of an agreement. He stays true to his knighthood ways for the most part, but at some point he proves himself to be human as well. He has his own flaws like an person. He, like most people, came to the point where his life seemed more important than other things and he was not honest in his covenant with the king to try to save his life from the Green Knight.

2. I did not find the Green Knight to be evil. While he was not the nicest man alive, he was not exactly evil either. He sought out King Arthur's court to test the knights of the Round Table. He made his challenge and it was freely accepted, he did not force it upon any of the knights. I would say that the Green Knight, while he was not evil, was rather deceiving and somewhat tricky. He tried to trick Sir Gawain into breaking the covenant he formed with him (the lord) by tempting him with his wife. He ends up succeeding, but only because Gawain feared for his life. He is able to tempt Gawain into doing something he ordinarily would not, which is breaking his covenant. He wanted to stay true to his word, but he has a weak moment and is unable to. The Green Knight did not come up with this scheme on his own; he was fulfilling a task set upon himself by Morgan le Fay to test the knights of the Round Table. So I believe that the Green Knight is not an evil being, but only a man fulfilling what he was sought after to do.

3. The color GREEN can have many meanings. Green can symbolize a lack of experience. I think that in that case it would apply to Sir Gawain, because it appears as though Sir Gawain is not a very experienced knight. His covenant with the Green Knight was probably the first he encountered of great importance, so the green symbolizes his inexperience and the growth he undergoes throughout his quest. The color green also often relates to nature and a large part of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight takes place in nature. Green can also represent a newness and growth. The first part of Sir Gawain's covenant takes places at the beginning of a new year, so it is a time for a new things. Sir Gawain changes throughout the course of the year that leads up to his quest. It is again a new years when he fulfills his half of the covenant. Gawain changes again right before and after his second acquaintance with the Green Knight, so the new year once again represents a new beginning for Sir Gawain.