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The Pentangle Shield In Relation To Sir Gawain

   

Sir Gawain wields a shield throughout his journey that represents his own personal code of honor, which he tries his best to uphold. The shield will be further described as well as how well Gawain stands up to his code.

        Almost a year after Sir Gawain’s encounter with the green knight, his shield was described before he went out in search of the green chapel. The outward facing side was solid red with a gold pentangle, which is a five pointed symbol where the lines are interlocked and never ending. On the other side the Virgin Mary. The pentangle was said to be created by Solomon (625), it represents Gawain’s five senses, five fingers, the five wounds of Jesus Christ, and the five joys of Mary (annunciation, nativity, resurrection, ascension, assumption). Lastly it symbolizes the five virtues of Gawain; generosity, good fellowship, cleanness, courtesy, and compassion. The reverse side which features the Virgin Mary, who was regarded very highly for being the mother of Jesus while still being a virgin she is also regarded as a symbol for purity.

    There are a few examples of Gawain’s generosity, first is his willingness to take his kings place in the beheading contest against the green knight when nobody else would. “I am the weakest in wit; loss of my life is there for of little account” (354) Gawain generously offered himself to play the game so that no harm would come to anybody else he deemed more important to the court. “Now, heavy with care, they counselled the knight and many suffered in their sorrow secretly.”(556) Gawain put on good cheer. Why should I hesitate? He said. Kind or severe, we must engage our fate.” In this part of the story Gawain is about to embark on a journey of almost certain doom, and the other knights are trying to hide how sad they are. Gawain, instead of showing fear or regret, generously puts on a happy face and tells them that everyone has to follow their fate. He did this in an attempt to make stop feeling sorry for him and to encourage his destiny.

Good fellowship was another part of Gawain’s code, this can be displayed when he agrees to stay at Bercilak’s castle as a guest until after the New Years. He tries to be a good guest and show friendship. Gawain also shows good fellowship when he partakes in all the different games that he participates in, for example he plays the game with the lord and others to try and fight the lord and take the cloak that he placed on a spear (986). Another major example is his participation in the bargain between the lord and Gawain where for three days whatever the lord won while hunting would be Gawain’s and what Gawain wins would become the lord’s. Sir Gawain showed good fellowship the first two of the three days but on the third, Gawain withheld his winnings and broke the bargain which wasn’t a friendly thing to do even though it conflicted with a different promise.

Gawain’s third virtue was cleanliness, he demonstrated this every time the lord’s wife came in to his bed chambers. Cleanliness can be a symbol for purity or virginity, whenever the lady went into Gawain’s bed chambers she came with the intent of sleeping with him. Gawain showed restraint in keeping himself clean, as each day the lady used a different tactic while her husband was away.

Gawain showed his fourth virtue, courtesy which can be described as showing respect toward somebody. He does this when he takes Arthurs place in the beheading game against the green knight, out of respect for his king he was willing to risk his well being for his king and kingdom. Another example of Gawain showing courtesy was when he respected his friendship with the lord and refused any and all sexualy advances put on yo him from the lady. While doing so he also managed to respect the lady’s feeling by offering his knightly services and protection.

Sir Gawain managed to adhere to his personal knightly code. He successfully displayed his honor through all five of his virtues, except for when it came to fellowship because he failed to give the lord the girdle that he had received. Gawain was a near perfect knight, but had a minor flaw when it came to this virtue.