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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Student blog posts

 

Although Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is classified as a tale of romance, the reader doesn’t see this theme in the first three fitts. In the beginning of the story, a theme of respect and reputation is prominent. When the Green Knight is first introduced, he threatens King Arthur and his guests’ pride and credibility.

With this theme, the Green Knight acts in ways that shows little respect for the people he comes in contact with. For example, the Knight walks into King Arthur’s palace, without introduction, and immediately asks to speak to whoever is in charge. He then goes on his speech and insults the lords and the King by calling them too “puny” for him to want to fight in battle against. The Green Knight serves as a parallel in that his personality is very opposite when compared to the other characters in the story, especially Sir Gawain, who goes through the greatest lengths to defend his honor and pride. With this said, I wonder what other parallels are shown in the beginning of the poem, and whether they are opposites or similarities that are contrasted or compared throughout the poem.

The Great Hymn to the Aten

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In ancient times, creation stories serve as a time capsule from different regions; they serve to teach the following generations, and often laid the foundation of religious beliefs. In ancient Egypt, King Amenhotep IV began a religious cult built around the idea that the sun god, was the sole creator of all. Atenism was a new theory based on monotheism, which was a new concept for ancient Egyptian religions. It places an emphasis on the life of the living in contrast to death and afterlife.

The theme in this writing that stood out to me the most was the idea that Aten was responsible for the creation of everything. “You made the seasons to foster all that you made, winter to cool them, heat that they taste you. You made the far sky to shine therein, to behold all that you made”(lines 97-100). This leads me to believe that the King did believe that the sun god is the world’s creator, but I wonder if he believes that there are any other gods. Like I previously stated, monotheism wasn’t the norm for Egyptian religions, so this religious cult of Atenism may have believed in the existence of other gods, but that Aten was the sole creator.

The hymn also reflects the value of the living. The sun god is a symbol of life and rebirth, every morning is celebrated as a new beginning. “Earth brightens when you dawn in lightland, when you shine as Aten of daytime; as you dispel the dark, as you cast your rays, The Two Lands are in festivity. Awake they stand on their feet, you have roused them” (lines 25-30). Daytime is describes as a type of rebirth, and a time for work and productivity. Whereas nighttime is described by the line, “Earth is in darkness as if in death”(14). The juxtaposition of day and night shows how there is a belief that evil comes out at night, so it is best to sleep through the night.

I enjoyed this particular text because it made a lot of sense to me. Many creation stories, like the Genesis, are about a human god who created the world and people and then was worshiped for it. The sun god is interesting to me because it does give life to all living creatures and seems to be something that should be praised for the good it does.