Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Romance Conventions Essay

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Romance Conventions In Chrà ©tien de Troyes’ Yvain, Calogrenant relates his ‘adventure’ in Broceliande. He meets a monstrous herdsman in a forest, who asks who Calogrenant is: â€Å"‘I am, as you see, a knight looking for something I’m unable to find: I’ve sought long and can find nothing.’ – ‘And what would you want to find? – ‘Some adventure, to put my prowess and courage to the proof.† As John Stevens observes, these lines â€Å"could serve almost as a classic definition of chivalric romance.† The first part of Calogrenant’s answer could have come from the mouth of Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, as he searches for the Green Chapel to fulfil his pact with the Green Knight. However, the latter†¦show more content†¦The events of the poem begin with a feast in the court of King Arthur at New Year which the Green Knight interrupts to offer his challenge. King Arthur’s custom is to not sit down to eat until either someone has told a story about â€Å"sum aduenturus à ¾yng†(l. 93) or if such an event actually occurs, which follows the Gawain-poet’s source of the First Continuation of Chrà ©tien de Troyes’ Perceval . King Arthur thus symbolically invites the Green Knight into the court as providing the adventure he was waiting for, so that the Green Knight â€Å"does not disrupt the courtly ceremonial so mu ch as complete it.† However, the Gawain-poet deviates from his source by having King Arthur accept the Green Knight’s challenge, and then Gawain interrupt the King just before he is able to do so, as opposed to the rash Caradoc who leaps forth to take up the challenge immediately. As Benson writes, by making this change from the source, Gawain â€Å"is thus no longer a free agent.† As demonstrated even by the seating in the hall , it is inevitable that Gawain should take the place of King Arthur, since for King Arthur to take the challenge is â€Å"not semly†(l. 348), and since Gawain is the second after his uncle. Gawain, introduced in the poem as â€Å"gode Gawan†(l. 109), and it is precisely on the reputation of Arthur’s knights that theShow MoreRelatedThe Canterbury Tales, written by Chaucer, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by an1600 Words   |  7 PagesThe Canterbury Tales, written by Chaucer, and Sir Gawain and the Gre en Knight, written by an anonymous author, are both sophisticated fourteenth-century examples of medieval romance. Medieval romances captured the heart of their audiences as narratives and stories that featured a protagonist, often a knight, and dealt with religious allegories, chivalry, courtly love, and heroic epics. 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