Symbolism In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

Friends, fellow protesters we are gathered here today to encourage others to be considerate of the environment. However, this poem here in my hand holds all the answers to our problems. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written over six hundred years ago, but despite this, its ecological statements continue to be relevant to our society today. It exposes our fraught relationship with our environment and what we should expect if we continue to disrespect the natural world. Ultimately this poet here has created the first ever eco-poem through continuously alluding to nature and also metaphorically representing it as the antagonist, the Green Knight.

As I said, it’s not just the intricacies of this poem that suggest this ecological interpretation.
The predominant colour in nature is green, we are taught when we are young that green is associated with trees, grass and the natural world. And what do we call our fellow environmentalists? That’s right, the Greens. Green connotes the idea of nature and Earth, hence yet again the Gawain poet has placed an emphasis on our association with nature as a result of mentioning this colour. The word itself is in the title of the poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and thus the audience is alerted to the colour and its symbolism as soon as they pick up the poem. As we begin to read this text it is no different, the colour is continuously used in the description of the Green Knight. The knight is described at the end of the bob and wheel as “entirely emerald green” this description is the last thing mentioned about the Green Knight and its position allows the phrase to resonate in the readers mind and again reminding them of nature. The description is furthered with the horse of which “every hair was green”, and stirrups with “green beads” and the “greenest jewels” making the symbolism even more apparent. However it is not just the Green Knight who is compared to this colour, Gawain takes a green girdle from Lady Bertilac and carries it to the green chapel. Not only does this again highlight the connotations of the colour green but the green
Medieval society at that time was purely agrarian with land being the primary commodity and farming the major occupation. However, this constant ploughing and destruction of the Earth is addressed in this poem. When the Green Knight challenges Gawain to return one year later after the beheading it is in order to “reap what” he has “sown”. This agricultural diction in this context of the horror and bloodshed of beheading is another reference the Gawain poet makes to the destruction of our environment. The beheading of the Green Knight can also be seen as a reference to agriculture. In ancient pagan myths, which are deeply interwoven in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the beheading of the Green Knight is indicative of the seasonal cycle of harvesting and planting crops. The stark juxtaposition of agricultural practises with the brutality of death again highlights the resilience of nature and the conservationist views of the Gawain poet. Regardless of the fact that medieval society relied on agriculture the Gawain poet has recognised how the benefits of farming didn’t necessarily outweigh the negatives.