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The Importance Of Spirituality In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

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Violence, danger, and treasure are three things that immediately come to mind when the word quest is mentioned. Very rarely is psychology brought into the conversation, however, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the quest that takes place happens mostly internally in the mind of Sir Gawain. However, despite the mental nature of the quest, the poem did follow some of the more traditional patterns of quest literature including the patterns of spiritual and physical questing, while also deferring from the plan by emphasizing psychological growth and struggle as well. Spirituality is very much a part of medieval romance literature as well as all quests, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is certainly not exempt from this trend. To begin the adventure, the Green Knight challenges a member of King Arthur’s court to partake in a bet with him. The bet would be that the knight can strike the Green Knight anywhere without opposition, but in one year’s time that knight must find the Green Chapel and receive the very same wound. Sir Gawain agrees to this bet but before taking hold of the axe, King Arthur imparts to “young Gawain the blessing of God” (370). This blessing is certainly very important to this “God-fearing knight” (381) as he finds himself turning to his faith in his most stressful and dire of times. God is consequently the muse of the quest as he is invoked consistently throughout the tale as struggles are reached and fear takes over Sir Gawain’s heart. For even when

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