Surquedry, penitence and redemption in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Surquedry is a key theme in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and central to the romance is how Sir Gawain himself must confront his worldly failings to find spiritual redemption. The poem also acts as a mirror to princes, challenging them to abandon the vanity of this world in favour of a greater understanding of themselves and how they behave with others.
The surquedry of King Arthur's court at Camelot
A key theme of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the arrogance and vanity of those who inhabit Middle-Earth, emphasized by the word “surquederie / sourquydrye / surquidre" [surquedry], or overweening pride.
This is the message brought to the court by the arrival of the Green Knight, who assails the Round Table with his contempt for their ways:
“What, is þis Arþures hous,” quoþ þe haþel þenne,
“Ϸat al þe rous rennes of þurʒ ryalmes so mony?
Where is now your sourquydrye and your conquestes,
Your gryndel-layk and your greme and your grete words?
Now is þe reuel and þe renoun of þe Rounde Table
Over-walt wyth a worde of on wyʒes speche;
For al dares for drede, with-oute dynt schewed!”
(What! Is this Arhur’s house,” said that man then,
“The fame of which is heard across many realms?
Where now is your pride, and your conquests,
Your ferocity, anger and your bold words?
Now is the reveling and the renown of the Round Table
Overcome by the words of just one man;
For you all shirk in dread without one blow dealt”)
[SGGK ll. 309-315]
This single speech from the Green Knight lays out the target of the entire romance: the morality and vanity of those who dwell in courts and seek to rule others on earth. Arthur’s court is famed for its fighting and boldness – in other words, for its worldly fame and worldly focus.
A worldly court, one seemingly Christian, has here been silenced by a green man, seemingly from the underworld, who has arrived on horseback bearing only an axe and a holly bough.
When the knight offers his gruesome challenge to behead him (but to search for him a year later at the Green Chapel to receive a similar blow), Arthur is stirred to act [ll. 323-331] but his nephew Gawain asks to take his place [ll. 339-365] on account that such a deed is unbecoming to a king [l. 358].
Notably, Gawain highlights his youthful weakness [l. 354], his carefree approach to life [l. 355] and that any fame that he has is only by dint of his relationship to the king by blood [ll. 356-7]. He chooses to protray himself himself as innocent.
For the poet, however, Gawain is sacrificial. At the end of Fitt 1, we are allowed for the first time to see what thoughts may lie inside the mind of Gawain when the poet writes,
Now þenk wel, Sir Gawan,
For woþe þat þou ne wonde
Ϸis auenture for to frayn
Ϸat þou hatz tan on honde.
[Now, think on, Sir Gawain,
Of the danger you can’t avoid
In asking for this quest
Which you have taken on]
[SGGK: ll. 487-490]
The poet makes clear as both storyteller and observer that Gawain needs to be careful; he has clearly made a mistake in letting his impetuosity get the better of him.
In this one “wheel”, the poet has framed how we should see Gawain – as a youthful, naïve man, who now needs to search inside himself for help. What follows will be a test of his faith.
The penitential journey of Sir Gawain
In his opening stanzas of Fitt 2, the Gawain-poet skillfully takes us through the passing of the year, building up the tension until the time comes for Gawain to make his journey in search of the Green Chapel [ll. 491-535].
The poet is clear that Gawain stays with Arthur until All Hallows Day (November 1st) [l. 536]; the following morning , he is ritually prepared for his journey as he is armed and made ready on a beautiful carpet.
The decision to begin his journey on All Souls Day (November 2nd) [l. 566] would not have been lost on a medieval audience; it is day of remembrance and the faithful departed. Gawain is alive but he seems dead; how is it remotely possible that he will survive his reunion with the Green Knight when he himself will be beheaded?
Gawain’s journey is one of penitence. He rides alone and, like Christ in the desert, he is assailed by threats of all kinds: the harsh weather; bulls and bears; ogres and more. The poet’s skill in depicting the cruel conditions draws us right to the centre of Gawain’s soul and his reliance on faith:
Nade he ben duʒty and dryʒe, and dryʒtyn haed serued,
Doutlese he hade ben ded and dreped ful ofte.
For were wrathed hym not so much, þat wynter was wors,
When þe colde cler water from þe cloudeʒ schadde,
And fres er hit fell myʒt to þe fale erþe;
Ner slayn wyth þe slete he sleped in his yrnes
Mo nyʒteʒ þen in-noghe in naked rokkeʒ,
Ϸer as claterande fro þe crest þe colde borne renneʒ,
And henged heʒe ouer his hede in hard ysse-ikkles.
Ϸus, in peril and payne and plytes ful harde
Bi contrary cayreʒ þis knyʒt tyl kryst-masse euen,
Al one;
Ϸe knyʒt wel pat tyde
To Mary made his mone,
Ϸat ho hym red to ryde,
And wysse hym to sum wone.
(Had he not been diligent in his duty to God,
Doubtless he would have been defeated often or dead.
But war didn’t trouble him, for winter was worse,
When the cold clear water was shed from the clouds
And froze on the ground wherever it fell;
Nearly slain by the sleet, he slept clad in steel
For more than enough nights among the naked rocks
Where cold-borne rains came clattering from the crests
And froze, hanging from his head in hard icicles.
Thus, in peril and pain, through frightful plights,
This knight crosses the country until Christmas Eve,
Alone.
Many times then
He called to Mary
To guide him on his way
And help him to some home.)
[SGGK: ll. 724-39]
Of course, at that moment, his prayers are answered and a magnificent castle appears in the landscape. Gawain is welcomed indoors by his host, Lord Bertilak, Bertilak’s wife and an older woman, enjoys a meal and agrees to stay having been told that the Green Chapel is nearby and he will be able to reach it in good time [ll. 1068-78].
Trial by temptation
As part of his decision to stay at the castle, Gawain agrees to Bertilak’s request for a game of exchanges: whatever he wins when out hunting he will exchange with Gawain’s winnings in the castle [l.1105-25].
Bertilak goes hunting on three separate occasions, bringing back a deer, a boar and a fox. By contrast, Gawain offers him a series of kisses - his own winnings - which have been granted to him by the lady of the castle.
But this exchange of winnings is also a trial by temptation. On three separate occasions, while Bertilak hunts abroad, the lady comes to Gawain's chamber, building a deep sexual tension which almost causes Gawain to break. The language of seduction and resistance is remarkable.
Following her first two visits, the lady comes to Gawain's room for the final time, intending to have her way with him. Here, the poem reaches a critical point. The poet’s exceptional technique is in his phenomenal understanding of how lovers dance around each other through language as they build to a critical point of no return:
“A! mon, how may þou slepe?
Ϸis morning is so clere.”
He watʒ in drowping depe,
Bot þenne he con hir here.
In dreʒ droupying of dreme draueled þat noble,
As mon þat watz in morning of mony þro þozteʒ,
How þat destine schulde þat day dele hym his wyrde
At þe grene chapel, when he þe gome metes
And bihoues his buffet abide with-oute debate more;
Bot quen þat comly he keuered his wyttes,
Swenges out of þe sweuenes and swareʒ with hast,
Ϸe lady luflych com laʒande swete,
Felle ouer his fayre face and fetly hym kissed;
He welcumeʒ hir worþily with a wale chere;
He seʒ hir so glorious and gaily atyred,
So fautles of hir features and of so fyne hewes,
Wiʒt wallande joye warmed his hert;
With smoþe smylyng and smolt þay smeten into merþe,
Ϸat al watʒ blis and bonchef þat breke hem bitwene
And wynne.
Ϸay lauced words gode,
Much wele þen watʒ þerinne;
Gret perile bitwene hem stod,
Nif Marye of hir knyʒt con mynne.
“Ah man, how can you sleep?
This morning is so clear.”
He was deep in drowsing,
But then he heard her near.
That noble mumbled in the uneasiness of dreams,
As a man who was in mourning through many thoughts
Of how destiny that day should deal him his fate
At the Green Chapel, when he meets with the man
And receives his blow without further debate;
But on seeing that lady he recovered his wits,
Starts from his dreams and answers her with haste.
That lovely lady comes near, laughing sweetly,
Fell upon his fair face and kissed him gracefully;
He welcomes her worthily with courteous cheer;
He sees her attired so gloriously and finely,
So faultless in her features and of such fine colour,
That much joy welled in his heart and warmed it;
With mild gentle smiling they were smitten with mirth
Such that all was bliss and happiness between them,
And joy.
They laughed with pleasant words,
And much pleasure between themselves;
But great peril also stood between them
Unless Mary protected her knight.
[SGGK: ll. 1746-69]
The natural power of love and passion is deliberately placed against Gawain’s devotion to Mary; in this final line we are reminded that Gawain is torn between sin (committing adultery with the wife of his host) and devotion (remembering the purity of the virgin Mary). This is the ultimate test.
The poet then goes further. Having reminded us to think of Mary, he then reintroduces the lady at her climactic height. When she makes her move; the atmosphere is electric. The language in this final attempt shows magnificent execution and emotional dexterity in its portrayal of seductive manipulation and diplomatic response:
For þat prynces of pris depresed hym so þikke ,
Nurned hym so neʒe þe þred þat nede hym bihoued
Oþer lach þer hir luf oþer lodly refuse;
He cared for his cortaysye, lest craþayn he were,
And more for his meschef, ʒif he schulde make synne
And be traytor to þat tolke þat þat telde aʒt.
"God schylde," quod þe schalk, "þat schal not befalle!"
With luf- laʒyng a lyt he layde hym be-syde
Alle þe specheʒ of specialte þat sprange of her mouth.
Quod þat burde to þe burne, "blame ʒe disserue,
ʒif ʒe luf not þat lyf þat ʒe lye nexte,
Bifore all þe wyʒeʒ in þe worlde wounded in hert,
But if ʒe haf a lemman, a leuer, þat yow lykeʒ better,
And folden fayth to þat fre, fastned so harde,
Ϸat yow lausen ne lyst, and þat I leue nouþe.
And þat ʒe telle me þat, now trwly I pray yow,
For alle þe lufeʒ vpon lyue layne not þe soþe
For gile."
Ϸe knyʒt sayde, "be sayn Jon",
And smoþely con he smyle,
"In fayth I welde riʒt non,
Ne non wil welde þe quile".
For that excellent princess pressured him so much,
Urged him so near to breaking point that it seemed he must
Either accept her love or offensively refuse it;
He cared for his courtesy, lest he appeared craven,
But more so for his behaviour, lest he should be sinful
And be a traitor to that man who was the lord of that place.
"God shield me", said the knight, "This must not befall!"
With light-hearted love laughter, he managed to deflect
Every wheedling love-word which sprang from her mouth.
That woman said to the man, "I hold you to blame
If you do not love she who lies next to you
Who, of everyone in this world is most wounded at heart,
Unless you have a sweetheart, some lover, who you prefer more,
And have pledged to her faithfully, fastened by oath,
That you won't show your desire, that's what I believe!
For all the love upon earth, do not silence the truth
Through lies."
The knight said, "By Saint John,"
Gently beginning to smile,
"In faith I have no one
And none do I want a while".
SGGK: 1770-91]
Eventually, Gawain is able to extricate himself without causing offence although a further gift from the lady (the magical green girdle which will defend Gawain against any foe) remains undeclared when Bertilak returns from hunting for the third time. This will be central to the final scene in the Green Chapel in Fitt 4.
This cycle of exchanges again causes us to think of Christ’s three temptations in the wilderness but they also exist for another purpose.
They challenge the bedrock of the chivalric code in its worship of women, stripping away the rules and rituals and empowering the lady to take control, flipping 'courtesy' on its head.
But, as is revealed later in Fitt 4 of the poem, this too has a purpose. There is an undercurrent of misogyny in the romance and the reader is intended to follow the lesson of the narrative.
The poet - thought to be the author of the other three texts in Gawain manuscript, all of them of a spiritual and religious nature - sees sexual temptation as a sin. At least when it applies to women seeking to tempt men...
Redemption at the Green Chapel
Finally, Gawain must face his nemesis at the Green Chapel . The tension builds as Gawain's guide tries unsuccessfully to persuade him not to go any further [ll. 2086-2159]. Gawain now proceeds alone into a snowy valley where above him he can hear the sharpening of the Green Knight's axe against a huge grinding wheel.
When Gawain finally meets the knight at the Chapel ("nothing but an old cave, or crevice in an old crag" [ll. 2182-3]), the tension rises further when, in another trinity of actions, he receives three strikes from the Green Knight’s axe. Only the last of these does damage, causing a small bleed in Gawain’s neck.
Emerging from his trial with such a light wound, Gawain considers his contract with the Green Knight to be over and attacks his foe, only to be laughed at as the axe-bearing executioner as he stands back in calm admiration.
It is now that Gawain learns that his nemesis is none other than Lord Bertilak and that the lady was not only his wife, but also operating under his instructions. "Of my wife and her wooing, I wrought that myself" he announces [l. 2361}.
Now Gawain launches into a misogynistic outburst. further emphasizing his immaturity. Not only is he ashamed by his decision to accept the green girdle but he then begins to berate "womanly wiles" [l. 2415] and how they bring men down, citing various examples from the Bible [ll. 2416-19].
Notwithstanding, Gawain has passed the test because he did not succumb. He is redeemed because the Green Knight acknowledges that Gawain's decision not to declare the girdle was a pragmatic one rather than being sinful: he only took it and concealed it because he believed it would save his life [l. 2368].
Yet, as the Green Knight explains, the whole adventure – an adventure which King Arthur himself had wanted so much [ll. 85-99] - was one in which the Round Table and its ethos were to be exposed as a sham. More, it was brought about by the machinations and and planning of none other than the old woman in the castle, Arthur’s own sister, and Gawain's aunt, Morgan le Fay:
Morgne þe goddess,
Ϸerfore hit is hir name;
Weldez non so hyʒe hawtesse
Ϸat ho ne con make ful tame.
Ho wayned me vpon þis wise to your wynne halle,
For to assay þe surquidre, ʒif hit soth were,
Ϸat rennes of þe grete renoun of þe Rounde Table;
How wayned me þis wonder, your wytteʒ to reue,
For to haf greued Gaynour and gart hir to dyʒe
With glopnyng of þat ilke gomen þat gostlych speked
With his hede in his honed before þe hyʒe table…
Morgan the goddess,
Therefore is her name;
There is no one, no matter their haughtiness,
Whom she cannot tame.
She directed me in this way to your fine hall
In order to assess the surquedry, if it so were,
That is current in the great renown of the Round Table;
She directed me to undertake this in order to stupefy you
And to frighten Guinevere to death
Through sheer terror of that same man who spoke like a ghoul
With his head in his hand before the high table…
[SGGK: ll. 2452-62]
The Green Knight is explicit; the adventure was to test the overweening pride which he says is current ("rennes") in the Round Table; the way he does this is by playing with the Table's sense of 'chivalry', its code and its sense of entitlement.
Somewhere in this statement lies the heart of the matter in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The poetic intention appears to be a challenge to the behaviour of those who hold court.
There also seems to be a specific distaste for Guinevere on the part of Morgan, which is never fully explained unless it is making intertextual references to infidelity in other romances.
What are we to understand by surquedry?
So what then is this surquedry which the Green Knight (and likewise the poet) wishes to test?
We know that many northern Gawain romances point directly at a flawed Camelot (or Carlisle as it appears in other texts); this suggests an intertextual element in which an audience is aware of a canonical theme. So, to some extent, an audience is expecting a critique of those in power.
This then points to the possibility that Arthur’s court is written as fictional parallel to the real world. Transcribed in the reign of Richard II, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight may well be seen as a literary mirror to princes, in this case a young king, often manipulated by powerful nobles but also prone to despotic outbursts.
Yet, at the end, it is not the court which is humiliated but Gawain himself, who has been dutifully chastised by his nemesis. But this, surely, is the point: if Arthur and his court were openly shamed, any criticism of royalty - fictional or otherwise - would be profound and treasonable. A high risk strategy for poet and patron.
Instead, what we see is how Arthur and his court have learned nothing, whereas Gawain has learned much. He has undertaken a worldly adventure, an Arthurian "quest" to learn spiritual depth and inner understanding. He has been taught about the frivolity of the "luf-talking" for which he is famous.
In its portrayal of inner doubt and the need for resilience in the face of temptation, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight reminds its audience that vanity and the pursuit of worldly ambition are the attributes of a failed soul.
We know from the very last line of the romance that one reader, at a later time than that in which the manuscript was transcribed, responded to the text by adding a corrupted version of the motto of the Order of the Garter, writing “honi soyt qui mal pence”.
While we might read this as a reassertion of the chivalric ideal by a disgruntled reader, it is also possible to see it as a lament for the chivalry of old. "Shamed be the person who evil thinks of it"; this is a text with a lesson.
Vanity is on trial. Chivalry is on trial. Worldliness is on trial. Surquedry, overweening pride, has no part to play in how people conduct their affairs. It likewise has no place in the leadership and administration of a realm. Both body and soul must be cleaned of its stain.
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