Search for:
Cart 0
perm_identity Sign In
  • Home
  • Jungian
  • Dreams
  • Healing
  • Soulful Living
  • Courses
  • Lectures
  • Certificate Programs
  • Summits
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • FAQ
  • Faculty
  • Contact

Sign In

Registered Users

If you have a Jung Platform account, sign in below to access your orders and purchased content.

Lost your password?

Not a member yet? Sign Up
  • email [email protected]
  • Blog
  • Ambassadors
  • About Us
  • Faculty
  • FAQ
  • Contact
0
Jung Platform
  • Jungian
  • Dreams
  • Soulful Living
  • Courses
  • Lectures
  • Summits
  • Certification
perm_identity Sign In

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

HomeBlogJungianSir Gawain and the Green Knight
Lans Smith
Author
Lans Smith
Category
Jungian
Read Time
3 min
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

This article is Part 6 in a series about The Grail Romances of the Middle Ages and the Individuation Process by Lans Smith

This magnificent poem is permeated with the imagery of the archetypal feminine, here incarnated by a woman simply called “Morgan the Goddess”.

Morgan’s emissary is the Green Knight, a giant who bursts into Camelot, all clad in green, with an ax in one hand, and a holly bob in the other.  He challenges Arthur’s knights to chop his head off, with the promise that he will return the favor a year hence, at the Green Chapel. Sir Gawain takes up the challenge and chops the Green Knight’s head off. It bounces over the floor, kicked around by the knights like a soccer ball, until the Green Knight retrieves it, gets on his horse, and turns the head towards Gawain to say: “Next year, at the Green Chapel!” as he rides out of the hall, sparks flying from his horse’s hooves.

Decapitation vividly represents the power of life to survive death. We cut John Barleycorn’s head off in the fall, and the corn comes back in the spring. Nature is ruled by the “Jolly Green Giant,” whose color is a symbol of both life and death. Decapitation is also a central motif in alchemy, representing death and rebirth.

Gawain then leaves the court on Halloween, and rides southwards, nearly slain by the sleet when he sleeps in his armor. He finally arrives at a marvelous castle, sitting in a grove of shimmering oaks, on Christmas Eve, and is welcomed inside.

At dinner, his host makes a deal: “You sleep in for the next three days, before your date at the Green Chapel on New Year’s, and I’ll go hunting. I’ll give you what I catch, and if you should catch anything here in the castle, you’ll give it to me.”

And so a hunt goes on during the next three days—both inside and out. The Lord of the castle brings home a stag, a boar, and a fox, which he gives to Gawain. In exchange, Gawain gives him two kisses on the cheek for the first two days. He’s gotten these kisses from the Lady of the Castle, who appears each morning at his bedside, she’s wearing a transparent nightgown, with jeweled brocade.

Gawain tries to pretend he’s asleep, but she tickles him under the cheek to wake him up.

On the third day, a bit frustrated, she offers him more: “Take all my body,” she says, but Gawain demurs. Instead, he takes a green girdle she gives him, wrapping it around his thigh the morning he leaves for the Green Chapel. The girdle protects its wearer from any harm—like having your head cut off. 

As it turns out, the Lord of the Castle is the Green Knight Gawain meets at the Chapel, where he must bend down on his knees to receive the blow from the axe which decapitated the Green Knight in Arthur’s court the year before. The Green Knight strikes twice, missing both times because Gawain flinches. On the third swing, the axe grazes Gawain’s neck, punishment for his having kept the green girdle.

Gawain leaps up, happier than he had ever been since the day he was born. Then he confesses his sins, to the vast amusement of the Green Knight—who, after all, is pagan, a supernatural consort of the Morgan the Goddess.

Her symbols include the three animals of the hunt: the stag is an archaic symbol of death and rebirth, because it molts its antlers every year; the wild boar has long been associated with the archetypal feminine, from the boar that kills Adonis, to the boar that Baba Yaga rides in Russian folktales; and we know that foxes are feminine because of Steve Martin’s skit on Saturday Night Live!

All are what I call gynetypes—archetypal symbols of the divine feminine. So too is the Green Chapel, which is a mossy mound, deep in a valley, resembling a Neolithic barrow—the womb and tomb of the Great Goddess.

In your journal recall a dream in which animals appeared and reflect upon what they meant to you at the time.

    Stay inspired.
    Get our magical updates.


    Share
    Lans Smith
    Lans Smith

    Evans Lansing ("Lans") Smith, Ph.D., received a B.A. in English from Williams College, an M.A. in Creative Writing from Antioch International (London and Dublin), and a Ph.D. in Literature from The Claremont Graduate School. He traveled with the late Joseph Campbell.

    More Posts by Lans Smith
    Newer Vessels of the Soul
    Older Erasing Boundaries

    1 Comment

    Join the discussion and tell us your opinion.

    • Gabrielle Hass says:
      October 18, 2021 at 21:57

      Lans, I just saw the Green Knight movie and got lost in it, any comments? Thanks, Gabrielle Hass

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Blog Topics
    • Jungian
    • Dreams
    • Healing
    • Soulful Living
    • Updates
    Featured Courses & Lectures
    • Jungian perspective on Tarot Jungian Perspective on the Tarot: An Introduction Free!
    • Lucid Dreaming - Jung Platform Lucid Dreaming $14.75
    • Suicide: A Contemplative Approach Suicide: A Contemplative Approach $20.00
    • A depth perspective on 'being in love' - Jung Platform A Jungian Perspective on being in love $125.00
    • Dreams & Your Personal Journey - Dreams Summit 2022 Dreams & Your Personal Journey Summit 2022: All-Access Pass $169.00 $85.00
    • An Apprenticeship with Sorrow An Apprenticeship with Sorrow $17.50
    • Rumi - Ecstatic love poetry Rumi - Ecstatic love poetry $18.75
    • The Hidden Wisdom of Our Irrational Selves $17.50

    Jung Platform - Psychological and Spiritual Perspectives

    Jung Platform is an online education space that offers multiple depth psychological and spiritual perspectives. Our courses and lectures explore the journey of life with the help of highly regarded teachers. We’re passionate about providing practical life-enhancing tools and the opportunity to connect with others on this path. So you can live your life colorfully.

    • location_on
      870 E Cedar Terrace Dr. Sandy. UT. 84094
    • email
      [email protected]

    Store
    • Jungian
    • Dreams
    • Healing
    • Soulful Living
    • Lectures
    • Courses
    • Summits
    Account
    • My Account
    • Orders
    • Downloads
    • Cart
    Company
    • About Us
    • Blog
    • Faculty
    • Contact
    • Jungian Terms
    • Ambassadors
    Customer Service
    • Contact
    • FAQ
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use

      Stay inspired.
      Get our magical updates.


      Secure Payment
      Pay by PayPalPay by Visa Credit Card Pay by Mastercard
      Join our Community
      © 2022 Jung Platform. All rights reserved.
      Learn more about this program

      Register for a free information event on May 27, 9 am PT / 12 pm ET

      Your first name
      Your email address
      FREE DREAMS SUMMIT
      Your first name
      Your email address
      FREE JUNGIAN SUMMIT
      Your first name
      Your email address
      This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
      Privacy & Cookies Policy

      Privacy Overview

      This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
      Necessary
      Always Enabled
      Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
      Non-necessary
      Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
      SAVE & ACCEPT

      Conference Options

      Online conference

      Add to Cart

      Online conference + certificate of attendance (+$10)

      Add to Cart

      Online conference + CE credits certificate (+$25)

      Add to Cart