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Article: English Epic Poems: Sir Gawain And The Green Knight: Part 4
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Gawain-Poet (???)
Monarch Notes
01-01-1963
Sir Gawain And The Green Knight: Part 4
Stanza 1.
New Year's Day arrives, the religious commemoration of the day the infant
Jesus shed his blood in the circumcision ritual. Gawain rises before dawn and
is dressed and armed. The weather is harsh and cold, reminding both Gawain and
the audience that life itself is difficult and sometimes unpleasant. The scene
is parallel to that of the second part of the poem in which Gawain left
another place of comfort and games, Camelot. Now however, he has come a long
way, both literally and in terms of his moral journey in the world. The poet
tells us that Gawain's armor had become rusty, but that it was now ...