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Green Knight
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THE GREEN KNIGHT

The Green Knight (Welsh: Marchog Gwyrdd, Cornish: Marghek Gwyrdh, Breton: Marc'heg Gwer) is a character from the 14th-century Arthurian poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the related medieval work The Greene Knight. His true name is revealed to be Bertilak de Hautdesert (an alternate spelling in some translations is "Bercilak" or "Bernlak") in Sir Gawain, while The Greene Knight names him "Bredbeddle".[1] The Green Knight later features as one of Arthur's greatest champions in the fragmentary ballad "King Arthur and King Cornwall", again with the name "Bredbeddle".[2] In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Bertilak is transformed into the Green Knight by Morgan le Fay, a traditional adversary of King Arthur, in order to test his court.
DATABASES
The Green Knight (Welsh: Marchog Gwyrdd, Cornish: Marghek Gwyrdh, Breton: Marc'heg Gwer) is a character from the 14th-century Arthurian poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the related medieval work The Greene Knight. His true name is revealed to be Bertilak de Hautdesert (an alternate spelling in some translations is "Bercilak" or "Bernlak") in Sir Gawain, while The Greene Knight names him "Bredbeddle".[1] The Green Knight later features as one of Arthur's greatest champions in the fragmentary ballad "King Arthur and King Cornwall", again with the name "Bredbeddle".[2] In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Bertilak is transformed into the Green Knight by Morgan le Fay, a traditional adversary of King Arthur, in order to test his court.
The Green knight appeared in various medieval poem from the late medieval times. The earliest poems mentioning him are from the 14th century, in particular the poem called Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which was written by an author known as Pearl Poet. Other poems and legends in the later period mentioning the Greek knight include: The Greene Knight King Arthur and King Cornwall Le Morte d’Arthur
In Camelot, the castle was in the midst of Christmas celebration, when a lone knight rode into King Arthur’s court. The knight wore clothing that was green. His skin, beard and hair were also green in colour. Even the mane and tail of his horse were green. In the one hand the Green Knight carry a cluster of holly, while in his other hand he carried a great wicked axe. The Green Knight challenged the famous knights of the Round Table in a game of beheading. The Green Knight wanted one of the knights to use his axe on his own neck; in return the other knight must allow him to cut off the other’s head, one day and a year from now. The Green Knight offered his axe as a prize.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one the great Arthurian romances, an epic poem in which the noble Sir Gawain plays the ‘beheading game’ with a mystery knight – setting him on course for a grand quest in which his virtues are sorely tested. We don’t know precisely who first told the story. What we do know, says Ad Putter, professor of medieval English literature at the University of Bristol, is that it is “an English story from about 1380, written by a poet from Cheshire”. The tale begins with King Arthur, who is holding court in Camelot at Christmas.
Gawain (or Gwalchmei in early Welsh versions) was one of King Arthur’s most loyal and trusted knights. He is also Arthur’s nephew, being the son of his sister Morgause and King Lot of the Orkneys. His brothers, Agravain, Gaheris and Gareth are also Knights of the Round Table. There are legends featuring all the brothers, including Mordred the youngest, but Gawain stands out as the steadiest and most honourable.
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