Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Chapter 1 summary

What happens

1. The narrator traces Britain’s founding and introduces Arthur’s splendid Christmas court at Camelot.
2. During the New Year feast, a green knight rides into the hall carrying a holly branch and an enormous axe.
3. The stranger offers to receive one blow in exchange for delivering another after a year, then mocks the silent court.
4. Arthur takes the axe, but Gawain asks to replace him and promises to seek the stranger for the return stroke.
5. Gawain severs the knight’s head, but the knight picks it up, mounts, and names the Green Chapel as their meeting place.
6. The stranger departs, Arthur resumes the feast, and the axe hangs above the dais while Gawain considers his dangerous promise.

In this chapter

What to notice

The stranger makes Gawain’s promise a test of courage as well as obedience. His survival makes the promised return stroke a real danger.

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