On Gawain’s preparation before he departed to find the Green Knight he chose to have a shield that had the design of a pentangle on it, as part of his armor. The pentangle on Gawain’s shield is a representation of himself, it connects the five points and the five lines to the five ways of how he is a good knight. The pentangle is not only important itself but it connects it to Gawain’s character that constructs the behavior of a worthy knight.
“For it is a figure that has five points, and each line overlaps and locks with another, and everywhere it is endless, and English call it over all the land, as I here, the Endless Knot” (Gawain, 27). According to Gerald Morgan, the interrelation of the parts of the pentangle symbolizes the interrelation
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The characters of the poem would promise in honor of God, so that the promises became indestructible. Gawain didn’t only act upon what he wanted or in honor of King Arthur, his loyalty also relies on God. When its said that “And all his trust in the fields was in the five wounds that Christ caught on the cross” (Gawain, 28), Gawain was the only knight on the table to stand up and told King Arthur that it would be better if he was the one to accept the Green Knights game. You can connect this to the sacrifice Christ made, he intercede for all of us and accepted his fate. Surrounding the religious also see the following, “All his force in fight he found in the five joys that holy Heave’s Queen had of her child: for this cause the knight fittingly had on the inner half of his shield her image painted, that when he behold her his boldness never failed” (Gawain 28). The Five Joys of Mary are the events in Virgin Mary’s life where God made himself present, this moments are The Annunciation, The Nativity of Jesus, The Resurrection of Christ, The Ascension of Christ to Heaven and The Pentecost. The first joy is when the Angel told Mary the she was going to have a child under the grace of God and that she was going to name him Jesus, the second joy is the birth of Jesus, the third is the Resurrection of Christ three days after he was crucified, the forth is the ascension of Christ to Heaven and the last is Pentecost, when the Holly Spirit came down to Earth to show people the presence of God, Jesus and the Holly Spirit in each of us. Virgin Mary was very important for Gawain, he showed devotion to her, by having a picture of her on the inside of the shield as reminded of her love. The Virgin Mary is a representation of unconditional love, obedience and purity. Having the picture on the shield, is a reminder for Gawain to act