When most people think of nature in the modern day, a few things that may come to mind are lush gardens and fuzzy woodland creatures, but this was not always the case. During the Middle Ages, people had a much different, and typically more negative perception of the natural world. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight exemplifies these ideals flawlessly, as Gawain does not exactly get along with Mother Nature. The poet depicts nature in an adversarial way by contrasting it’s mysteriousness against the structure found in Camelot and by comparing Gawain’s negativity attitude toward the natural world to Bertilak’s acceptance of it.
The poet’s depiction of nature stems mainly from medieval beliefs. According to Rolf Sprandel, throughout history there have been three in the process of understanding and interpreting nature. In the first step “man introduces myths, supernatural beings and divine impact to excuse human weakness towards nature. In the second one, man perceives nature as wild and unpredictable, but lives and copes with it by using technical knowledge. In a third step he discovers nature as an
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As opposed to the hippy-mentality of one with the nature around him, Gawain is constantly at war with the environment. The poem does not only include characters that are at war with the natural world, as Bertilak is the opposite of Gawain in this regard. He seems to interact as one with nature, while welcoming all Mother Nature as to offer with open arms. This tremendous difference between the two characters demonstrates separate approaches to the wild aspects of Earth. Bertilak is representation of the idea that humans should be stewardesses of the natural world and show a constant sense of respect to it. On the other hand, Gawain represents the concept of nature as a brutal and evil force to be reckoned with, almost as though nature is an invincible