Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Symbolism Essay

In the poem of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” written by the Pearl Poet, there are very prevalent amounts of symbolism. Some of the symbols within the poem are easy to see while other symbols are not so easily found or even understood by the reader. The easy symbols the reader can clearly see in the poem would be the Pentangle, the Girdle, and the color green. The symbols that are harder to see in the poem, is the number three, and certain objects such as the axe and the rose. The symbolism used by the author gives the poem a deeper plot and a more important meaning. The first symbol that the author talks about in the poem is the Pentangle. In the poem the author makes vivid of what the Pentangle stands for, its origins and what it symbolizes. In the poem it states that the “Pentangle suits this soldier in his spotless armor, fully faithful in five ways five times over”

In article titled “The Axe in Sir Gawain and the Green knight” written by Kathryn walls explains that medieval readers associate the axe as a symbolic interpretation of the biblical book of Matthew 3.10 of John the Baptist. She states the axe has very much to do with the axe of John in his story (Walls). However, the author uses the symbol of the axe to symbolize death. Also not only does he uses it for a symbol of death but also for a symbol of sacrifice and forgiveness. However the reader can also Interprets the axe to symbolize conflict in the story or poem. The last symbol is the Blushing ring given to Gawain by The Lady. She gives him the ring in which he refuses to take. Gawain resists because of the rings material value. The ring can be seen as a symbolization of temptation. According to an article titled “The lady’s blushing ring in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” by Jessica Cooke, states that the ring is seen as a symbolization of temptation to