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What is a Hero?
A Process Perspective on "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"
This page brings the medieval epic Sir Gawain and the Green Knight into conversation with process philosophy, offering fresh insights into the nature of heroism. Heroism is not as an unreachable ideal but an accessible, unfolding journey, driven by humility, self-awareness, a recognition of inadequacy, and connection with others. Its greatest enemy is the pretense of perfection and an obsession with achievement. The greatest heroes do not think of themselves as heroes. Here are four ideas constituting a process understanding of heroism.
- Heroism as an Ongoing Process: Heroism is not a destination but an evolving journey. Each choice and action, especially in the face of uncertainty and change, is a step along this path. This dynamic view reminds us that heroism is a commitment to keep trying, adapting, and growing, rather than a fixed title or achievement.
- True Heroes are Humble: Gawain’s journey reveals that humility—acknowledging one’s flaws, accepting limitations, and learning from mistakes—is at the heart of true heroism. Strength doesn’t lie in invulnerability but in the courage to confront one's weaknesses with honesty and grace.
- Falling Short of Highest Ideals: Heroes are aspirational figures, yet they often fall short of their own ideals. This gap between aspiration and reality is not a failure; rather, it’s an integral part of the heroic process. Each shortfall becomes an opportunity for growth, reflection, and renewed commitment to one's values.
- Interconnected Heroism: True heroism is not cultivated in isolation; it thrives through connection. Heroes are shaped and sustained by their relationships, be they friends, foes, or the wider community.
Heroism Redefined
Everyone around him sees his achievements as remarkable—his friends, admirers, and peers alike. Yet, by his own exacting moral standards, he believes he has fallen short. Paradoxically, this sense of failure leads him to a new kind of heroism: a heroism of humanity and humility. In confronting his perceived shortcomings, he learns what it means to be human, accepting his limitations and mortality. While others overlook his faults, he scrutinizes them. Unlike the traditional hero who finds glory in triumph, he reveals heroism in how he responds to failure.
His greatness, then, lies not in his accomplishments but in the high standards he sets for himself, standards far beyond anyone else’s, and in the humility—and even shame—he feels in not fully reaching them. This story redefines heroism, not as the achievement of success, but as the grace and resilience with which one faces and grows from failure.
I am talking, of course, about Sir Gawain in the medieval epic Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a tale of honor, temptation, and self-discovery, woven with rich symbolism and moral complexity. Written around 1400, it is set within King Arthur's legendary court and follows Sir Gawain on a journey that tests his courage, loyalty, and sense of integrity against forces both supernatural and internal.
This new kind of heroism—humility, not triumph—could not have occurred without a wide cast of characters, including King Arthur, Lady Bertilak, and the Green Knight. The Green Knight, whom we learn at the end is Bertilak de Hautdesert, is a noble lord and the master of a remote castle where the hero finds refuge during his quest. Under the enchantment of the sorceress Morgan le Fay, Bertilak transforms into the Green Knight, a mysterious, larger-than-life figure designed to test the hero’s character and integrity. Bertilak, both as himself and in his supernatural guise, plays a pivotal role in revealing the hero’s vulnerabilities and challenging his assumptions about honor and heroism. Lady Bertilak, too, becomes central to this challenge. Through her interactions with Sir Gawain, she subtly tests his commitment to his knightly virtues, stirring temptations that expose the limitations of his chivalric ideals. Together, these figures underscore that heroism is not merely in feats of strength or bravery but in the internal struggle to remain honest, humble, and self-aware. The combined influence of Arthur, Lady Bertilak, and the Green Knight reshapes our understanding of honor, revealing it to be a journey not of perfection but of self-discovery, where the true test lies in confronting and accepting one's own vulnerabilities.
The Green Knight is a complex figure: both challenger and mentor. On one hand, the Green Knight symbolizes an external test of courage and integrity, embodying the unpredictable and often daunting challenges that come from outside oneself. As a towering, supernatural figure, he represents nature's raw power, mystery, and impartial judgment. He confronts Sir Gawain with a seemingly impossible test that demands not only bravery but an unprecedented level of self-honesty. By accepting the Green Knight's challenge, Gawain subjects himself to a trial of his own character, a trial that goes beyond mere physical bravery.
On the other hand, Bertilak—once the enchantment is revealed—embodies a mentor figure who guides Gawain through this internal journey. In his human form, he is a noble host, generous and encouraging, offering Gawain a space of warmth and camaraderie within the castle walls. As Bertilak, he tests Gawain's fidelity to the chivalric code in more subtle, interpersonal ways, presenting temptations and moral dilemmas that reveal the complexity of honor and the limits of absolute virtue. Through their exchange, Gawain is forced to confront his inner contradictions: his desire to be perfectly virtuous and the inevitable reality of human imperfection.
This dual role of the Green Knight complicates Gawain’s quest, transforming it from a straightforward pursuit of glory into a nuanced journey of self-discovery and humility. As Gawain falters in both minor and major ways, he becomes increasingly aware of his own fallibility. In the end, it is the Green Knight’s final act of mercy, tempered with judgment, that allows Gawain to emerge with a new understanding of heroism. Gawain’s courage lies not only in facing the Green Knight’s axe but in accepting the flaws that this encounter reveals within himself.
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Much of what is said above is process in spirit. Sir Gawain’s journey in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight becomes more than a tale of honor and heroism—it is a vivid illustration of the processual nature of identity, growth, and moral development. Process philosophy emphasizes that all entities, including humans, are not static beings but dynamic, ever-evolving processes. Gawain’s encounters with the Green Knight, Lady Bertilak, and his own inner struggles reflect a continual becoming, where each experience and choice contributes to the shaping of his character. His heroism is found not in a final, unchanging state of virtue but in the way he navigates the unfolding complexities of his moral landscape, learning from his flaws and adapting his understanding of honor and humility.
Furthermore, Gawain’s failures, self-reflections, and realizations resonate with the process view that transformation is often born of tension and contradiction. Just as Whitehead saw the creative advance into novelty as arising from contrasts—moments of discord and discomfort. Gawain’s sense of inadequacy and his intense self-scrutiny become catalysts for growth. The Green Knight’s role as both challenger and mentor signifies the world’s influence on the self, shaping him through interactions that test and redefine his values. Through these encounters, Gawain is forced to re-evaluate what it means to be honorable, realizing that true heroism lies in embracing imperfection and cultivating the humility to evolve in response to life’s unpredictable trials.
In short, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight corresponds with process philosophy’s understanding of heroism as a journey of growth rather than perfection, embracing vulnerability and change as essential elements of the human experience.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
In a programme first broadcast in 2018, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the jewels of medieval English poetry. It was written c1400 by an unknown poet and then was left hidden in private collections until the C19th when it emerged. It tells the story of a giant green knight who disrupts Christmas at Camelot, daring Gawain to cut off his head with an axe if he can do the same to Gawain the following year. Much to the surprise of Arthur's court, who were kicking the green head around, the decapitated body reaches for his head and rides off, leaving Gawain to face his promise and his apparently inevitable death the following Christmas. With Laura Ashe, Professor of English Literature at Worcester College, University of Oxford; Ad Putter, Professor of Medieval English Literature at the University of Bristol; and Simon Armitage, Poet and Professor of Poetry at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Summary of Plot
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a medieval romance and one of the best-known Arthurian tales. The plot follows Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table, on a challenging journey of courage, honor, and self-discovery.
1. The Green Knight’s Challenge
1. The Green Knight’s Challenge
- The story opens with a New Year’s Eve feast at King Arthur's court, interrupted by the mysterious arrival of a huge, green-skinned knight on horseback.
- The Green Knight issues a strange challenge: any knight in the hall may strike him with an axe, but he will return the blow a year and a day later.
- Gawain, Arthur's nephew, accepts the challenge to protect his king and beheads the Green Knight with one powerful blow. To everyone’s shock, the Green Knight picks up his own head and tells Gawain to meet him at the Green Chapel in a year to receive his returned blow.
- A year later, Gawain sets out to fulfill his end of the bargain. His journey is treacherous, filled with battles, encounters with wild animals, and harsh winter weather.
- Gawain arrives at a castle, where he is warmly received by a lord named Bertilak and his lady. Gawain agrees to a strange game with Bertilak: each day, Bertilak will go hunting and give Gawain whatever he gains, while Gawain must give Bertilak whatever he receives at the castle.
- Over three days, Lady Bertilak attempts to seduce Gawain. Though Gawain resists her advances, he accepts a green girdle (belt) from her on the final day. She claims it will protect him from harm.
- Gawain, however, hides the girdle from Bertilak, breaking their agreement. He is conflicted, as he believes the girdle might save his life in his upcoming encounter with the Green Knight.
- Gawain finally arrives at the Green Chapel to meet the Green Knight, who raises his axe to return the blow.
- After two feints, the Green Knight delivers a third, light blow, only nicking Gawain’s neck. The Green Knight then reveals his true identity: he is Bertilak, transformed by the sorceress Morgan le Fay to test the honor of Arthur’s knights.
- Bertilak explains that he spared Gawain because of his honesty but gave him a slight wound to teach him a lesson about humility and truthfulness, due to Gawain's concealment of the girdle.
- Gawain, ashamed of his failure, returns to Camelot wearing the green girdle as a symbol of his humility and frailty.
- The court, however, celebrates Gawain’s bravery and forgives his faults. They decide to wear green sashes in solidarity with him, honoring his courage in confronting his own limitations