I've been meaning to talk about this more, but the shield is a huge piece of "The Green Knight." Gawain looks at it constantly where there is a pentacle that represents Christ's five wounds. It also symbolizes the star of Bethlehem and the key attribute for being a knight: generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry, piety. They also refer to the virtues of Mary, whom Gawain has a picture of inside his shield. I've been reading on which meaning probably makes the most sense, but they probably all have equal meaning. I'd say that the last one has additional meaning because of the picture of Mary that he carries around. An article I read on Shmoop said this, "His five senses are very keen. His five fingers are dexterous. He devotes himself to the five wounds of Christ. He always thinks on the five joys Mary had in Jesus. Finally, he possesses five virtues: fellowship, generosity, chastity, courtesy, and charity. Basically, Gawain is the perfect knight."
I'm focusing so much on his shield because it really embodies his pursuit of perfection. It's why it makes his failure with the Green Knight so much more difficult. Arthur is able to forgive him. He sees Gawain as all of these characteristics. He values honesty in times of adversity. Gawain doesn't understand how, when he fell short of the characteristics that he actively practices, how his king could forgive and even celebrate him at the end.
Sword Terminology by Albion Swords
So, there's a few sword fighting scenes. I might need to know the words so I don't look like a huge fool. The link includes useful resources to the histories of different styles of sword fighting, and most importantly, the anatomy. I expect I'll refer to this a bit. I believe knights usually used longswords, so I'll need to find more information on those specifically.
I don't usually write action sequences, but I'm thinking it would be fun to do so with the perspective that I'm using. It could be fun and act as a way to see Gawain's dexterity in action. There's a lot of information to remember here. I'm realizing this is a huge poem to adapt, but I'm having fun. :)
A cool longsword (Wikimedia Commons)
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