Who is gringolet

New semester, new course, same blog! This post is actually a little more than my course is asking for; I just felt like doing justice to 2 original sources, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Greene Knight.

To start the semester off interestingly, and provide some continuity with my interests from last semester which are still strongly resonant with me I selected a passage from each poem that involves the horses of the stories.

Additionally, it is only in this version of the story that Gringolet even gets a name, first mentioned on line as copied above and named a total of 7 times throughout the poem the poet is also very aware of numbers, especially 5 and 25, but other low prime numbers as well, such as 7, 3, and of course 5. However, what is super interesting is that even though this poem appears to pass over Gringolet, this is the version we get a very important detail about him: his color.

Gringolet is a dapple grey my own personal favorite color but that is not of consequence here. So naturally, I did a little digging into color symbolism related to horses. George the dragon-slayer and patron saint of England also rides a white horse.

In Norse mythology white horses are portents of death. If Gringolet is grey, that opens up so many avenues for the Gawain-poet:. In conclusion, I think that both poems are utterly fascinating in their treatment of Gringolet but for vastly different reasons, and the Gawain story is richer for both of them. When a color is given for Gringolet, he is usually described as pure white in color, which is an obvious symbol of Sir Gawain's purity as a knight.

In the romances, there was no consensus on Gringolet's origin story. The name "Gringolet" is of unknown origin as well. Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors. As she often does in Arthurian literature, Morgan appears as an enemy of Camelot, one who aims to cause as much trouble for her half brother and his followers as she can.

The king of Camelot. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , Arthur is young and beardless, and his court is in its golden age. However, like a good king, Arthur soon steps forward to take on the challenge. The beautiful young Guinevere of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight seems to have little in common with the one of later Arthurian legend.

SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Themes Motifs Symbols. Book Full Book Quiz. Mini Essays Suggested Essay Topics. Characters Character List. Green Knight A mysterious visitor to Camelot.