The True Meaning of The Green Knight Explained + Details You Missed & How It Differs From The Poem!

Check out my analysis of real history behind the 2004 King Arthur film staring Clive Owen! krplus.net/bidio/msV9mpp_iZi3p2k

Not knowing much about the original tale I thought that the Green Knights game was a first test that Gawain failed. He stated that Gawain merely needed to strike a blow to him this in my mind didn't entail a killing blow. Thus by his bravado and self aggrandizement by striking off the Green Knight's head he failed the test of the Knightly Virtue of Mercy, thus the rest was an ordeal he had to endure to atone and regain his honor.

If you remember Green Knight doesn’t just say “off with your head,” he slides his finger across Gawain’s throat, a gesture I think we all understand is in reference to decapitation. I interpreted this as the Green Knight symbolically returning the blow he was dealt, meaning Gawain passed the final test and learned from his last failures, he gets to keep his life. However, it doesn’t matter truly if he survived or not because the point of that test was it is better to die honorably than to live a coward, and whether Gawain dies or not, he’s learned and accepted this lesson

The most obvious part I thought was when he asked for the giant to help him get to his destination by getting on their shoulder.. he wants to complete his mission with the least amount of effort possible by simply ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’

I think this is one of the most visually appealing movies I've ever seen. I think the balance between grime and grandeur, history and myth is perfect in this movie.

I love how it’s not a typical hero’s journey. It’s a man who seeks glory off the sake of glory. He fails the 5 tests during the quest. However he is still brave enough to go and give his head

I don’t believe he was decapitated in the end. That smile in the Green Knights face as he swiped his finger across his neck when he delivered the last line of dialogue was telling for me. It was like a proud father who watched his son go through a rite of passage.

I love the subtle signs of green in Gawain's vision. His portrait turned green, his crowd tarnished.

The one thing that keeps getting repeated throughout the movie is characters reassuring Gawain that it's all a game and that he'll make it home. I can't remember all of them, but i remember the charmed king arthur saying this right before Gawain beheads the knight, and later the Lord (who is in on the enchantment) slaughters a goat for Gawain's trip home. In the same way that Gawain has to trust that he will survive his encounter with the Green Knight, we as audience members have to trust that he succeeds without seeing it ourselves.

I believe he died in the spiritual sense. Facing death and his failures, the cowardly man of no honor had died. And what knelt before the green knight is a man who now can become the man he could be. Through his failures, he was robbed of his things, alone from his friend, compromised his ideals for self interest, and flinched in the face of death. But once he accepted his fate, he became a new man.
Whether he physically lived or died is inconsequential. He found his honor. Not through inherent virtue, but through failure and hard won wisdom

So the only part that I don’t see being discussed is Gawain’s comment “is this all there is?” As he knelt down reluctantly the first time, to me this stuck out the most, after all this adventure/misadventure the countless failings of honor that he’s had, and even in the beginning of the film where he’s nothing but a philandering drunk. It made me think of life in general that Gawain was nothing more than proxy for 99% of the population, we party and fuck and do things that are self serving until we reach the end. At first I’d imagine death is a hard thing to accept but it’s something that we will all have to face one day and most of us will not leave a legacy of a knight of the round table or King Arthur. however we can still save face and accept our deaths bravely because in the end this is truly “...all there is..”
Perhaps a bit grim but that was my take away.

I took the giants scene a little differently. Early in the movie King Arthur tells Gawain something along the lines of “your surrounded by legends, dont take it lightly you should be honored to be accepted in their presence” but Gawain doesnt see himself as such and is why he is so quick to try and prove himself. He feels he does not meet their level of honor. When he eats the mushrooms and goes on his little trip, he sees the giants and wants to ride on their shoulders to get further ahead of his journey. But as soon as he is reached out to he gets scared of being squashed and then realizes he cant. I think that scene shows him realizing he is truly not on those legends level and riding on their shoulders to get ahead in life, especially when not ready would only get him killed. So he continues on his journey immediately after awakening from his trip trying to prove that he himself can reach the the end of his quest on his own.

This movie, being a modern adaptation of an old story.... and how this version displays a different set of outcomes (he fails all the tests instead of passing them). It makes me think that this version represents modern man, how these basic virtues have been lost. And maybe the fact that he redeems himself in the end is a sign that there is still hope

To me the film really lends itself to a psychological interpretation. The girdle represents his mother complex - something that keeps him safe but also means he will never become a man, always living in the complex’s shadow. The green knight represents his higher self, the part of him, outside of the control of his ego, he has to submit to, to realise his fullness.

Dude why isn’t dev petal in more movies , this guy is fantastic actor , I loved this movie

It’s going to become one of those movies you just watch every so often and you notice something new or understand it better each time lol

I thought the Green Knight dragged his finger across Gwain's throat as he said the" off with his head line." I saw it as The Green Knight giving Gwain a new lease on life and a pretty happy ending all things considered.

movies gonna age like wine

My favorite part of this movie is how it has just enough wiggle room for each person to interpret it slightly differently. Everyone has a slightly varying opinion on the fox, the giants, and especially the ending. It is an excellently crafted movie, showing people what they need to see for their own quests.

This movie was a work of art. It is the kind of movie you can watch repeatedly and always get something new out of it. As a fan of Arthurian legends, I found it quite fascinating.

I don't think he was beheaded in the end of the film. The way the Green Knight touches his face made me think there was a strong connection between him and King Arthur and this was just King Arthur's way of getting him ready to take the throne. I noticed how disappointed King Arthur seem to be when he cut off the green Knight's head. Didn't the green night say "take ANY blow on me, and I will exchange it." So why not just cut off his finger.

Christmas Day is the first day of visible movement of the sun after the winter Solstice. Furthermore, stone 16 of Stonehenge is carved in the style of an oak tree's bark and is the first stone to be lit as the sun makes its way back to the summer Solstice.
And people think that anthropology degree was a waste of time...

One thing that I noticed is that while Gawain was waiting overnight for the Green Knight to wake up, the knight’s face morphs into King Arthur. Maybe to show that this was a test?

The ending was actually kinda sweet. Not that ambiguous imo.
Green Knight said he might leave Gawain with a minor scratch or behead him, but he is at the mercy of whatever GK (earth) has in store for him. At the end, he realized that his current lifestyle amounted to nothing, and that he either chooses the righteous path (fearlessness at the hands of a merciless force), or lives a life not worth living. He saw his own flaws and unburdened himself of his less honorable instincts (or ego?). GK then decides he passed the test and gives him a “minor scratch”. super cute if you ask me.

I've now seen the movie twice, so here's my interpretation: He had already failed Piety at the beginning of the movie. He lied to his mother, saying he had gone to mass when instead he was in what I thought was either a bar or a house for women of the night (why not both). His mom, who must have known about King Arthur's deteriorating health and also knowing that Gawain was the most likely heir to the throne, decided to test him on the other virtues to see if he was worthy of being a knight and ultimately holding the crown. I'm pretty sure his mom was the Green Knight because she wrote the letter that the Queen read out loud, and when Arthur asked if it was his own words/challenge, the Green Knight nodded. When the Green knight put his axe down and offered his neck, Gawain failed to land a blow with honor (as the Green Knight/his mom requested) by swinging at an unarmed man who seems to be surrendering. By cutting off the head of the Green Knight, he sealed his own fate and showed how selfish he was, since the Green Knight had clearly said he would return the blow in the manner that it was given to him. He could have simply hit him with Excalibur's handle and the "game" would have allowed it. Your interpretations of chastity, generosity and courtesy are spot on, but I do think the Fox represented friendship, since the fox accompanies Gawain for the majority of his quest and even tries to persuade Gawain against continuing towards certain doom. Instead of thanking the fox and telling him how he must complete the quest, Gawain attacks him and rejects his company.
I liked this movie, but I will say that it tried a little too hard in some areas at being needlessly ambiguous in order to fit more than one interpretation, which in turn made the movie feel a bit nonsensical at times. A couple of examples are the scenes with the lord & lady. Most of the dialogue just made the eyes of everyone at my theatre glaze over and I can not for the life of me recall a single line of what they said (other than "you are no knight"). Also, some of the scenes with the fox. He makes the giants leave Gawain alone instead of giving him a ride for seemingly no reason other than the fox wanting Gawain to complete the journey on his own, yet when he speaks at the end he tells him not to complete it. The giants howling was cool but also made no sense since they could clearly speak whatever language giants speak as evident by the giant woman responding to Gawain's request to be carried on her shoulder. She replied with something that clearly had meaning. I do think the audiences are a bit too harsh on this movie, but that mostly happens when the audience feels like the movie was trying to be too smart for them. I don't think the writer/director did himself any favors. Something as simple as adding a line of dialogue where he says that the king and the knights we are seeing are king Arthur and the knights of the round table could have cleared a LOT of confusion for people who might not have had previous knowledge of the tale, which were a LOT of people including myself. Also, I have no clue who the little girl playing with the crown in the after credits scene was. Anyways, thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

Great video! I believe that the green knight is actually Gawain's mother and that she orchestrated all these events in order to push her son to become a better man capable becoming a worthy successor to King Arthur.
There's an article I found that talked about how the director gradually changed the story as he fleshed it out and it eventually turned into an allegory between the complicated relationship between himself and his own mother & how she pushed him to become more independent.
And I think the final shot with the green knight proves this too - the way he gently consoled Gawain after he removed his belt, almost lovingly calling him little knight and playfully "cutting" his throat with his finger all felt too paternal to me to just be coincidence.

I can’t tell if this is a great movie or made by crazy people.

Watched it on Mushrooms, and I’m convinced it’s the only way one should endeavor to experience this movie. Such an epic adventure. Incredible.

This is the best review of the Green Knight so far posted! Thank you for deepening my appreciation for the film.

7:11 You failed to mention here that the fox stops at the river and boat, the river representing the River Styx and the ferryboat to the land of the dead, and that Gawain traversing the river will cement his demise. It is also worth noting that the cloak Gawain wears throughout the film is yellow, a traditional color for funerals.
Also, 5:00 You missed the pentacle in the floor of the throne room. It is not marked but the stones are lain in a certain way. It's very brief.
Terrific video. I like the ambiguous ending. It allows the viewer to come to their own conclusions of what happens after the credits. Perhaps the knight doesn't behead Sir Gawain and, both knowing the vision of what his life would be if he made choices of deceit he can take that lesson and allow it to impact his life, return to town, turn away from the crown, and embrace a pious and simple life with the common woman.

As far as I'm aware, the motivation of morgan was to try and cause gwenevere to die of shock from the initial fight in arthurs court. It was mostly meant to be a story and Gawain and a lesson of "It doesn't matter if you are any good/perfect, what matters is that you try." That's why in the original story, he only accepts the kisses and keeps the girdle. He keeps to the main mission of a knight, but falters in a small way.

thank you for the breakdown. I watched it yesterday and I was so confused at times. My only gripe is that it was so dark sometimes I couldn't make out what was happening.

Anyone else notice the building on fire in the first scene of the movie, and the man & lady leaving on horseback? What was that about??

If someone watched this without knowing the legend, confusion will surely result. One thing's bothering me is that the Green Knight is not green enough for me

your channel is a great source of knowledge

The visual references to the classic Rider-Waite Tarot Card art is also incredible in this movie. I wasn’t familiar with it until after seeing this movie with someone well versed in tarot.
“The hanged man” is visually how he looks tied up on the ground at the beginning of his journey
“Wheel of Fortune” is shown with the puppets
“The High Priestess” is his mom
“The Tower” is where his mom summons the green knight
and many more

What a beautiful ride. Beautiful film. Thank you for this video. Made me appreciate it more.

i think gawains mother conjured up the green knight for him to become a more noble and honest man with honor after he lied to her saying he was at mass when in reality he was at the brothel. eventually through all of gawains trials on his journey he eventually accepts what he has coming to him. so i think the knight does spare him for being courageous in the moment. and when you think about it gawain did all of this to himself. the knight when reading the rules of the game said it could be as little as a scratch on the cheek but gawain being arrogant and showing off decided to decapitate the green knight. so i personally feel like his mother wanted him to go on a journey to become a good man instead of the dickhead he was at the start of the film. because in the tagline on the poster it says “when honor made great kings” and in gawains vision he was a horrible king because he had no honor.

Haven't seen the movie yet, but the way you ask the question of Morgana's motivation, you know, it can be both. She spent her whole life as a bad guy to the shiny never-do-wrong great Merlin, because magic+penis = great wizard, whereas magic+vag = evil witch per Arthurian holy standard, but I always found her to be way more complex than that - she could have desired her son to be on the big chair, but also not a loser. He wasn't much of a knight material before the story in the film. He needed a good kick. He turns out to be a coward when his own head is on the line, but when the whole kingdom - which now he has seen, on his journey - is shown suffering for his poor leadership, he accepts his debt to GK.

out of all the reviews i've seen, this is the best one so far. Definitely deserves more views.

Very informative! Thanks for the great efforts...!

Great interpretation, I took the end as the green knight killing him was the most worthy death possible for him, as it kept him from coming to power and greed and ruin, while preserving him as a legend in the eyes of the court since he faced his quest and perished with honor.
TLDR: you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain

Definitely need to watch this a couple more times, really liked it. I was one of the ones unaware of the source material. Did not even recognize the arthurian elements until after the film, a fact I love.
I think that in a way, he would’ve died by continuing to live with shame and regret, but truly lived in the end by keeping his word and embracing his fate with honor.

So glad you made this video. Thank you.

Thank you for an exceptionally thoughtful & informed video! I love this film & enjoy its Arthurian echoes. The film version of Gawain presents him as callow but imbued with potential, as his encounter with St. Winifred demonstrates. He tries to get a reward from her; is chastised; & then retrieves the saint's skull. Gawain speaks with giants, but is fearful at their approach. Such a fascinating combination of venality & courage makes his success truly seem questionable, so there is suspense as to whether Gawain will succeed in his quest. The photography & (Irish) settings are luminous, & the pace is dreamlike. You have unwrapped this film's major themes effortlessly!

I noticed he drank the water where the lady’s head was. Also ate some shrooms. He was definitely tripping

I think Gawain does get decapitated at the end for a couple of reasons: Firstly, in an interview, David Lowery seems to kinda imply that he does get his head cut off, but he just didn't want to end the film with that. Secondly, It marks the completion of his arc. He finally accepts the real meaning of what it means to be honorable, and it's not as glorious as the superficial idea he had of it. That's kinda the theme of the film, is to accept the brutality of nature. It's his destiny to die, and he reaches a point where he can either do it honorably, or not, which is the vision he has at the end of the film. It's kinda hard to put in words, but it just feels right that in the end, he dies, and finally discovers the true harshness of life and honor.

Great analysis!

The Best Mythos Movie to date. Layered with enough detail to tell the story, enough mystery for the inquiring mind. Visual tokens to take the viewer into the subconscious. Just enough on every level. Loved it.

After watching it twice, the repeated emphasis on "it's just a game" makes me believe he's just fine at the end. Several times in the movie we see Gawain and King Arthur hold each other's side of their face - Once Gawain accepts his fate, the Green Knight does this to Gawain. The Green Knight points off to the exit and says "Off with your head" I think it's a clever play on words like: "Off with your head, get out of here!" kind of thing.

Was it king Arthur’s tooth that she uses to summon the green knight ? Remember when king says his tooth hurts ?

This is an amazing breakdown and I appreciate you for making it happen this way. I reviewed the film and must admit I didn't quite get it. You're interpretation and breakdown is perfect for those of us that were left out in the dark when it came to deciphering its meaning. This is an excellent review and one of the better ones I've seen on the film so thanks again for that. Furthermore understanding the historic relevance and connection to the film and also the way you tie together what really happened in the film versus the poem was perfect for our understanding. Well done keep it up.

i watched a few videos explaining this movie and this one was the best done. subbed. well done

I think Morgan le Fay sees that her son is given to lust/selfishness, and has no purpose, no story. She brings forth the Green Knight, who is Nature and Death, to give her son the chance of an honorable Life. Arthur warns him it is only a game; but Gawain is so desperate to be noble and to find his way, that he chops off the Green Knight's head when he could have done something much more minor. Once Gawain is on his quest, he fails in kindness to the Scavenger, and is punished. He does better with St Winifred, although he makes the mistake of expecting something in return. He flinches from the help of the giants. He is kinder to the Fox till it tells him the Truth that The Green Knight will kill him without mercy. With both his mother and the Castle lady's scarf, he seeking to escape his Fate, which he himself has arranged. And, of course, with the Castle Lady, his non-knightly attraction to lust takes a turn for the worse. In the end, he realizes that if he gives up his nobility, the quest that has surely been leading him to his death, he will be destroyed anyway. He takes off his sash, accepting that Death is the end that Nature is always leading us to. I think the Green Knight honors him for his bravery (the successful life and death that his mother has hoped to challenge him to), and then kills him, as the end of the "game" of Life. Nature/Death was always going to come, but Gawain had the choice to do it seeking honor or to be a coward. I think the women in this piece see that maybe the search for "nobility/knightliness" is maybe an unnecessary Boy's fantasy; but I also think Gawain finds the story he was seeking, even though he knows he's flawed and imperfect, & it's too soon. He's tried to play by the Rules, even though it took him a while to figure them out. That's "all there is".

The part that I haven't heard anyone mention would be the after-credit scene. We see the daughter that he would have had with the noblewoman (I believe so since she did appear to also be a redhead) take up his rounded crown and put it over her own head. Not sure if this means anything at all but in a film that was so layer I would assume so.

There was cool after credits scene in there too. Great breakdown loved your take on it

TYVM!!!...Very Good Break Down and linking to the Arthurian version :D

They made a Tool music video into a full length movie

I didn't like that he failed all but one test because if there was one thing Gawain was good at it was keeping his charity and respect for women so it is weird that he was kind of weird to Winfried and the lady -_-

Excellent analysis, thank you!

Thank you for your amazing video!

I thought it was a different, less conventional way of telling the same story... but all the original poem's themes were present. Very A24, in that the film was nightmarish, violent, sexual, and full of symbolism. The anonymous medieval poet wove all of those elements into his original work... but this film views them through a darker lens.

Did anyone else see the green knights face go human for a second while the knight was waiting for their final battle?

Great breakdown!!

I think this might be the first time in my life where a single KRplus video is enough to explain everything about an ambiguous movie.
Well done, friend.

This video cleared some things up - how’d he get his axe back though? Was a slow burn but after hearing these connections / makes it much better - def need to rewatch

I loved the take on the original poem. And the cinematography was beautiful. But there were so many dragging shots, and the pacing was just so slow it was difficult to enjoy the experience.

You are a magnificent historian. I wish more people were interested in this type of content. Thank you for this.

Great breakthrough! Having no such previous background in Arthurian lore I did not pick any reference up. My first reading was then a general environmentalist one, as Galwain is an average man who mainly thinks only about his present pleasures and benefits over striking The Green Knight, that is a representation of nature, without considering the consequences or looking for balance in the act, finding himself bound to pay a heavy price for it in the future.

Morgan le Fay is a very complex character. At times she was an ally of the round table and others she was an enemy. Also, Morgause is sometimes switched with Morgan la Fay as the bigger antagonist to Arthur. There is a book that looks at things from Morgan la Fay's perspective, where she follows many traditions of the Druids as does Merlin. It is considered by some to be feminist literature, but it is actually a quite enjoyable novel, called The Mists of Avalon. It leans heavily into the meaning of Morgan's name, "la Fay" and has a sort of hidden realm she enters in Avalon. It also has the conception of Mordred be an accident, at least on the part of Morgan and Arthur, as they were participating in celtic/druid harvest ritual that had their identities hidden until afterwards.
In the end of most tellings of Arthur's life, it is said he was taken to Avalon by Morgan le Fay, usually to heal his wounds or rest until needed by Britain.

I wrote my phd thesis on the "Green Man," or Vegetal Head as Jung called it. Great analysis though, with a tough movie, but one that I loved too and have been waiting for, for awhile. I imagine if one is not familiar not just with the poem but an analysis of the poem, the movie is pretty inscrutable. I think some things, like Morgana's role as mother and manipulator could have been more explicit. His failure at becoming a knight are far more prominent in the movie, but I guess that better suits our times where, as they say, chivalry is dead.

The sound track and music was fantastic

Great analysis, thanks!

I think the game wasn’t just a test but was trying to portray a message that war is nothing but a pointless game and does nothing but cause destruction, pain and more greed. Like the saying, “an eye for an eye and the whole world will go blind”. Which is why war was such a big theme near the end of the movie.

What a great movie, loved it - thank you for your interpretations!

Great video! As I was watching the movie I took all the tests to be coming from nature as a way to test Gawain. As he failed with the scavengers and lost his possessions, but I took him as being successful with Winifred as while he does ask what he will receive, he does go in and retrieve her head and is rewarded with the axe the next morning. Had been wondering if the Lord would have presented him with the green sash if he had not taken it from Lady. With all the mentions of it being a game and the green knight knowing about the sash I think Gawain survives the end but still had to face the 3rd swing not knowing the outcome (like the audience does)

I thought it was the death of his ego at the end. The path he took made him stronger which was the point, and he gave into the fear knowing it would kill him. Or did it?

This is one of the greatest films in cinema history

Can't wait to own my own copy to watch late at night. Brilliant, beautiful and strange. Loved it.

Thank you so much for explaining this. Knowing next to nothing of Arthurian legend, I barely understood this movie. I was so bored that I felt that I was braindead when the last line was spoken because I didn't remember that dialogue at all. It made 2 hours feel close to 5 1/2 hours. I feel I need to rewatch that movie, now knowing the original poem and having more context to what went on.

I've had a few comments on the background music being too loud, so if it annoys you, check out this fixed version: krplus.net/bidio/gZlleIegh6yWZqg

I felt like the movie was about millennial Angst

thanks for sharing your interpretation :)

This film had so many turns and aspects. I especially saw the yearly game between the oak and the holy kings

In these Arthurian Myths it gets confusing because often Morgan LeFay & Morgause Gorloise are combined into one character. Same with Vivian/Nimue/Lady of the Lake. What makes this particular Green Knight story so interesting is that it retains so much of it's pre Christian, pagan motifs. I really wanted to see this film because the trailers looked so amazing & atmospheric but now Idk, sounds like they couldn't resist changing the story & thereby the meaning of the story. Too much abstract visual symbolism with no narrative connective tissue doesn't usually work in films imo. Maybe I'll check this out on streaming & not the theatre. Would you recommend seeing it on the big screen?

A24 makes some crazy movies. This movie was weird.

I was wondering whether at the very end the Green Knight said, "Off with your head," or "Off! With your head!" The latter would mean "be gone, and take your head with you."

Thanks for the video I wasn’t familiar with the poem or Arthurian legends but I could tell the movie was good if you knew what it was referring to lol so on rewatch now I think I’ll like this movie a lot more

The sash around his stomach doesn't represent "nature". It's an umbilical cord to his mom. It's basically his mother's guarantee of protection, which he must discard in order to be a man.
It's symbolic of boyhood ways. Not wanting to give up that protection in order to achieve honor marks the difference between boy and man.

I have a bunch of viable theories, but I think my most interesting one is that the Green Knight is actually Jesus. He resurrects every year on Christmas day, he sacrificed himself as the beginning of a lesson in selflessness and sacrifice for King Arthur's successor, and I can't remember who said it but she says "if men knew what he was, they would bear their shame willingly," like if you knew he was Christ you would never lie

I'm in love with this film, have watched it twice, and can't wait for the third

Thank you!

I encountered someone who hated the movie primarily because they perceived Gawain to be bisexual in the poem, especially given the kiss from Bertilak, which was supposedly more passionate in the original literature and more invited by Gawain himself. Seems like a poor reason to hinge your like or dislike on to me.

This movie was a fever dream. At no point did I know what was going on and not in a good way

Thank you. This movie is quite deep (& important)

I needed this movie breakdown, I was lost watching it.

This god damn movie was so god damn slow. I almost fell as sleep every 5 minutes. Can’t even understand them because everyone in that damn movie love to god damn mumble and whispers. God damn.

While your explanation did not turn me into a fan of this movie, I will admit that it made me slightly less hostile towards it. I could tell the filmmaker thought he was saying SOMETHING, I just couldn't for the life of me figure out what. My perspective was that it took my favorite Arthurian legend and stomped all over it.

What a layered, beautiful movie! One of the best of 2021!

This is one of my best watches ever. The third act was amazing and breathtaking. Dev Patel as always is amazing in every role he is in. I didn't think much about the story bc I like the vagueness and weird nature of it.
This is a good video essay and I might be rewatching the film again to catch some things I didnt notice the first time.