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One aspect of being a knight is choosing a lady of his heart.
The knight is supposed to perform noble tasks in her honor,
thus glorifying her name. Love is knight's inspiration for
Sir Gawain does this in a way that does not make the hostess feel bad in any way. He says that he is pleased that "The one so worthy as you would willingly come And take the time and trouble to talk with your knight And content you with his company" [Norton, 1537-1539], intending to show her that he is not worthy enough of her love. All he can do is "to please, as honor behooves" [Norton, 1547] and only because honor obliges him. So she tests him and tries to lure him to sin, but his defense is impeccable. The lady realizes that Sir Gawain is truly noble, without any flaws, so she kisses him and leaves. Another aspect of being a knight is to know the art of hunting. According to the chivalric ideal, the art of hunting is just as important for a knight as the art of using different weapons or having a lady to serve. Slaughtering and preparing a dead animal, a boar in this case, is done according to the proper rules. In the passage, the art of dressing the dead animal is described in detail. Only a "worthily skilled" person, "wise in woodcraft" [Norton, 1605], can perform this act. Most of the time, as it is shown in the passage, the butchering of the animal is done by the lord himself. It should be done in a certain way - he should cut the animal in certain parts, draining the blood properly, throwing away certain parts of the animal, or feeding them to the dogs. It is described as follows: "He severs the savage head and sets it aloft,The almost ritual procedure of hunting and the subsequent carving and preparation of meat are riveting in their strict observance. The chivalric code is full of rules for the knight's conduct in any situation, one example of which is hunting and carving animals. There is, however, one central idea that every knight is a servant; a knight is the one who does only good in the name of love and never brings dishonor to anyone. In this second test, Sir Gawain proves to be a true knight when he is tempted by the hostess of the Green Castle. So far nothing can turn him from his path, for he is a true knight.
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