Sir Gawain Speaks
to King Arthur
Please click here to listen to Sir Gawain speak
"Is this alle?;
I shalle wed her and wed her again,
Thoughe she were a fend,
her shalle I wed, by the rood,
Or elles were not I your frende;
For ye are my king withe honour
And have worshipt me in many a stooure.
Therefor shalle I not let.
To save your life, lorde, it were my parte,
Or were I false and a great coward;
And my worship is the bet" (Sands 334).
The noble knight, Sir Gawain, is responding to the story that King Arthur recites to him. The king is describing
the proposition made to him by the hag. He is telling Sir Gawain that the hag is ready to save his life in exchange
for marriage to Sir Gawain. The knight, instead of rejecting marriage to the hag, accepts her right away. He is
saying that even she were a fiend, he would marry her. This is because Arthur is his king, and he realizes that this
is his duty according to the comitatus. Even though he knows that she is an ugly hag, he feels it is his duty to his
king to marry this woman.
