THE DUKE OF CLARENCE AND THE EARLS OF MARCH: GARTER KNIGHTS AND SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT.

`Hony soit qui mal pence': this slightly altered version of the motto of the Order of the Garter appears at the end of the Middle English alliterative poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (SGGK), the only extant copy of which is to be found in London, British Library, MS Cotton Nero A.x.(1) The motto appears to have been added in `a somewhat later hand';(2) and it has been said that there is no clear evidence that the Gawain-poet himself, or even the original copyist, intended such a direct allusion to the Garter.(3) Much discussion has already been generated for and against the supposed connections between SGGK and the Garter.(4) To my mind, the indications are decidedly in favour of, rather than against, such an interpretation; any English poet writing in the Arthurian mode at this date would necessarily see, and know that an aristocratic audience would also see, a parallel between the Round Table and the Order of the Garter. The motto, whenever added, is important as evidence of how an early reader -- possibly a contemporary of the author's, or at least the copyist's -- reacted to the poem. Whoever added the motto certainly intended to draw attention to the parallel between the real-life order of chivalry and the imaginary knights of the Round Table, perhaps even between the prestigious garter itself, symbol of the order, and the girdle of SGGK, which is adopted and worn as a sash by King Arthur's court. But it may well be the case, as I hope to show by pointing to certain clues within the text, that the anonymous poet himself intended the parallel, for there is a real connection between the Garter motto and the poem's inner dynamic. If someone other than the poet was responsible for adding the motto at the end of SGGK, that person was only making explicit what the author himself had left implicit. Furthermore, I would suggest that the poet intended by this reference to flatter a noble patron, one who desired to gain admission into the highly exclusive Order of the Garter -- a mark of royal favour which would (if the proposed identification is correct) have increased his chances of being taken seriously as heir to the throne.

The presence of the Garter motto at the very end of the poem is the parting shot in a series of leave-takings through which the poet takes us, as the literary illusion recedes into the distance and the author draws us back to concrete reality. He takes leave firstly of Gawain's story, next of Arthurian romance in general, then of ancient British legend, and finally of salvation history. The perspective thus recedes into the ancient past before being telescoped into eternity, the Christian view of mankind. It is very striking that the symbolism of the green girdle is inverted in the final stanza, from a badge of shame to a badge of honour. Worn first by Sir Gawain as a talisman (at Hautdesert, where it must be hidden), it is elevated to the level of sign, on a par with the pentangle (on leaving the Green Chapel), then adopted as a chivalric emblem (at Camelot). Gawain returns home wearing it as a baldric, i.e. across his right shoulder and tied in a knot under his left arm. For the hero, the adventure has been one of progress from self-delusion to self-awareness, from pride to penitence. The `endless knot' (line 630) of the pentangle has been undone along with the hero's `trawpe', or fidelity (lines 626; 2470), and the new knot of the baldric is a sign of Gawain's remorse. The paradox of the baldric, seen in penitential terms, is the paradox of the crucifixion in St Paul's understanding of salvation: no cross, no crown. The humbling of Gawain leads to greater honour, but only when his sin is forgiven and he is reintegrated into the Christian community. His companions, in adopting the green baldric, reverse its meaning, now a sign of grace rather than disgrace.

At all events, the story ends at this point with the adoption of the baldric, and to remind us that it is indeed a story whose primary object is to entertain, the author recalls that it is recorded in `pe best boke of romaunce' (line 2521). Bringing the story back round to its starting point, there is a final reminder of the Arthurian setting and, beyond that again, as in the introductory stanza, of the historical background of Brutus and the siege of Troy, which has the effect of distancing the events from the present. The final alliterative line, `After pe segge and pe asaute watz sesed at Troye' (line 2525), is thus almost exactly the same as the poem's first line, `Sipen pe sege and pe assaut watz sesed at Troye'. The meaning of the last two lines, `Now pat bere pe croun of porne, / He bryng vus to his blysse! Amen' (lines 2529-30), seems at first sight unrelated to what has gone before. The tone in this couplet is unabashedly pious, and scarcely in the style of romance. Although it is commonplace for romance authors to invoke a blessing on the audience they do not normally do so in the style of preachers, which is the convention followed here. This couplet is typical of medieval English sermons, such as in Jacob's Well, many of whose chapters end in a very similar way.(5) That the author was a religious man is undoubted; he may even have been a priest, perhaps a chaplain in a noble household, though there is no critical agreement on this point.(6) If such were indeed the case, as I think, one of his duties would be to preach regularly; and so the concluding couplet may be intended as a reminder of his role. This interpretation is in keeping with the analysis of Gawain's fault in penitential terms and throws the three scenes of confession (made first to the priest, then to the Green Knight, and finally to the Round Table) into sharper relief.

In just a few lines, therefore, the author goes through this series of conclusions or leave-takings. But there is one last line still to come, a parting shot which creates a new element of suspense, raising as it does further questions about the meaning and symbolism of the green girdle. That line is the motto of the Order of the Garter, `Hony soit qui mal pence', written in the manuscript just after the poem.(7) As said earlier, not everyone would agree that this is the author's parting shot: on the contrary, many commentators see it as a mere scribal addition, i.e. something added by the copyist -- or even by someone else -- for his own reasons, which are not necessarily those of the poet. I am not convinced that this dismissive attitude is justified. The similarities are obvious between the real-life garter and the poem's girdle or baldric: in both cases an item of dress -- an accessory worn by both sexes -- is adopted by a royal order of chivalry as a badge of honour. In reality the Knights of the Garter wear two emblems, a blue ribbon with a gold border below the left knee, and a dark blue sash; the Knights of the Round Table wear a green sash, baldric-wise. A sash may be worn as a belt or a baldric: Gawain does both with the lady's girdle. When he arms himself in the castle he puts it around his waist (line 2033), but when he leaves the Green Chapel he ties it as a baldric (line 2486), and it is thus that it is adopted at the Round Table (line 2516). In purely iconographic or heraldic terms the parallel is striking. Why a copyist working in the second half -- perhaps the last quarter -- of the fourteenth century would wish to draw attention to this fact requires some knowledge of the importance of the Order of the Garter and its direct relation to the Arthurian romance tradition.

The Order of the Garter was England's first order of chivalry. The exact date of its foundation was once a matter of some doubt, even among contemporary writers, though there is now general agreement on the year 1348. The main reason for the confusion is that King Edward III first planned a Round Table, in 1344, which eventually crystallized into the Order of the Garter four years later; and even fourteenth-century chroniclers are not always clear about the sequence. What is clear is the literary influence of chivalric romance: Edward III, attracted to pageantry and glamour, deliberately modelled his new order on the traditions of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. The young King had succeeded to the throne in 1327 at the age of 14 -- one thinks inevitably of the youthful Arthur of SGGK (lines 86; 105), surrounded by `beardless boys' (line 280), as the Green Knight calls the knights of the Round Table -- and reigned for fifty years, until his death in 1377. During his lifetime the English language was once again emerging as a literary force; many Arthurian romances were translated from French, and new English ones were composed. Edward and his companions were inspired by a wish to revive the traditions of the golden age of chivalry. In January 1344, at a splendid feast in Windsor Castle, the King announced his intention of refounding the Round Table, the formal initiation to take place, following the pattern of Arthurian romance, the following Pentecost.(8) He then planned a grand jousting tournament to take place at Windsor on St George's Day (23 April); a table 200 feet long was set up for the entertainment of the knights and their ladies. Edward's original idea was to recreate a very large chivalric fellowship of 300 knights, and construction even began at Windsor on a building designed to house the Round Table. This ambitious plan was modified at some point during the next few years, to be replaced by the much smaller, more exclusive Order of the Garter, limited to twenty-six members: the sovereign, the Prince of Wales, and twenty-four companions, most of whom had accompanied Edward III on the Crecy campaign of 1346.(9) It was still a chivalric fellowship but also one having an explicitly religious function, with its own collegiate church; and the completion in 1349 of the new chapel of St George in Windsor Castle, where the coats of arms of the Knights of the Garter were to remain on display, gave the order a permanent home.

As for Edward III's choice of the Order of the Garter's curious motto, which means `Shame be to him who thinks evil of it', the reference is far from obvious and has been the object of much speculation. What would the English King wish the founding companions, or indeed the nobility at large, not to think evil of? In all likelihood, it was his claim to the French throne, and his consequent military engagements in France, that Edward had in mind. It is clear from the outset, at the foundation of the Order in 1348, that he gave priority, as far as Garter membership was concerned, to those who had campaigned at his side in France; and this priority (service in France rather than, say, Ireland or Scotland) was upheld throughout his reign.(10) The Garter motto, although mysterious, is not therefore totally opaque, while lending itself to more than one interpretation. Appearances, the words also seem to mean, are not what we think: let us not jump to hasty conclusions, especially when that involves making moral judgements about our neighbours. And this is precisely the case in SGGK -- hence the relevance of the real-life motto to the poem.

Whatever the truth about the motto, the founding of the Order of the Garter was an event of European importance which struck the imagination of princes and poets everywhere.(11) From the middle of the fourteenth century onwards, anyone writing in the Arthurian mode, especially in England, could hardly fail to be conscious of the parallel between the chivalric and overtly religious values of the Round Table and those of the Order of the Garter. For the copyist of SGGK to draw attention to this would thus seem to be very natural. I would go further, however, and suggest that it would be just as natural for the author, and not merely the copyist, to have thought along the same lines. For the entire poem is about appearances, about being deceived by illusion, about learning to see things as they really are, about learning to accept oneself as one really is. The motto of the Order of the Garter is very aptly related to the poet's moral meaning, going far beyond any similarity between the garter and the girdle, quite in keeping with this moralist's wish to make us think about what lies beneath the surface. It might be objected that the difference in colour between the green girdle and the blue garter makes any allusion unlikely; but an allusion is not a description. The poet is not describing the real garter but alluding to its moral significance, drawing a parallel between its real-life symbolism and its deeper meaning in his poem. He would not thereby feel obliged to labour the point by making Sir Gawain's sash blue like the Garter's: the reference is indirect, an allusion to the garter, not a description of it.