What does the color green signify in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight??
Given the varied and even contradictory interpretations of the colour green, its precise meaning in the poem remains ambiguous. In English folklore and literature, Green has traditionally been used to symbolize nature and its embodied attributes, namely those of fertility and rebirth. Stories of the medieval period further portray it as representing love and the base, natural desires of man.Green is also known to have signified witchcraft, devilry and evil for its association with faeries and spirits of early English folklore. It also had an association with decay and toxicity.The color, when combined with gold, as is the case with both the Green Knight and the girdle, is seen as representing the fading away of youth.In the Celtic tradition, green was avoided in clothing for its superstitious association with misfortune and death. The green girdle, originally worn for protection, transforms into a symbol of shame and cowardice. Then it is finally adopted as a symbol of honour by the kn
