The Middle Ages were a period of enormous historical, social, and cultural change. Changes began in Britain due to the Norman conquest of 1066, such as the entering of words from France into the English vocabulary. There are three different periods classified in the Middle Ages. The Anglo-Saxon period began in 450 and ran until 1066. The Anglo-Norman period carried right along in 1066 and lasted until the beginning of the thirteenth century. .
In the early thirteenth century, the period of Middle English literature began and continued into the 14th century.In the second half of the fourteenth century, English literature began to spread. Popular works that surfaced in this period during the Middle Ages were written by poets such as Geoffrey Chaucer and the Gawain poet. Geoffrey Chaucer began to recreate French and Italian poetry in his mother tongue. Doing so, Chaucer enhanced the movement of English in literature. He was inspired by the works of Italian writers, such as Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. .
In the fifteenth century two religious women, Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe allow us to see the church and life from their points of view. We give credit to Chaucer and other writers and poets of the fourteenth century for continuing to write these English literature masterpieces. It is unknown who is the actual author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The poem in which was recovered in a single manuscript was not the only written work. There were three other works, all written in North West Midland dialect, and there are only theories, not facts, about who wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Whoever was responsible for the writing of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight used enhanced imagery, and was a very artistic individual. The artist uses alliteration and rhyme scheme quite commonly, as well as symbolism. Many remakes of the story have surfaced, but none can compare to the actual writing done by this mysterious poet or as he is now known, the "The Pearl Poet" or "The Gawain Poet.