Written sometime in the fourteenth century, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is a prime example of a knight bound to his oath of chivalry. It tells the tale of Gawain, nephew of King Arthur, who knowingly sentences himself to death in the "beheading game"." On his way to the Green Chapel to fulfill his promise to the Green Knight, Gawain stumbles upon a castle and is invited inside to rest. The castellan of the castle and Gawain's host is Lord Bertilak, who soon proposes an "exchanging of gifts" game. Bertilak would hunt for three days, and at the end of each day, he would return and give Gawain whatever game he had caught. Gawain was to give his host anything he received during his stay at the castle. The animals that Lord Bertilak aims to hunt (a deer, a boar, and a fox) have significance because they represent Gawain's ability to stay true to his word and to remain virtuous. .
The deer symbolizes Gawain's first encounter with Lady Bertilak and his meek behavior when she attempts to seduce him. Deer are usually thought to be easily frightened and elusive creatures. When Lady Bertilak enters Gawain's chambers and makes several sexual advances towards him, he either pretends to be asleep or avoids the subject entirely. In the Middle Ages, deer were thought to be part of a class of "beasts of venery ", to which "higher prestige or distinction was attached to the pursuit and slaying of"" (Savage 2). Gawain was honorable in his dealings with Lady Bertilak's sexual advances and stayed true to his oaths of courtesy and chastity.
The boar symbolizes Gawain's directness as he rejects Lady Bertilak's advances for the second night. Boars were also among the "beasts of venery ", but were much harder to kill than deer. They were capable of fighting back because of their large tusks and were generally more aggressive. The boar Lord Bertilak was hunting led the party leads "a merry chase and afterwards turns finally and fiercely to bay"" (Savage 5).
