3 - ‘Þe place þat ȝe prece to ful perelous is halden’: The Evil Custom in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Summary

When Gawain finally sets out for the Green Chapel in the fourth Fitt of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, he is shown the way to his long-desired destination by an otherwise unnamed guide. The words spoken by this man as he tries to dissuade our hero from going on to meet the Green Knight appear in the fifth stanza of this Fitt, lines 2091–117:

For I haf wonnen yow hider, wyȝe, at þis tyme,

And now nar ȝe not fer fro þat note place

Þat ȝe han spied an spuryed so specially after;

Bot I schal say yow for soþe, syþen I yow knowe,

And ȝe ar a lede vpon lyue þat I wel louy,

Wolde ȝe worche bi my wytte, ȝe worþed þe better.

Þe place þat ȝe prece to ful perelous is halden;

Þer woneȝ a wyȝe in þat waste, þe worst vpon erþe,

For he is stiffe and sturne, and to strike louies,

And more he is þen any mon vpon myddelerde,

And his body bigger þen þe best fowre

Þat ar in Arþurez hous, Hestor, oþer oþer.

He cheuez þat chaunce at the chapel grene,

þer passes non bi þat place so proude in his armes

þat he ne dyngez hym to deþe with dynt of his honde;

For he is a mon methles, and mercy non vses,

For be hit chorle oþer chaplyn þat bi þe chapel rydes,

Monk oþer masseprest, oþer any mon elles,

Hym þynk as queme hym to quelle as quyk go hymseluen.

Forþy I say þe, as soþe as ȝe in sadel sitte,

Com ȝe þere, ȝe be kylled, may þe knyȝt rede,

Trawe ȝe me þat trwely, þaȝ ȝe had twenty lyues

to spende.

He hatz wonyd here ful ȝore,

On bent much baret bende,

Aȝen his dyntez sore

ȝe may not yow defende.

For I have seen you here safe at the set time,

And now you are not far from that notable place

That you have sought for so long with such special pains.

But this I say for certain, since I know you, sir knight,

And have your good at heart, and hold you dear –

Would you heed well my words, it were worth your while –

You are rushing into risks that you reck not of: