The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters

00:00:00.000 So, we arrive at this remarkable moment where Gwaine arrives at this wonderful castle after

00:00:20.160 all this time in the wilderness. And again, the Tullo Poets Testament, he paints such a vivid and

00:00:26.800 wonderful picture of it. It's a description that after all this time, through what Gwaine has been

00:00:33.040 through, you immediately know from the way it's been described that this is genuine sanctuary for

00:00:39.560 him. And so it says, Then he stayed his steed that on the steep bank halted, above the deep double

00:00:46.480 ditch that was drawn round the place, the wall waded in the waters wondrously deep, and up again

00:00:53.960 to a huge height in the air it mounted, all of hard-hewn stone to the high cornice, fortified

00:01:01.860 under the battlement in the best fashion, and topped with fair turrets set by turns about,

00:01:07.700 that had many graceful loopholes with a good outlook. That night a better Barbican had never 1.00

00:01:15.540 seen built, and inward he beheld the hall uprising, tall towers set in turns, and as times clustered,

00:01:23.960 and fair finials joined feetly, so fine and so long, their capstones all carven with cunning and skill.

00:01:31.860 Many chalk-white chimneys he chanced to espy, upon the roofs of towers all radiant white.

00:01:39.760 So many a painted pinnacle was peppered about, among the crannials of the castle clustered so thickly,

00:01:46.760 that all parred out of paper it appeared to have been, the gallant knight on his great horse good enough thought it.

00:01:53.760 If he could come by any course at enclosure to enter, to harbour in that hostel, while the holy day lasted with delight.

00:02:03.260 He called, and there came with speed a porter, blithe and bright. On the wall he learned his need, and hailed the errant knight.

00:02:11.860 Good sir, quoth Gwaine, will you go with my message to the high lord of this house for harbour to prayer?

00:02:19.660 Yes, by Peter, quoth the porter, and I promise indeed that you will, sir, be welcome while you wish to stay here.

00:02:27.520 Then quickly the man went and came again soon, servants bringing civilly to receive there the knight.

00:02:33.820 They draw down the great drawbridge, and duly came forth, and on the cold earth on their knees in courtesy knelt,

00:02:42.100 to welcome this wayfarer with such worship as they knew.

00:02:46.460 They delivered him the broad gates, and laid them wide open, and he readily bade them rise and rode o'er the bridge.

00:02:55.300 Several servants and seized the saddle as he alighted, and many stout men his steed to the stable then led,

00:03:01.820 while knights and esquires anon descended, to guide there in gladness this guest to their hall.

00:03:08.660 When he raised up his helm, many ran there in haste, to have it from his hand, his highness to serve,

00:03:15.800 his blade and his blazen both they took charge of.

00:03:19.880 Then he greeted graciously those good men all, and many were proud to approach him, that prince to honour.

00:03:27.100 It's just so rich.

00:03:28.420 What a warm reception.

00:03:29.480 Yes, yes, very warm.

00:03:32.980 There's a couple of things I want to draw out in that passage.

00:03:36.200 As you know, chairman of the Pendragon Foundation, we all love castles.

00:03:40.540 We all love the castle.

00:03:41.780 We're all about restoring castles and so on.

00:03:45.360 What's interesting about how he depicts the castle is, firstly, it is a functional castle of that period.

00:03:51.780 It's not something which is like a palace.

00:03:55.700 Don't think Disney castle, which isn't really a military place.

00:04:00.320 Right.

00:04:00.920 This, from the way he describes it, it has a moat.

00:04:04.340 It has a drawbridge over the moat.

00:04:06.520 It has a beautiful curtain wall.

00:04:09.300 It has a keep behind that of many great towers.

00:04:13.360 This is something that could be defended.

00:04:15.160 And Galwayne's not going to break in.

00:04:17.500 He's not going to be able to get in unless they invite him.

00:04:20.180 He's not going to do a John Cleese in Holy Grail, where he just runs through the main door and massacres everyone.

00:04:25.960 Yes, yes.

00:04:26.560 Not that he'd want to.

00:04:27.680 That's a very John Cleese thing to do.

00:04:30.180 No, he's going, the only way in is to be invited in.

00:04:35.120 And he is invited in.

00:04:38.380 A further point, it mentions that castle, it looks like it could have been made of paper.

00:04:44.600 And that's to do with the whiteness of the stone.

00:04:46.700 But also, in that period, during meals, it was quite common, in between courses, in a banquet, to bring models, either made of food, or things like sugar, or pastry, or of paper, or card, or something, or an equivalent.

00:05:09.020 And so, these would be displayed, and they'd be wonderful, and they could be really detailed, so much so that people have, there's some pictures or illustrations from later periods where this was happening.

00:05:22.840 And there's one of a castle.

00:05:24.500 It's absolutely gorgeous, and all the detail and color is in it.

00:05:27.960 And this is the sort of thing that was happening at the court of Richard II.

00:05:31.640 And there's a painting of a, from around that time, of Richard and his men sitting around the table, and somebody bringing in a small ship, about this big, carrying in a ship made of sugar.

00:05:44.900 Goodness me.

00:05:45.360 And it's colored, it's got all the right colors, and so on.

00:05:47.860 That's remarkable.

00:05:48.740 So, this is perhaps a reference to that, that this castle is so perfect, it looks like one that's been sculpted for one of these banquets.

00:05:58.940 Right.

00:05:59.500 That the people listening would have probably heard this at.

00:06:02.940 So, there's an interesting reference there.

00:06:05.520 Yes.

00:06:06.060 And the whiteness as well, obviously, speaks to a purity of goodwill from the people of the castle, which is interesting when we get to the revelation at the end of the story that we'll come to.

00:06:19.360 But, of course, this is where Gawain is invited in, and he meets the lord of the castle.

00:06:28.180 It was his name.

00:06:29.060 It's, escape me.

00:06:30.240 Bertilic. 0.53

00:06:30.800 Bertilic. 0.53

00:06:31.660 That's it.

00:06:32.220 Thank you.

00:06:32.760 Lord and Lady Bertilic.

00:06:34.120 So, of course, he meets the lord first.

00:06:36.340 And it's all very, very gracious.

00:06:38.840 You know, it's very gracious, very courteous.

00:06:40.940 And this is, again, you see this in Gawain's character.

00:06:45.260 His speech is so perfect, right?

00:06:49.460 His manners are just so impeccable.

00:06:53.000 Again, almost excessively so.

00:06:55.360 You know, he has a habit of over-promising things, going above and beyond what is really required of him in order to be the perfect knight, the knight of the pentangle.

00:07:05.280 And so he's welcomed into the hall.

00:07:08.500 And, again, we get many wonderful descriptions of food and, you know, feast and levity.

00:07:15.960 And it's a wonderful break from those previous passages in the wilderness.

00:07:20.440 You know, they work in such marked contrast to one another.

00:07:25.200 And then Gawain reveals who he actually is, and that he's a knight from the court of King Arthur.

00:07:31.420 And, well, from that moment on, it's like, okay, well, we were obviously happy to take in any noble knight, but we didn't realize we have a celebrity in our midst.

00:07:41.700 And, you know, they're all absolutely fawning over him.

00:07:45.540 It's quite amazing.

00:07:48.100 They feel honored that he's there.

00:07:50.980 And they treat him like the greatest celebrity has walked into their castle.

00:07:57.940 And, actually, you know, you're mentioning his courteousness, his ability of speech to speak in a courteous way, which isn't just politeness.

00:08:09.920 It's actually there's rules around this at this time, tied up the rules of chivalry, of how you speak to a lord and a lady and don't talk like a brutish peasant, basically.

00:08:23.120 Like an oath.

00:08:23.840 Like an oath, yes.

00:08:24.860 And so Gawain has a reputation for this, and he is pulling it off well.

00:08:30.220 And that's actually what makes many of them believe he is Gawain.

00:08:34.220 Because, of course, they don't know what he looks like.

00:08:36.320 No, there's no...

00:08:36.860 And there's no...

00:08:37.620 Can't see your driver's license.

00:08:38.840 Right.

00:08:40.020 So, you know, how does he prove that he's Gawain?

00:08:44.280 Well, actually, it's through his courteous discourse and behavior, which the court is convinced that he is the Gawain he's talking about.

00:08:53.480 He is a man who matches his own reputation.

00:08:56.840 Yes.

00:08:57.320 Right.

00:08:57.600 The two are perfectly interlinked.

00:09:00.080 And so then you have him, you know, obviously manage to go to bed.

00:09:05.960 He has a wonderful feast and he's welcomed into the castle for the night.

00:09:09.500 And as he was, so he can attend mass, you know, for Christmas.

00:09:14.480 And it's at this mass that he first spies the lady of this great castle.

00:09:21.620 And he is immediately enamored with her.

00:09:25.060 And this is where, you know, it truly is.

00:09:26.840 I always love in any of the Arthurian literature how it describes, like, a knight's feelings towards a woman.

00:09:34.860 It's always created with such a, like, a pureness to it.

00:09:42.360 Right.

00:09:42.920 It's and you realize that Gawain, he is someone who just appreciates true beauty in all of its forms, you know, and obviously in women, that's obviously something that in these sorts of tales, you know, comes across a lot.

00:09:58.220 Um, but you, you see that and he's immediately taken with her, but she's not the only woman there.

00:10:04.820 There is an older woman who is also there, an old, um, cronish looking figure.

00:10:12.460 And though perhaps she doesn't seem on the surface to be anything remarkable, everyone in the castle treats this old woman with a certain level of grace and seriousness.

00:10:28.620 You know, she's obviously someone who's deeply respected about the castle.

00:10:32.320 But this, and so the poet just leaves this little puzzle piece as to who this woman is there for you to, to stew on, and then all will be revealed a little bit later on.

00:10:43.800 And it's interesting that she's sitting, the old lady sits next to Lord Bertilak at the top table, the high table for the feast, whereas Lady Bertilak sits next to Gawain.

00:10:55.140 Uh, and so we're, we're seeing the, the status of the older lady, uh, without knowing who she is. 0.76

00:11:02.520 Lady Bertilak as well.

00:11:04.120 It's, it's interesting that, uh, Gawain thinks that she's more beautiful than Gwynevere, which is quite a striking line.

00:11:11.360 It is, yeah.

00:11:12.220 And she's one of these characters you see across the Arthurian romances and later literature of, I think of like, um, uh, Ryder Haggard's She, for example, or, or the Lord.

00:11:25.140 Lord of the Rings, maybe Goldberry, having this just being just so beautiful, beauty, almost incarnate in a way that they just draw a reaction.

00:11:35.420 They draw a reaction and just mesmerize and then chant.

00:11:39.840 And throughout the course of the dinner, when they're sitting next to each other, uh, Gawain and, uh, Lady Bertilak have the most wonderful time.

00:11:48.840 And you can tell that there's things are building between them, but it's not, there's no, there's no, there's no wrongdoing at this point.

00:11:56.980 They're just, they're just enjoying each other's company, but there's a tinge of wanting more.

00:12:02.640 And I guess many of us have probably been in similar situations where you are with somebody that you're very attracted to and they seem to be responding that, you know, you're.

00:12:15.600 There are reasons why it can't go ahead.

00:12:18.360 Yeah.

00:12:18.760 Yeah.

00:12:18.900 Yeah.

00:12:19.000 Um, yeah, definitely.

00:12:21.400 And you see this with Gawain, but Gawain is a man who, uh, even though he is reckless, he does take his vows very, very seriously.

00:12:30.840 Um, he's not going to do a Michael Palin in the Holy Grail.

00:12:34.960 There is at the, the castle anthrax.

00:12:37.300 Um, yes, he, um, and so we come to this part of the business where Gawain is speaking to Lord Bertilak and he says about what his actual business is, what his errand is, why he's even there in the first place.

00:12:51.760 And he speaks about the green chapel that he's looking to find and that he must find by new year's day, uh, or else he will miss his appointment and be labeled a coward for the rest of his life.

00:13:05.860 Uh, if not, that he's just hunted down in some other way for reneging on this promise, right?

00:13:11.400 There are very few ways that this actually, very few ways that this ends happily for Gawain, even if he doesn't turn up, um, at the appointed time.

00:13:19.900 And Lord Bertilak says, well, there's just two miles in this direction.

00:13:24.180 We can, uh, feel free to stay here for the next few days.

00:13:27.600 You, you can stay and, you know, um, be merry and, um, I'll have, uh, someone escort you there, you know, on the very morning of.

00:13:34.960 You'll make it in good time.

00:13:36.500 And so that leads Gawain actually with these next three days that he has, where actually he doesn't have to go around looking for it now.

00:13:45.920 He's like, oh, right.

00:13:46.760 Wonderful.

00:13:47.040 So I can just fill these three days with something, um, something pleasant.

00:13:52.380 You know, my, my final days on earth are actually going to be quite clement, you know, here surrounded by these wonderful people.

00:13:57.860 Well, that was something.

00:13:58.880 And then, um, Lord Bertilak proposes a game to him.

00:14:04.360 Another game.

00:14:04.880 Another game.

00:14:05.720 There is, um, it is a story of games, isn't it?

00:14:08.540 Really?

00:14:08.900 There were games all over this story at the beginning with the green night with, um, with what's about to take place between the Bertilak's and Gawain.

00:14:17.300 And in the framing of the actual entire story, which I won't say it now, but you know what I mean?

00:14:23.880 And we'll get to towards the end.

00:14:25.880 And, and so, um, Bertilak says, well, I'm going to go out hunting for these next three days.

00:14:33.700 Um, and you, I would, you know, I'd appreciate if, uh, you would keep my wife good company, uh, whilst I'm away, you stay here in this castle.

00:14:42.600 And what we will do is I'll make a game of it.

00:14:44.940 Um, I will give you, um, each day after the hunt, one, the best prize from the hunt that day.

00:14:53.000 And in return, you will give me anything that you have received in the castle during the day.

00:15:00.980 And Gawain being Gawain, just kind of, uh, yeah, sure.

00:15:04.720 Of course, you know, on my word, but it's a great example again of this whole scenario.

00:15:09.840 This whole event came about because Gawain promised more than they actually have to promise.

00:15:16.140 Yes.

00:15:16.700 Um, Bertilak tells him, oh, we have someone who can take you to the green chapel and we'll gladly do that for you.

00:15:25.800 It's Gawain who says, oh, I thank you for it.

00:15:28.760 And if I can do anything for you whilst I'm here, right.

00:15:31.940 He, he adds that extra bit where it wasn't required of him.

00:15:35.280 It had already been agreed.

00:15:36.960 It had already been given that he was going to be able to go to the green chapel.

00:15:40.780 He didn't have to offer anything in return, but because of his chivalrous nature,

00:15:45.420 he feels need to, to give his sort of deed or time to something in return.

00:15:51.760 Yeah, absolutely.

00:15:52.700 And this, this seems to be part of the difficulty Gawain is finding with courteousness.

00:15:58.700 When you are maxing out on courteousness, it, it.

00:16:02.820 Chivalry maxing.

00:16:03.660 Chivalry maxing.

00:16:04.620 It leads you into these difficult situations.

00:16:08.420 At this point, I suppose he, he might have good reason for thinking he's not going to face too much difficulty.

00:16:14.740 But this is one of the interesting things about the poem, because we tend to think, oh, going off to fight the dragon is the really hard part.

00:16:23.160 That's the really dangerous thing.

00:16:24.980 And sure, fighting, uh, you know, a dragon is a terrifying and dangerous thing to do.

00:16:30.060 But the, what the poet's drawing attention to is actually, it's in the, the place where he feels most comfortable, place like Camelot.

00:16:39.100 And a safe place where courteousness and chivalry abound, that's where the real danger in the story is going to be.

00:16:48.100 That's where the real test is going to be.

00:16:50.100 In a way that Gawain's not even expecting, because he's still, through all of this, he's still thinking the main test he's got to face is with the green knight at the green chapel.

00:17:00.120 He's not thinking, well, I'm resting for three days, that's where I'm going to be under scrutiny and really push to my limit as an individual.

00:17:11.060 And so maybe there's a suggestion there too of, actually, it's in the everyday that we do face these things quite often.

00:17:18.100 And so just thinking it's out there in the wilderness, the danger, is a mistake.

00:17:25.460 Actually, it's right here in the heart of a good place, like this castle, which seems to be really wonderful and lovely.

00:17:32.500 So I, and just on that, I think it's, we're tying into the trope throughout Arthurian literature of certain castles as being places of testing and trial.

00:17:43.800 Especially places like the Castle of Maidens was an example of this.

00:17:48.100 Where you are, there's a sense which a castle, it can be a safe place, but you're also kind of trapped in it.

00:17:56.080 Right?

00:17:56.380 There's a reason.

00:17:57.180 With strangers.

00:17:57.860 With strangers.

00:17:59.380 A dungeon comes from the word Donjon, right?

00:18:02.500 Which is the main tower or a tower in a castle.

00:18:06.340 And so there is a sense in which, you know, okay, you're protected from what's outside.

00:18:11.560 But actually, once you've got inside to this fortress, there's no escape unless they let you out.

00:18:16.700 So it's a great place to kind of focus in and really push someone to their limits, morally in this case.

00:18:25.260 Yes.

00:18:25.660 So that's what's going to happen in the next three days.

00:18:28.580 And also the point as well that, exactly as you say, in Gawain's head, he is killing time to await this one critical moment that is the moment in his life that will define whether or not he is a true knight.

00:18:48.260 But that's not how life works.

00:18:51.240 You know, our entire lives aren't defined by one great honourable action or one great chivalrous gesture.

00:18:57.700 It's the day-to-day business, as you say.

00:19:01.000 It's the little actions and the way that we relate to people all the time in our daily lives.

00:19:07.700 And we're, you know, in our own sense, we may not be kings or lords, but we, you know, whether or not we treat people with justice and dignity and whether or not we speak truthfully.

00:19:18.300 And all of these things over the course of all the days of our lives, right?

00:19:22.620 That's what it's not about one grand heroic action.

00:19:26.740 It's about all of the days folding together.

00:19:30.520 And this is what Gawain is about to come up against.

00:19:33.460 So he doesn't quite understand the implications of it at the time.

00:19:38.100 And so as the Lord, Lord Bertilact, goes out for the hunt on the first morning, Lady Bertilact comes into his room.

00:19:49.000 And I actually found this moment to be quite comical as well, because Gawain is just laying in bed on his side and he hears the door open and he knows it's her.

00:20:00.120 And he kind of just pretends to be asleep for a little bit more.

00:20:04.500 He just doesn't immediately address her because he's just thinking, oh, God, where is this going?

00:20:09.480 You know, all of a sudden he feels that sense of there is a temptation here that may go amiss.

00:20:15.560 And then he kind of has to muster himself to look like he's waking up and coming around.

00:20:20.480 Oh, you know, psychologically, he's prepping himself for this encounter with her.

00:20:27.280 If you enjoyed this piece of premium content from the Lotus Eaters, head to our website where you can find more.

PREVIEW： Chronicles #34 ｜ Sir Gawain and The Green Knight with Nathan Hood： Part 2

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