ABSTRACT

The caesura suggested by G. B. Hieatt as occurring between the temptation scenes proper and the later events in Gawain’s day in the castle is in no way formally marked. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (SGGK) consists, like Pearl, of 101 stanzas. In Pearl this number is one aspect of a complex numerical pattern that determines the structure of the poem as a whole. In SGGK it has been regarded as an isolated phenomenon, interesting because of the obvious parallel to Pearl, but without any function in the structure of the work. The equivalence or approximate equivalence of these sections may be an indication of an underlying pattern, but as there appears to be no explanation for the 163 lines given to Gawain’s experiences during Bertilak’s absence on the third day it is probably safer to regard it as coincidental.