ABSTRACT
as i pointed out earlier, the second fitt is something of a piecemeal, Balkan affair—just a string of scenes, lacking any unity of place, time or action. The third fitt, on the other hand, is unmistakably planned as a whole, a unity ; and one may be sure that the author would have approved the fitt-division here, even if he was not himself responsible for it. The action takes place in and around Bercilak’s castle; it occupies three consecutive days (the last three days of the old year); and it consists, basically, of a single sequence of events three times repeated. On each occasion the poet first describes how Bercilak rises and goes hunting; then how his wife visits Gawain’s room; then how Bercilak hunts his prey down and returns home; and finally how he and the hero meet, exchange ‘winnings’ and spend the evening together. The only section which falls outside this repeated fourfold scheme is the brief opening description of the departure of the other Christmas guests (ll. 1126-32).
