Course overview

The tale told by a fourteenth-century poem, and much quoted thereafter. I鈥檓 going to look purely at a retelling of the plot, with explanations of who all the characters are, rather than expecting you to understand Middle English, and certainly won鈥檛 be diving off into the adults-only versions that appear in some films. If you want a serious academic study, this is not the place for you (though we will look at similar and related stories to understand this one): if you want a fun fairy-tale that starts with Christmas at King Arthur鈥檚 court, come and join us!

Course description

A modern re-telling of a fourteenth-century poem, which starts with Christmas at King Arthur鈥檚 court. Apart from simply telling the tale, I鈥檒l give you some extra background so we can make sense of it, assuming zero knowledge of the setting and characters, never mind the Middle English it鈥檚 written in. Who is Gawain, anyway? What does King Arthur have to do with it? Who is the Green Knight, and why does he pose that particular challenge? What is Bertilak鈥檚 wife up to? That鈥檚 very odd behaviour for a hostess.

A lot of this means looking at other versions of the story, and other stories featuring that Knight, plus ideas on what associations the author might have expected his audience to make 鈥 no, the Jolly Green Giant wasn鈥檛 one of them!

I鈥檒l also look at some of the wilder ideas about symbolism, simply because they鈥檙e fun.

Anyone who enjoyed my full course about 鈥淜ing Arthur, the history and the myth鈥 will also enjoy this.

What financial support is available?

We don't want anything to stand in your way when it comes to bringing Adult learning within reach so if you need anything to support you to achieve your goals then speak to one of our education experts during your enrolment journey. Most of our courses are government funded but if you don't qualify or need alternative financial help to access them then let us know.

What other support is available?

All of our digital content, teaching and learning activities and assessments are designed to be accessible so if you need any additional support you can discuss this with the education experts during your enrolment journey and we will do all we can to make sure you have optimal access.

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