Have Your or A Loved One (Usually a Woman) Dabbled in Witchcraft?

    "70. Have you believed that there is any woman who can do that which some, deceived by the devil, affirm that they must do f necessity or at his command, that is, with a throng of demons transformed into the likeness of women, (she whom common folly calls the witch Hulda), must ride on certain beasts in this infidelity, you should do penance for one year on the appointed fast days..." (Kors/Peters pg 64)

This quote, as well as the 20 or so others all sound like one of those financial compensation commercials. But, instead of getting money in return you get told to repent for believing your next door neighbor, Miriam, is riding beasts into the night but might also actually be Hulda in disguise. Or 3 demons in a trench coat riding a goat. You'll never really know but to cure you of this totally-not-delusion, you must repent on specific fasting days. From a modern mind this seems trippy but for that time, you couldn't trust anyone. Not even your goat.

What are these punishments?!?!?!

Excerpt 6 from Burchard of Worms describes over 20 examples of witchcraft and magic and their respective punishments. While the crimes range from simply following a crow and reciting incantations to find herbs to eating people and staking mothers and babies, the punishments don't vary as much. All of the punishments are 'do penance for __ number of years/days on appointed fast days' sometimes specifying bread and water. There does not seem to be any distinction between crimes that harm others and crimes that give guidance from others who are not God. There is also no distinction between believing and participating in magical activities. Simply believing in their power is evil. In example 60, Burchard makes no distinction between letting a magician into your house voluntarily to either except aid or to avoid any tricks. Even when you try to do something to protect yourself from magic you still need to pay penance. But oddly enough magical crimes surrounding women have similar punishments to crimes that don't. It's easy to believe that women are always punished more severely just for being a woman, but Burchard does not make vast distinctions. When you think of witchcraft punishments the typical witch trials and burnings come to mind, not penance on bread and water for forty days.

It's okay to eat infants so long as you put them back the way you found them

"[Infants] appear to be cut up into pieces, eaten, and gluttonously stuffed into the witches' stomachs. Then, through the mercy of the witch ruler, they are returned [in one piece] to their cradles" (Kors/Peters 78). 

 This quote demonstrates the complexity of the magic belief system and the absolute horror of what it would be like to actually believe these things were happening. I found myself pausing a lot while I was reading just to appreciate how much detail went into freaking out about witchcraft. It's all very well though out. And, yeah, it would be completely terrifying to think a bunch of women in the neighborhood sneak out at night, frolic around, eat a bunch of infants, and then everything's fine in the morning. You'd want to burn people too if you thought they reached for a bite of your baby whenever they wanted something to munch on at midnight.

How these documents influenced fiction

Did any details in the reading remind anyone of stories they've heard about witches?
(For example: the lamias in section 10)

Yo The Lord's Wife is Trying to Seduce Our Mans

Pardon the title, I wanted it to be catching. But through out most of the 3rd fitt, I was overwhelmed by how much the Lord's wife was trying to seduce Sir Gawain while her husband was away. Honestly, I really was under the impression that cheating was very much so frowned upon during this time as much as it still is still today.  But the Lord's wife seems to think otherwise. Since this is very prevalent in this section of the poem, I thought that a meme would suffice how the Lord's wife is feeling/acting. I hope you find this as fitting as I did.


source: https://me.me/i/let-me-seduce-you-9698199

But Why?

"Morgan the goddess/ Therefore is her name;/ No one, however haughty/ Or proud she cannot tame." (2452-2455)

From the beginning of the book, the motive of the Green Knight had been a mystery, but these four lines give it away. It is not his plan to get his head cut off. Instead, it is Morgan le Fay's as a way to bring down the court of King Arthur, her half-brother. Through this quest she had put Gawain through she successfully took the king and his court down a few pegs and showed them they were not entirely what they had believed themselves to be.

Millennials Need To Learn From Sir Gawain .-.

"'... But I shall look at it often as a sign of my failing,/ And when I ride in triumph, recall with remorse/ The corruption and frailty of perverse flesh,/ How quick it is to pick up blotches of sin./ And so when pride in my knightly valour stirs me,/ A glance at this girdle will humble my heart.'" (IV 2433-2438).

This quote seems to bring the whole journey together. It is honorable that Sir Gawain is willing to literally wear his sin. He is able to take ownership of his failures and turn it into something that will help him and future knights stay true to all of their values. I respect Sir Gawain for owning up to his wrong-doings and taking the consequences as they come.

Magic or Religion?

“For it is my belt you are wearing, that same woven girdle, my own wife gave it to you, I know well in truth. I know all about your kisses, and your courteous manners, and my wife’s wooing of you: I arranged it myself. I sent her to test you.”(2358-2362)

The appearance of religion- Christianity is shown a lot throughout this story. For example- Christmas is celebrated, going to mass is important to Gawain, he has Mary on his shield, Gawain prays to the Lord, goes to confession, This particular quote I chose seems similar to the Bible story of the devil tempting Adam and Eve. Forgiveness and reconciling differences is a very important part of this story too, which is also seen in the Bible. In this story and in the Bible, a sinner is forced to be burdened with something. Gawain has the scare, Adam and Eve became ashamed to be naked once they sinned.

This is significant because this story is full of magic and religion- and distinguishing the difference between the two can be interpreted differently for everyone. Both religion and magic can be seen in this story and impact the actions of every character.

The Interaction Between Magic and Religion

Throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, there is an interaction between magic and religion. The Green Knight is the magical figure that comes from no where and challenges someone to strike him a blow that he will return a year and a day from that date. Gawain is the religious knight that prays because he does not want to spend Christmas Eve alone and he wishes to attend church. Once Gawain has spent his time within the castle, that appeared out of no where, he starts getting dressed to meet with the Green Knight. "While he dressed himself in his noblest clothes-/ His coat with its finely embroidered badge/ Set upon his velvet, with stones of magical power/ Inlaid and clasped round it, with embroidered seams/ And richly lined on the inside with beautiful furs" (2025-29). Why, for the religious man, to have stones of magical power instead of a crucifix as a part of his attire for meeting a magical green man? Religion and magic are quite different from each other. Religion is structured and organized. Magic, on the other hand, what rules are there to follow? A green man can get his head cut off and survive and a castle can appear out of no where. Both of these instances seem more magical than some religious miracle. Magic and religion start off as two apposing ends; a magical Green Knight and a religious knight in red. The ideas of magic and religion end up becoming entwined within Sir Gawain. Gawain is a man of religion, by continuing to pray, and becomes one of magic, by wearing magical stones for his meeting with a magical green man.  

Throw Everything You Thought You Knew Out the Window

“First I threatened you playfully with a pretence, / And avoided giving you a gash, doing so rightly / Because of the agreement we made on the first night, / When you faithfully and truly kept your pledged word, / Gave me all your winnings as an honest man should” (Lines 2345-2349).

When the Green Knight, or Bertilak of Hautdesert as we later know him, says this to Gawain, it was the moment that I realized the Green Knight was Lord Bertilak from the castle that Gawain stayed in on his journey. This moment is important because it took everything I thought I understood about the poem and turned it upside down, therefore capturing my attention. It also left me wondering: how did he do that? Is this… magic?

Ayye Gawain Two for Flinching Buddy!

(Line 2265 to Line 2283)

So Gawain went on this honorable journey to see the Green Knight based off an agreement that was made a year prior. On this journey Gawain kept to his faith and religion, he refused a beautiful woman of some unspoken extracurricular activities, all while knowing he was going on this journey just to be beheaded by a stranger dressed in all green. These acts in most cases would be viewed as honorable or noble actions (at least by the reader). However, after doing all these things he finally reaches the Green Knight and is prepared to be struck by a critical blow. But as the blade is flying towards his neck he flinches like a normal person would. So the Green Knight stops the process, basically just so he could call Gawain a coward and slander his name. So now Gawain has already gone through the fear of death once as the ax was swinging towards his neck, but NOW he's going to do it again because the Green Knight had to stop what he was doing just to call Gawain (in simple terms) a pussy. So Why is the Green Knight trying to bully my man Gawain like that? From what I've seen hes a great guy with his morales rather in check, so why waste the time to call him out for being human and flinching in the face of death?

Morality or Intuition?

While reading Parts 3 and 4, I couldn't help but keep thinking about how odd it was that a lady in the castle that had conveniently been so welcoming to Sir Gawain, goes into his room every morning and announces that he may do whatever he wants to her. Of course, since he is a noble and gentlemanly knight, he simply only talks with her and only kisses her when she makes the move to, but I found this situation to be really kind of ironic considering the fact that he and the lord of the castle had just had sex with a lot of women after he arrives. Despite going to mass and confession every day, he had no reservations about having sex with random women before, so what changed?
Why is his sense of morality suddenly different? Did he have some sort of feeling that he shouldn't sleep with this woman (since we later find out that she is the Green Knight's wife)?

Why spend so much time on butchering?

I'm just curious to why there was a whole entire page dedicated to describing the hunters butchering the deer they killed? I am not used to this amount of description for minor parts of a story but it was just gross. I know that there's been a theme for a lot of description, like I understand that it may be necessary to describe the Green Knight because he's a pretty big deal in the story and its nice to get a good amount of imagery. Or to describe Gawain's shield since it shows his religious character, but why take so much time talking about butchering the deer they just killed? I feel that the main goal was to creep readers out or want them to know how to properly butcher a deer. I just did not feel the deer butchering scene help enhance the understanding of the plot, but I could've easily missed something that made it completely necessary to be so descriptive about it.

The Lords wife, what`s up with her?

SO...we all see how the Lord Bertilak's wife acts around Gawain: she`s got an idea in her head and it`s like she`s set on a mission. I guess I`m suspicious of what she really wants. Does she really just want to "hang out" with Gawain for the clout since he`s a knight on the round table...or is there something else going on between her and her husband? I think it says a lot about the commitment of a married couple during this time. I think men had so much power it`s almost like the lord`s wife is just a tool to him that he can use when he pleases (or leave alone with a stranger in the castle all day). What do you think her motive is when she goes into the knights chamber? Purely sexual maybe...or something deeper?