Treason in Arthurian legend the Green Knight before “Gawain can return to his proper place in Arthurian society”. Treason is committed by Gawain against the Lord and therefore he must be physically punished, as one would be during the Middle Ages for crimes of treason. In this case, however, Gawain's punishment is not death but simply a nick on his neck. This permits Gawain to be punished, but not killed, while still demonstrating the importance of honesty. Gawain's instinct is to act duplicitously but he is chastised for these instances. Treason in Arthurian legend The concept of treason can be dated back to the
Green Knight uses a sacred text to subdue it. The Green Knight eventually gains so much control over the sprite through this text that he convinces it to take a sword and strike off its master's head. The name "Bertilak" may derive from "bachlach", a Celtic word meaning "churl" (i.e. rogueish, unmannerly), or from "bresalak", meaning "contentious". The Old French word "bertolais" translates as "Bertilak" in the Arthurian tale "Merlin" from the Lancelot-Grail Cycle of Arthurian legend. Notably, the 'Bert-' prefix means 'bright', and the '-lak' can mean either 'lake' or "play, sport, fun, etc". "Hautdesert" probably comes from a mix of