A Tale of Two Knights: Sir Gawain and the Dark Knight

             The Olde English tale of Sir Gawain and the Greek Knight set the bar for classic stories of chivalrous knights, and this standard can still be seen in modern-day superheroes. Batman, or the Dark Knight, shows courage, strength, and justice, but not by superpowers. Instead, he uses intelligence, muscle, and his wealthy background to save the world. Due to this natural ability to save the world, to break, and to sometimes succumb to evil-minded women, Batman is similar to Sir Gawain himself.

            Both heroes have the ability to save the world due to strength and intelligence, and respond to challenges on behalf of others. Batman fights to serve for the people of Gotham City and to fulfill his vow of revenge upon evil. Sir Gawain fights to serve his lord, King Arthur. What makes Sir Gawain and Batman stand out is the fact that they are the only people to stand up against evil fearlessly. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Green Knight asked for a battle against one of Arthur’s men, but “the court kept its counsel.” Sir Gawain was the only knight to stand up bravely and fight in the name of his king. Similarly, Batman is surrounded by a world of crime from a very early age. When his parents are murdered by such crime, he vows to save Gotham city from evil; however, he alone stands up against the many villains, which emphasizes his valor.

            Sir Gawain and Batman also share the usage of weapons, gadgets, and symbols, rather than natural superpowers. In order to destroy the Green Knight, Sir Gawain

Grips to his ax and gathers it aloft—

The left foot on the floor before him he set—

Brought it down deftly upon the bare neck,

…That the blade of bright steel bit into the ground.

Gawain also uses a shield throughout his journey to the Green Chapel. A five-pointed star is depicted on the shield, which symbolizes the five senses, the five fingers, and the five wounds of Christ on the cross. Batman doesn’t use an axe or any weapon that is deadly, which makes him more noble when capturing criminals, but he does have and use his Batsuit, Batmobile, and Bat-utility belt. The Batsuit as well as the Batmobile are used as armor and act like shields for defense. The Bat-utility belt is Batman’s weapon of choice, where he can choose from a wide variety of gadgets, such as Batarangs (a boomerang-like weapon), a Grapple gun (used to fire a bat-shaped hook attached to a wire), and Bat smoke grenades. None of the weapons can cause fatal damage, but they are effective in his fight against crime. Similar to Gawain’s five-star symbol, Batman also has an iconic image: the Bat symbol. The symbol has changed over many years, but every version contained either three or five major points, which is relatable to the mystical numbers, 3 or 5, in Medieval Romance. Not only are these heroes mainly victorious in their battles, they also fail in some of their challenges.

            Gawain and Batman are mainly known due to their victories, whether it be beheading the Green Knight or putting villains like the Joker behind bars; however, few remember their losses. When Gawain finally reaches the Green Chapel, he allows the Green Knight to hit him, but he flinches, stopping the Green Knight’s strong blow. The author described, “Had the blow he bestowed been as big as he threatened,/ A good knight and gallant had gone to his grave.” This scene reassures the reader that Gawain is still mortal, unlike the Green Knight, and it shows that there is a possibility of Gawain’s death. Although Gawain has the special, green girdle from Lady Bertilak that grants him safety from death, he returns it to the rightful owner, the Green Knight; therefore, Gawain never fully obtains immortality. Batman is also mortal and can be killed at any moment by the many villains he faces. One villain succeeds in destroying Batman. In the comic book story, “Knightfall,” Bane, the strongest and wisest villain Batman ever faced, broke Batman’s back, ending Bruce Wayne’s superhero career. Despite Batman’s armored suit, he is defeated by a greater, stronger force, similar to Sir Gawain almost being killed by the Green Knight. Batman, however, is destroyed by strength, and Gawain blames his misfortune, or so he proclaims, on female wickedness.

            Once Sir Gawain realizes that the Green Knight was the Lord of the hospitable house that once gave him shelter, he quickly blames the wife, who was doing her husband’s bidding. Gawain cries to the Green Knight:

And commend me to that comely one, your courteous wife,

Both herself and that other, my honoured ladies,

That have trapped their true knight in their trammels so quaint.

But if a dullard should dote, deem it no wonder,

And through the wiles of a woman be wooed into sorrow,

For so was Adam by one, when the world began,

And Solomon by many more, and Samson the mighty—

Delilah was his doom, and David thereafter

Was beguiled by Bathsheba, and bore such distress

Women are clearly seen as wicked and evil in this medieval story, and it is proven so through biblical references. Although Batman’s major enemies are male, there are a few women portrayed as seductresses. Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Circe are all supervillains to Batman and their costumes suggest sexual temptations. Catwoman has even had relationships with Batman although she is mainly a villain, and Poison Ivy seduces Robin, Batman’s sidekick, into her evil plot in the 1997 film, Batman and Robin. Although men have evolved into the major supervillains, women are still present in the evil world, usually in a sexually tempting way.

            Sir Gawain, the classical knight, and Batman, the modern Dark Knight, have both set their similar marks on the world. Both use strength, intelligence, and courageousness in battle, and both seem to be tempted by wicked women. As time went on, however, superheroes became savers, not killers like Sir Gawain. Batman  can be seen a modern Sir Gawain with few changes, showing the evolution of the superhero.