Before watching The Green Knight (2021), I read a bit of Burton Raffel’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the fourteenth poem written in Middle English upon which the movie is based.  Actually, that last bit is an understatement.  After the opening credits, it is up front about this being a film adaption, literally putting those words on the screen.  At any rate, Raffel’s introduction underscored something that is mostly missing in the cinematic version: a Christian context.  The actual text was copied from older Arthurian traditions by an anonymous monk(s).  Those religious brothers were usually keen to insert God into stories, though some of the more ancient customs of the land filter into the text.  As you will see, the use of magic is difficult to avoid.  What I find remarkable is how those who have written about the film say that it follows the source material, whatever you make of it.  It has been ages since I read the original story, but from what I can tell, the fact that the ending is significantly changed should call into question any faithfulness to the text.  As for The Green Knight, it is as strange as reading the book might be to the uninformed.  I am sure this will come out in my synopsis.

Before The Green Knight (Ralph Ineson) visits King Arthur’s (Sean Harris) court on Christmas Day, Sir Gawain (Dev Patel) awakens that morning to Essel (Alicia Vikander).  She is a prostitute, but she is holy enough to remind Sir Gawain that Christ is born.  They go to Mass, not together as that would be socially unacceptable, but with enough acknowledgement of one another to show that they care.  After services, he returns to his mother, Morgan le Fay (Sarita Choudhury), who is suspicious of her son’s whereabouts the previous night and day until now.  His claim of being at church is not believed.  Nonetheless, he invites her to court with him, but she turns it down, telling him to go make merry without her.  As he goes to King Arthur, who is also his uncle and gives his nephew a place of honor by his side, Morgan turns out to be a witch.  She and her coven cast a spell that summons the Green Knight who rides into the midst of the Round Table with a challenge: if anyone believes they can land a blow on him, then let that person step forward.  However, upon doing so, a year later that same person must travel to the Green Chapel and receive in kind.  King Arthur wants to take the test but is too weak.  Instead, he turns to his warriors arrayed around him.  The others also do not rise to the occasion save for Sir Gawain.  Upon grasping King Arthur’s sword, the Green Knight kneels and bares his neck before Sir Gawain.  With some hesitation, Sir Gawain swings the blade down and cleanly beheads the Green Knight.  Instead of dying, the Green Knight rises, says “one year,” and rides away.  Though everyone is pleased with Sir Gawain’s apparent act of bravery, he is not without trepidation.  Before departing on his journey, Essel asks him why he is going through with it.  His reply is for honor and greatness, but she wonders why greatness is important when he could have goodness with her.  She also asks if he will make her his lady before he leaves, but he remains uncommitted.  All the same, she gives him a small token of her affection, and he is off.  The trek is uneventful until he comes to a battlefield with the dead still lying on the ground.  As he crosses it, he meets a scavenger (Barry Keoghan).  The scavenger inquires as to Sir Gawain’s destination, and is told to follow a nearby stream to a chapel.  Instead, it becomes an ambush where the scavenger and two accomplices overpower Sir Gawain and steal the Sir Gawain’s horse and the sash Morgan had given him with magical protection properties.  Sir Gawain is able to free himself, but it is now more difficult to carry on without the horse.  As such, he stumbles along until he finds an abandoned house inhabited by the spirit of St. Winifred (Erin Kellyman).  She asks him to find her head, which he does.  From then on, he is guided by a fox.  When Sir Gawain is seemingly at the end of his strength, the furry creature leads him to a castle inhabited by a Lord (Joel Edgerton) and his Lady (Alicia Vikander).  They welcome Sir Gawain, inviting him to stay a few days since the Green Chapel is near. While there, the Lord offers to give Sir Gawain whatever he hunts in the forest in exchange for whatever Sir Gawain takes.  Sir Gawain agrees to this odd proposition, not realizing that the Lady would be making advances on him.  In her last try, she tempts him with a green sash similar to the one given him by his mother.  His desire for the piece of clothing leads to . . . indiscretions, and I will say no more on the subject.  With it in hand, Sir Gawain departs, having a last awkward exchange with the Lord on his way.  The fox returns to Sir Gawain and tries to prevent him from continuing.  It is unsuccessful and he is sitting before the Green Knight when Christmas dawns.  Hefting the axe, the Green Knight raises it to strike Sir Gawain as had happened a year prior, but Sir Gawain flinches.  Sir Gawain wonders if this is all there is before re-assuming the position.  Flinching once more, Sir Gawain instead flees, finds his missing horse, and returns to Camelot.  We then get a montage of him lying with Essel, her birthing a son, him being crown king, the son dying in battle, and then his castle being overrun.  This turns out to be a vision of what he could do, all of which is pretty ignominious.  Instead, he hands over the sash, says he is ready, and the movie ends.

This ending is a significant departure of The Green Knight from its source material.  While the sash plays a part in each, the original poem has Sir Gawain being struck, but only lightly, causing a small cut.  With that, he can return to Camelot with his honor intact.  Instead, we get an ambiguous conclusion, which I cannot imagine would not have been the intention of the monk who copied it.  What that anonymous brother(s) would have been more familiar with is the ancient blending of Christianity and magic.  Please understand that what I am about to write is strictly not intended as an endorsement of witchcraft.  The Church then as now has been clear that such practices are sins of the highest order because they circumvent God’s power.  God alone can do these things if He so wills it, as with St. Winifred.  One of the things I looked up about the story is whether this seventh century Welsh saint was mentioned in the text.  She was not, but if I had to surmise why she ended up in the movie, it would be her story.  She was the sister of St. Beuno and wanted to follow her religious sibling’s example.  The man who intended to marry her was not keen on this idea and beheaded her, a holy well springing up where her head rested.  Upon hearing of the tragedy, St. Beuno found the corpse and put the head back on the neck.  St. Winifred arose and carried on with her life, later founding a monastery.  That should sound somewhat familiar, though I guess in the movie she is made into a fox?  It is not clear to me, but what I do know is that anything is possible with God.  To follow Him takes knightly courage, something that Sir Gawain lacks until the final moment.

Because the film is about Sir Gawain gaining the courage and honor to face The Green Knight, I guess the open-ended finale does not matter.  It is not my preference, though, and I wish it had been more faithful to the source material no matter what some commentators will tell you.  Despite this, I do not recommend it because, on top of being outlandish, there are enough questionable scenes to make me feel squeamish in other ways.