{"id":21692,"date":"2025-08-20T21:30:30","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T01:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/college\/ugresearch\/jur\/?page_id=21692"},"modified":"2026-03-19T10:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T14:42:15","slug":"lets-see-how-you-smite-the-challenge-of-attaining-fidelity-in-sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/college\/ugresearch\/jur\/lets-see-how-you-smite-the-challenge-of-attaining-fidelity-in-sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLet\u2019s See How You Smite\u201d: The Challenge of Attaining Fidelity in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5>Introduction<\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The various games Gawain takes part in throughout <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sir Gawain and the Green Knight <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are as intricate and indistinct as the iconic pentangle itself: as the points of the pentangle overlap and interlock, so do the components of the poem\u2019s narrative. However, it can be argued that the common thread running through the work is Gawain\u2019s singular devotion to fidelity- a word which within this essay refers to the concept of \u201ctrawthe\u201d, or, a commitment to honoring the causes and codes to which one has pledged their loyalty- whether it takes the form of a merciful hand or a punishing blade. The landscape may change, and allies and enemies may transform and trick at will, but Gawain\u2019s belief in the importance of fidelity remains unwavering: his desire to have his resolve tested drives him forward, even at the expense of his own dignity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction The various games Gawain takes part in throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are as intricate and indistinct as the iconic pentangle itself: as the points of the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21692","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u201cLet\u2019s See How You Smite\u201d: The Challenge of Attaining Fidelity in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - The Journal of Undergraduate Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/college\/ugresearch\/jur\/lets-see-how-you-smite-the-challenge-of-attaining-fidelity-in-sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cLet\u2019s See How You Smite\u201d: The Challenge of Attaining Fidelity in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - The Journal of Undergraduate Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Introduction The various games Gawain takes part in throughout Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are as intricate and indistinct as the iconic pentangle itself: as the points of the&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/college\/ugresearch\/jur\/lets-see-how-you-smite-the-challenge-of-attaining-fidelity-in-sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Journal of Undergraduate Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-19T14:42:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/college\\\/ugresearch\\\/jur\\\/lets-see-how-you-smite-the-challenge-of-attaining-fidelity-in-sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/college\\\/ugresearch\\\/jur\\\/lets-see-how-you-smite-the-challenge-of-attaining-fidelity-in-sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cLet\u2019s See How You Smite\u201d: The Challenge of Attaining Fidelity in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - 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