I am Lady Bertilak de Hautdesert, the honorable wife of Lord Bertilak de Hautdesert who is also known as the Green Knight. I live in a grand manor in a land of magic filled with fearsome creatures and mysterious beings like trolls, giants and fae. Such is the Wilderness of Wirral, the land of my home.
My grand hall is decked in tapestries from faraway lands and all the bedchambers are decorated with the finest silks and hangings. Despite the many treasures possessed by my husband, I am perhaps valued the most. For it is said that my youth and figure make me “fairest of all” (“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” 435). Knights like the hailed Sir Gawain have compared me even to the Queen Guinevere, a great lady said to be the most fair in the land.
But make no mistake, my value is in far more than my form. While I cannot perform magic like the enchantress Morgan le Fay, my companion in court, I am skilled in judging the honor of a knight. I, however, employ methods different from those of my husband. My husband tests the honor of knights on the battlefield with sword and shield, but knights, honorable or otherwise, can expect such attacks. My tests are far more subtle, and test the honor of a man off the battlefield by testing their courtly behavior. This is the way I tested the knight Sir Gawain when my husband commanded the knight be tested. Though he did not keep the favors of kisses I bestowed upon him, he accepted the green girdle I gifted to him. As an expert of courtly love, I, more than my husband could see that he retained his honor by only accepting the gift to save himself while also avoiding insulting a gentle lady by spurning her offering.
My report of Sir Gawain’s honor surely aided in the prevention of serious bloodshed when Sir Gawain and my Lord Bertilak met to test their strengths. In fact, convinced of the honor of Sir Gawain, my husband and the knight parted not as enemies, but as allies. In this way courtly love and behavior tested honor without the violence of a magical test. Can anything compare to the power of courtly conduct of lords and ladies? Sir Gawain quickly forgot the blow my husband dealt him, but he always wore my green sash as a lifelong reminder of his weakness.
References:
"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"
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