What Does A Pentangle In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Stand For?

In Sir Gawan and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is portrayed as a true knight who embodies the values of chivalry and his clothing reflects this with its hues of royal red and gold and this is seen particularly when he embarks upon his quest, ‘Then they brought him his blazon that was of brilliant gules/with the pentangle depicted in pure hue of gold.’ This heraldic tincture of red worn by Sir Gawain could be said to signify ‘royalty, divinity and the Passion of the Christ’ and this could be viewed as appropriate to Sir Gawain’s role as Knight of the Virgin.
The ‘pentangle’ on Sir Gawain’s shield gains significance in the poem as Sir Gawain leaves the courtly world and enters the natural, wild world of the Green Knight. The symbol of the ‘pentangle’ is an ancient one and each corner would have represented parts of the Earth on which seeds of time or ‘Chronos’ are placed. The ‘pentangle’ has remained through time an important symbol and as an early symbol was representative of pagan ideas. During the medieval period, however, the ‘pentangle’ symbol was still viewed as pagan but was being also adopted by Christians as an emblem of the five wounds of Christ.
Sir Gawain displays an attitude of loyalty, courage, and chivalry by honoring the King and displaying bravery by accepting the Christmas challenge not allowing the King to do so. The Pentangle which is engraved in Sir Gawain’s shield symbolizes five main characteristics of knights, which are chastity, courtesy, piety, friendship, and generosity. Chivalry helps to save the ideals of honesty and kindness and in the end, Sir Gawain learns that no knight is near being perfect without making any errors.