Before Krampus became popular, before haunted Victorian houses, there was Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. This famous medieval poem is arguably the original folk horror Christmas story, a tale that encapsulates everything Wyrd about the season: a massive, unstoppable monster, a beheading that goes wrong, and a desperate winter journey into the wild, dark heart of Britain.
The Wild Man at Camelot
The epic begins at King Arthur’s court in Camelot during a lavish, 15-day Christmas Feast. It is a time of civilised celebration and merriment—a social order perfectly established.
This order is violently interrupted by the arrival of the Green Knight.
He is an unstoppable, gigantic figure, not just wearing green, but literally green: green skin, green hair, green clothes, and riding a magnificent green horse. He is a walking piece of wild, untamed nature crashing into the refined world of the Round Table, carrying not a sword, but a massive axe.
He proposes the "Beheading Game": he will allow any knight to strike him once with his own axe, on the condition that, in one year and one day, that knight must seek him out and receive a return blow. It is a terrifying Christmas challenge that guarantees death.
Sir Gawain, Arthur’s nephew, takes up the challenge and swiftly lops off the Knight's head. But then comes the poem’s most fantastical moment: the Green Knight does not die. He simply picks up his own head, turns it toward the court, and instructs Gawain to meet him at the Green Chapel on the appointed day, before riding off.
The Perilous Pilgrimage
The court tries to laugh off the incident, but they are clearly terrified, knowing this headless challenge looms over the next year.
The rest of the poem follows Gawain's grim, epic, winter pilgrimage across the wild, dark landscape of Britain to keep his promise. He battles dragons and wolves in the wilderness, desperately trying to maintain his honour and his perfect Christian balance in the face of ancient chaos.
The Exchange of Winnings
Freezing and lost on Christmas Eve, Gawain finds the majestic castle of Lord Bertilak, where he is given sanctuary. Here, he makes a deeply Wyrd deal: the Exchange of Winnings. Every day, Bertilak will give Gawain what he kills while hunting, and Gawain must return whatever he has gained while staying at the castle.
This turns out to be a psychological test: over the next three days, he faces temptation from Bertilak's beautiful wife, who attempts to seduce him. Gawain manages to maintain his honour by returning the kisses she gives him to Bertilak each evening.
The Girdle and the Revelation
The exchange is perfect... until the final day.
On that last morning, the wife offers Gawain a silk green girdle, claiming it possesses a magical property to protect the wearer from death. Desperate to survive the fatal blow he faces at the Green Chapel, Gawain takes the girdle and hides it. He returns the kisses to Bertilak, but breaks the pact by keeping the life-saving sash.
When he finally meets the Green Knight, the truth is revealed. The Knight feints two blows (for the two days Gawain kept the pact) but nicks Gawain on the third blow (for hiding the girdle).
The Green Knight then reveals himself to be Bertilak! The entire year was a massive test, set up by the sorceress Morgan le Fay—Arthur's stepsister—to terrify the court and test their honour. The nick Gawain suffered was his punishment for his one moment of deceit.
Gawain returns to Camelot, ashamed, wearing the green sash as a sign of his failure. But in a final twist, the Knights of the Round Table absolve him, deciding that all knights will henceforth wear a green sash in recognition of Gawain's adventure and as a reminder of the enduring importance of honesty.