the poem represent her three aspects, according to pagan theories: Queen Guinevere, who presides at King Arthur’s court over the festivities of the birth of the Sun god (whose Christian name is Jesus), represents the Goddess as the Sun Hero’s Mother. The Lady of the Castle, young and beautiful, elegantly dressed with her neck and bosom exposed, flirts with Sir Gawain and would have chosen him for a husband were she not married; she represents the Goddess as a Spring Bride, who each year makes her choice of a Hero to be her lover for the season. In some cultures she is the sister and lover of twin-brothers, who between them symbolize the waxing and the waning year. Her old companion, who is described in the poem as “wrinkled, stocky, hairy, black-browed”, covered entirely in clothing, represents the Goddess at the end of the year, when she causes the death of the Hero symbolizing the death of the Sun. These are the three aspects of the Triple Goddess, who appears as Bride, Mother and Crone.
V. The Green Man
The person who, more than anyone and anything else shows the pagan basis for the poem, is the “Green Knight”, who represents an ancient but well established figure called the Green Man. The green color appears consistently in the poem, in the Green Knight, the Green Chapel, and the green belt given by the Lady to Sir Gawain as protection against being killed. This green color, which does not have much to do with Christianity, more than anything else hints at ancient pagan times. In those times many rituals would take place in field and forest, and not under the roofs of church, palace or castle, where chivalrous manners are so important. The Green Chapel itself points out to the forest, with its green