Symbolic numbers and their function in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (I)

Abstract

This paper is aimed at analyzing the symbolic numbers occurring in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as well as their function. More specifically, we will focus on numbers two and three. When reading this poem, we, readers, become aware of the fact that there are some numbers which are often used by the poet and we may infer that they are exploited for a particular reason. In fact, they are not chosen at random, but their occurrences seem to have been carefully studied. Some scholars think that the author did so on purpose, thoughtfully, and the main reason for this feature could be that these numbers are not simple ones; some of them are, according to medieval tradition, considered to be symbolic, therefore playing a very important role in the poem, i.e., that of giving cohesion to its structure.