Sir Norbert "Norby" the Green Knight (Image: St. Norbert College)
The mascot of St. Norbert College is the Green Knight. Arguably, that is a strange character. Those who are fans of medieval literature might recall the fascinating story about the Green Knight’s encounter with the Round Table, described in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
The poem starts in King Arthur’s castle, where people are celebrating Christmas and the New Year. The participants are enjoying the festivities when the eponymous Green Knight barges in the fête. He insults all the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur himself. He then challenges anybody who is brave enough to take his axe and give him a good blow to the neck. Whoever the striker is must be willing to let the Green Knight return the blow in a year and a day. Arthur accepts the challenge, but the young knight Gawain steps up to take up the game instead. Gawain cleanly lops off the head of the Green Knight, but he does not die and instead picks up his head to show the crowd, taunts the knights again and reiterates Gawain’s end of the bargain. The rest of the poem describes Gawain’s journey to find the knight and take up the game.
The story is a great read to get a look into the thinking of medieval writers and readers — their ideals of chivalry, religion and the characteristics of heroism offer a glimpse into the minds of old. It is also a short read that is easy to fit into anyone’s daily schedule. As October is St. Norbert College’s birth month, it is an opportune time to read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to compare Norby the Green Knight with the Green Knight of yore.