SparkNotes: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: Quiz

1. How long does Gawain stay at Bertilak’s castle?

(A) All winter

(B) One night

(C) Eight days

(D) Three days

2. Who wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?

(A) Geoffrey Chaucer

(B) An anonymous writer known as the Gawain-poet

(C) An anonymous writer known as the Unknown Poet

(D) J. R. R. Tolkien

3. What classical city is mentioned at the beginning and end of the poem?

(A) Troy

(B) Athens

(C) Jerusalem

(D) Sparta

4. During whose reign does the poem take place?

(A) King Richard II

(B) King Alfred

(C) Queen Elizabeth

(D) King Arthur

5. Next to whom does Gawain sit at the New Year’s feast?

(A) Sir Bedivere

(B) Dame Ragnell

(C) Queen Guinevere

(D) Morgan le Faye

6. What is the name of Gawain’s horse?

(A) Grendel

(B) Incitatus

(C) Gringolet

(D) Secretariat

7. What animal does the host hunt on the second day?

(A) Boar

(B) Deer

(C) Bear

(D) Fox

8. What color is Gawain’s surcoat?

(A) Green

(B) Black

(C) Red

(D) Silver

9. Where is Gawain supposed to find the Green Knight?

(A) The Green Castle

(B) Hautdesert

(C) Morgan le Faye’s house

(D) The Green Chapel

10. What is the Green Knight’s real name?

(A) Bertilak de Hautdesert

(B) Sir Bedivere of Camelot

(C) Havelok the Dane

(D) Grimpy the Hunchback

11. What is Bertilak’s wife’s true name?

(A) Lady Elaine

(B) Dame Ragnell

(C) She remains nameless

(D) Morgan le Faye

12. What four men does Gawain compare himself to in Part 4?

(A) Jesus, Joseph, James, and John

(B) Adam, Solomon, Samson, and David

(C) Brutus, Ticius, Romulus, and Aeneas

(D) Arthur, Bedivere, Lancelot, and Galahad

13. How many points does the star on Gawain’s shield have?

(A) 8

(B) 6

(C) 3

(D) 5

14. What happens to the Green Knight’s first axe?

(A) Gawain throws it into the lake

(B) He takes it with him, brandishing it as he leaves the hall

(C) Gawain and Arthur mount it on the wall as a souvenir

(D) The host uses it to kill the boar

15. What love token does the lady first offer Gawain?

(A) A ring

(B) Her bra

(C) Her girdle

(D) A glove

16. How much time does Gawain have to locate the Green Knight?

(A) Exactly one year

(B) Exactly six months

(C) Exactly one year and eight days

(D) Exactly one year and one day

17. Which of the following is an example of alliteration?

(A) The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plain

(B) We were the first that ever burst / Into that silent sea

(C) In pious times, ere priestcraft did begin, / Before polygamy was made a sin

(D) True men pay what they owe; / No danger then in sight

18. What weapon does the Green Knight have in Part 4?

(A) A Sumerian scimitar

(B) A Danish axe

(C) A French bayonet

(D) A Lancaster lance

19. During what century was Sir Gawain and the Green Knight composed?

(A) The fourteenth

(B) The thirteenth

(C) The sixteenth

(D) The eleventh

20. Why does Gawain refuse the lady’s advances?

(A) Because the chivalric code requires him to remain chaste

(B) Because she is married

(C) Because he aspires to the values represented by the pentangle

(D) All of the above

21. How many kisses does Gawain receive from the lady on the second day?

(A) 3

(B) 1

(C) 2

(D) 5

22. What is the name of the court where Gawain first meets the Green Knight?

(A) Troy

(B) Camelot

(C) Hautdesert

(D) Xanadu

23. What is Gawain’s relationship to King Arthur?

(A) He is Arthur’s son

(B) He is Arthur’s brother

(C) He is Arthur’s tarot card reader

(D) He is Arthur’s nephew

24. Why does Gawain take the lady’s green girdle?

(A) Because he doesn’t want to die

(B) Because he wants to give it to the Green Knight as a gift

(C) Because he is overcome with desire

(D) Because she threatens to kill him

25. What does Bertilak’s castle appear to be made of when Gawain first sees it?

(A) Fox pelts

(B) Danish stone

(C) Paper

(D) Gold