“Good morning,” said Gawain, “will you go with a message to the lord of this house to let me have lodging?”

‘“By Saint Peter,” said the porter, “it’ll be my pleasure, and I’ll warrant you’ll be welcome for as long as you wish.” Then he went his way, but came back at once with a group who had gathered to greet the stranger; the drawbridge came down and they crossed the ditch and knelt in the frost in front of the knight to welcome this man in a way deemed worthy.’ (221)

One of the things that caught my attention is the alliteration in this quote that is so clear throughout the poem. It gives off a kind of comedic essence and brings the paragraph together. It’s hard to get lost in a story when every other beginning of a word sounds the same. The second thing that was interesting to me is how the arrival of Gawain to the castle is contrasted with initial arrival of Beowulf to Hrothgar’s kingdom. The porter has no suspicions when a random man, who everyone seems to know, calls out and asks for shelter. In fact, the people who come to the gate give him a welcome that I believed was only meant for the king or the lords. In Beowulf, Wulfgar is a bit suspicious of the strange men whose ship has just landed. I mentioned the fact that the paragraph has a “comedic essence,” and so does the reaction of the people who first meet Gawain. The speaker is demonstrating that Sir Gawain… isn’t meant to be a serious poem. Those who were alive back then and read this poem would know that it’s simply meant for entertainment. With this particular passage, the speaker is probably trying to throw suspicion on the fact that there isn’t a welcome like the one Beowulf received. Let’s not forget that Gawain is in his full knight armor. So, it would be clear that he is pretty far from whatever kingdom he comes from. In this segment from the poem, it doesn’t seem that the audience is meant to be convinced of something. They should notice that something weird is going on, however. Castles don’t just appear out of thin air. Also, it’s odd that people who have never met Gawain are willing to do everything for him even before he meets the lord of the house.