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A recurrent theme in almost all works of Old English involves the presence of the number "three". Just as Beowulf fought the dragon in three rounds; King Arthur sent Sir Bedivere to throw Excalibur into the lake three times. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, translated by J.R.R Tolkien, the number three is of triple importance. The bedroom scenes correlate with the hunting scenes; therefore, each one must be understood in reference to the other. On each of the three days, the behavior of Sir Gawain corresponds to that of the animal, which had been killed on that day. On the first day he is cautious like a deer; on the second he is more like a boar and on the third he is cunning like a fox. These are not the only similarities between the two plot elements. Hunting is generally used in literature as a metaphor for the pursuit of love that is for courting. This metaphor probably had already been known in the Middle Ages and was used by the Gawain Poet as well. In this story a......

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Approximate Word Count: 1561
Approximate Pages: 7 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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