Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a medieval poem by an unknown author, written in Middle English in the 14th century. This poem is strange to most poems about heroism and chivalric quests because it does not follow the full circle seen in other tales of heroism. This poem is different from all others because it shows human weaknesses as well as strengths that disrupt the myth of the perfect knight or the blameless hero. The author uses symbolism as a literary device in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to give the plot a deeper and more meaningful meaning. Symbolism is used to emphasize the difference of this story of heroism from others and therefore symbolism is of great importance in this poem. The importance of the following symbols will be discussed in this article: the pentangle, the color green, the Green Knight, the winning exchange game, the ax and the scar. This article argues the importance of the use of symbolism as a literary device in the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The first symbol of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that I am going to talk about is Sir Gawain's chivalrous shield. On Gawain's shield is a pentangle, the five points of this pentangle represent the five virtues of the perfect knight; piety, friendship, generosity, chastity and courtesy. Each of the five virtues is tested on Gawain throughout the poem, creating particular importance to the representation and meaning of the shield. “Now all these fyue syþez, because soþe, were withheld on þis knyȝt, And vchone halched in oþer, þat non ende hade, Et fyched vpon fyue poyntez, þat fayld neuer” (SGGK, 656-8). This quote tells of the design of the pentangle, how each line of the pentangle's composition is endlessly linked to each other, suggesting that each virtue depends on...... middle of paper ......TOR. Internet. November 11, 2013. Jokinen, Anniina. “Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature.” Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature. NP, 1996. Web. November 9, 2013. http://www.luminarium.org/Markman, Alan M. “The Meaning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” Modern Language Association 72.4 (1957): 574-86. JSTOR. Internet. November 11, 2013. Savage, Henry L. “The Significance of the Hunting Scenes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” » University of Illinois Press 27.1 (1928): 1-15. JSTOR. Internet. November 11, 2013. Schmidt, AV C. “‘Latent Content’ and ‘The Testimony in the Text’: Symbolic Meaning in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.” » Oxford University Press 38.150 (1987): 145-68. JSTOR. Internet. November 11, 2013. Weiss, Victoria L. "Gawain's First Failure: The Beheading Scene in 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'" Penn State University Press 10.4 (1976): 361-66. JSTOR. Internet. September 11. 2013