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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Never Again (Kelly Clarkson song): Difference between pages

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{{CurrentSingles}}
[[Image:Original script.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The original ''Gawain'' Manuscript, [[Robert Bruce Cotton|Cotton]] Nero A.x.]]
{{Infobox Single <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs -->
{{redirect|Green Knight|the Anglo-Irish hereditary knighthood|Knight of Kerry}}
| Cover = Never_Again_Single.PNG
'''''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight''''' is a late [[14th century]] [[Alliteration|alliterative]] [[Romance (genre)|romance]] recorded on a single manuscript, along with three pieces of a religious character, all written by the "[[Pearl poet]]" or "Gawain poet," an unknown author. The four poems are written in a [[North Midlands|North]] [[West Midlands (region)|west Midland]] dialect of [[Middle English]].<ref name = norton> The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. 8th ed. Vol. B. New York, London: W. W. Norton and Co., 2006. pgs. 19-21 & 160-161.</ref> The manuscript is currently in the [[British Museum]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Web Resources for Pearl-poet Study: A Vetted Selection | publisher = Univ. of Calgary | url = http://www.ucalgary.ca/~scriptor/cotton/blog.html | accessdate = April 1, 2007}}</ref>
| Name = Never Again
| Artist = [[Kelly Clarkson]]
| from Album = [[My December]]
| Released = {{flagicon|USA}} [[April 23]], [[2007]]<small><ref name=U.S._Release>[http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=251980139&s=143441&i=251980166 "Never Again - Single" in the U.S. iTunes Music Store]. Phobos.apple.com. Retrieved [[April 24]] [[2007]].</ref></small> <small>([[United States|U.S.]])</small><br>{{flagicon|AUS}} [[May 1]], [[2007]] <small>([[Australia|AUS]])</small><br>{{flagicon|Canada}} [[May 7]], [[2007]] <small>([[Canada|CA]])</small><br>{{flagicon|Germany}} [[June 1]], [[2007]] <small>([[Germany|DE]])</small><br>{{flagicon|South Korea}} [[April 23]], [[2007]] <small>([[South Korea|KR]])</small><br>{{flagicon|Sweden}} [[June 6]], [[2007]] <small>([[Sweden|SE]])</small><br>{{flagicon|UK}} [[June 11]], [[2007]]<small><ref name=UK_Release>[http://rcalabelgroup.co.uk/releases/480/ "Never Again" Single Release in the United Kingdom]. RCALabelGroup.co.uk. Retrieved [[June 13]] [[2007]].</ref></small> <small>([[United Kingdom|UK]])</small>
| Format = [[CD single]], [[digital download]]
| Recorded =
| Genre = [[Pop rock]]
| Length = 3:37
| Label = [[RCA Records|RCA]]
| Writer = [[Kelly Clarkson]], Jimmy Messer
| Producer = [[David Kahne]]
| Certification =
| Chart position =
* #5 <small>([[Australia]])</small>
* #8 <small>([[Canada]], [[China]], [[United States|U.S.]])</small>
* #19 <small>([[Germany]])</small>
* #19 <small>([[United World Chart]])</small>
* #20 <small>([[New Zealand]])</small>
* #23 <small>([[Netherlands]])</small>
* #34 <small>([[Switzerland]])</small>
* #41 <small>([[Sweden]])</small>
* #75 <small>([[Mexico]])</small>
{{Extra chronology
| Artist = Kelly Clarkson
| Type = [[United States|U.S.]] singles
| Last single = "[[Walk Away (Kelly Clarkson song)|Walk Away]]"<br>(2006)
| This single = "'''Never Again'''"<br>(2007)
| Next single = "[[Sober (Kelly Clarkson song)|Sober]]" <br>(2007)
}}
{{Extra chronology
| Artist = Kelly Clarkson
| Type = [[United Kingdom|UK]] singles
| Last single = "[[Breakaway (Kelly Clarkson song)|Breakaway]]"<br>(2006)
| This single = "'''Never Again'''"<br>(2007)
| Next single = "[[Sober (Kelly Clarkson song)|Sober]]" <br>(2007)
}}
}}
 
"'''Never Again'''" is a song written by [[United States|American]] [[pop rock]] singer [[Kelly Clarkson]], and is the first [[Single (music)|single]] from her third [[studio album]], ''[[My December]]'' ([[2007 in music|2007]]).
In the story, [[Sir Gawain]] a [[knight]] of [[King Arthur]]'s [[Round Table (Camelot)|Round Table]], accepts a challenge from a mysterious Knight who is completely green. The "Green Knight" offers to allow anyone to strike him with his axe if he will take a return blow in a year and a day. Gawain accepts the challenge, and takes off his head in one blow, only to have the Knight stand up, pick up his head, and remind Gawain to meet him at the appointed time. Gawain's struggle to meet the appointment, and the adventures involved in that, cause this work to be classified as a part of [[Arthurian legend]] involving themes of [[chivalry]] and [[loyalty]].
 
==Background==
The poem's chief interest in the [[literary criticism|critical]] and [[history|historical]] worlds is in the [[symbolism]] and themes which place it in its historical and literary context. Everything, from the Green Knight, to the beheading game, to the [[girdle]] given Gawain as a protection from the axe, to the symbols on his shield, is richly symbolic and steeped in [[Celt]]ic, [[Germanic peoples|German]]ic, and other historical [[culture]]s and [[folklore]]s. As a result, critics often compare ''Gawain'' to similar, older works, in order to find possible meanings and contexts for the symbolism and themes within the poem.
{{sound sample box align left|}}
{{multi-listen start|Audio sample of:}}
{{multi-listen item|filename=Kelly_Clarkson_-_Never_Again_(30_Second_Preview)-2007.ogg|title="Never Again"|description=The song is influenced by the work of Alanis Morisette and Pat Benatar.|format=[[Ogg]]}}
{{multi-listen end}}
{{sample box end}}
 
According to [[MTV News]], the song was inspired by the end of Clarkson's relationship with [[David Hodges]], although she never confirmed this statement. It also provided some of the inspiration for the songs "[[Behind These Hazel Eyes]]", "[[Since U Been Gone]]", and "Where Is Your Heart" on her second studio album, ''[[Breakaway (album)|Breakaway]]'' ([[2004 in music|2004]]).<small><ref>[http://www.kellyclarkson.com/main.php?content=biography "Breakaway Bio"]. KellyClarkson.com. Retrieved [[May 29]] [[2007]].</ref></small><small><ref name=MTVNews-Apr2007>Vineyard, Jennifer and Richard, Yasmine. [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1557541/20070418/id_0.jhtml "Kelly Clarkson On Her Revealing New LP: 'I'm Not Even This Open With Boyfriends!'"]. [[MTV News]]. [[April 19]] [[2007]].</ref></small> She wrote it around late 2004<small><ref>[http://www.kcemedia.com/recent.aspx "Idol Chat-Interview"]. Kelly Clarkson Express Media. Retrieved [[May 29]] [[2007]].</ref></small> as a contrast to those songs, saying that "neither was originally written" with that thought in mind and were adjusted "after the fact."<small><ref name=MTVNews-Apr2007/></small> In addition, she thought that it was "nastier" than those songs, so she considered dropping it from the track listing of her third album, ''My December''. Yet, she decided to keep it because she thought it would be appropriate as the opening track on the album, which was later released as the first single from ''My December''. "It's just got such great energy", Clarkson said. "It's so blunt &mdash; I was so angry &mdash; and it reads so well, so we just went with it."<small><ref name=MTVNews-Apr2007/></small>
==Characters==
 
Clarkson has cited the influence of [[Alanis Morissette]]'s [[1995 in music|1995]] single "[[You Oughta Know]]" and [[Pat Benatar]] on "Never Again"; according to her, someone at her label disliked the song because it was too similar to Benatar's music. "I was like, 'Now I really like it! I love her, and what's wrong with you?'", Clarkson said. "I love any kind of [[Rock music|rock]] chick who's just totally into what she's doing. What's funny is that we now think of her as a rock icon, but she was pretty [[Pop music|pop]] as well. And I'm pretty pop too &mdash; I'm a [[Pop rock|rock/pop]] girl, which is cool with me."<small><ref name=MTVNews-Apr2007/></small>
*'''[[Sir Gawain]]''': The main character.
*'''The Green Knight''': The character who issues the initial challenge.
*'''Bercilak''':<ref>Also called Bertilak in some translations</ref> The Lord of the castle Gawain visits on his way to his appointment to meet the Green Knight's challenge.
*'''Bercilak's Wife''': A woman who has heard a lot about Gawain and shows some romantic interest in him.
*An '''Elderly Woman''' attends Bercilak's wife.
*A '''Guide''' leads Gawain to his appointment with the Green Knight.
*'''[[King Arthur]]''' is the lead figure in the opening scene when the Green Knight arrives.
*'''[[Guinevere]]''', '''[[Agravaine]]''', '''Bishop Baldwin''', and '''[[Ywain]]''' are specifically mentioned as also being in this scene.
*Various '''Servants''' and '''Hunters''' accompany Bercilak in his castle.
 
==PlotSingle synopsisrelease==
Clarkson confirmed the title and release date of the single on [[April 4]] [[2007]] on her official website. The single was made available for sale on [[April 20]] [[2007]] on the [[iTunes Store]], but was removed after several hours. "Never Again" was permanently available for download on the U.S. iTunes Store by [[April 23]], [[2007]]<small><ref name=U.S._Release/></small>, on the Australian iTunes Store by [[May 1]], [[2007]], and released on the Canadian iTunes Store by [[May 7]] [[2007]]. The single was later released in the United Kingdom on [[June 11]] [[2007]]<small><ref name=UK_Release/></small>, about one month after the major releases of the single in several countries. The single is available in digital and physical format, with the former format available for sale in the British iTunes Store.
[[Image:Gawain and the Green Knight.jpg|thumb|230px|Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]
The story begins in [[King Arthur]]'s court at [[Camelot]] as the court is feasting and exchanging gifts. A gigantic Green Knight armed with an axe enters the hall and proposes a game. He asks that someone in the court take the axe and strike a single blow at him, on the condition that the Green Knight will return the blow one year and one day later. Sir Gawain, the youngest of Arthur's knights, accepts the challenge and chops off the giant's head in one smashing blow, fully expecting him to die. But the Green Knight picks up his own head, reminds Gawain to meet him at the Green Chapel in [[a year and a day]], and rides off.
 
==Music video==
Almost a year later, Sir Gawain sets off to find the Green Chapel and complete his bargain with the Green Knight. His journey takes him to a beautiful castle, where Gawain meets Bercilak, the lord of the castle, and his beautiful wife, who are both pleased to have such a renowned guest. Gawain tells them of his New Year's Day appointment at the Green Chapel and says that he must continue his search the next day. The lord laughs and tells him his search has ended: the Green Chapel is not two miles away!<ref>ll. 1068-78</ref>
[[Image:KellyClarkson~NeverAgain~MusicVideo.PNG|thumb|left|Clarkson's character's ghost haunting and following her ex-boyfriend in the music video.]]
 
The [[music video]], directed by [[Joseph Kahn]], was shot in [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] from [[April 11]] to [[April 13]], [[2007]]. Kahn directed two of Clarkson's previous videos: "[[Behind These Hazel Eyes]]" and "[[Walk Away (Kelly Clarkson song)|Walk Away]]". The video premiered on ''[[Total Request Live|TRL]]'' on [[May 1]], [[2007]], peaked at number one on [[May 10]], [[2007]], and held the top position four times. It also debuted at number 8 on VH1's V-Spot countdown and has since climbed to number 3 on V-Spot's latest episode. The music video was made available for download on the U.S. [[iTunes Store]] on [[May 11]], [[2007]].
The lord of the castle goes hunting the next day, and proposes a bargain to Gawain before he leaves: he will give Gawain whatever he catches, on condition that Gawain will give to the lord whatever he might gain during the day. Gawain accepts. After the lord has gone, the lady of the castle visits Gawain's bedroom to seduce him. Gawain, however, yields nothing but a single kiss. When the lord returns with the [[deer]] he has killed, as agreed, Gawain responds by returning the lady's kiss to the lord, and avoids explaining its source. The next day, the lady comes again, Gawain dodges her advances, and there is a similar exchange of a hunted [[boar]] for two kisses. She comes again on the third morning, and Gawain accepts from her a green silk [[girdle]], which the lady promises will keep him from all physical harm and they exchange three kisses. That evening, the lord returns with a fox, which he exchanges with Gawain for the three kisses. However, Gawain keeps the girdle from the lord.
 
The plot involves Clarkson's character's ex-boyfriend attempting to drown her in her bathtub. Then, he heads to an airport to meet his new girlfriend, but he is wracked with guilt over what he has done. Apparitions of Clarkson are present in his car, and again at the airport to haunt him. Clarkson said the video was similar to the [[2000 in film|2000 film]] ''[[What Lies Beneath]]'' because, as she put it, "You don't know if he killed me or if he's just being haunted by his conscience."<ref name=MTVNews-Apr2007/> Clarkson then resurfaces from the bathtub, as the ex-boyfriend wakes up from the dream, still in his car. When he walks out, Clarkson leaves the house and drives off in the car, leaving her ex-boyfriend behind. Clarkson also performs the song with her band in an empty white room, all wearing white clothes, during various scenes in the music video. Clarkson said the white theme was present not because she was getting "artsy-fartsy" but "because it's been ripped of innocence. Anyone who's ever been in love, when it goes bad &mdash; and sadly, everyone can relate in some manner &mdash; it just gets cold and it's hard to get past that."<ref name=MTVNews-Apr2007/>
The next day, Gawain leaves for the Green Chapel with the lady's silk girdle. He finds the Green Knight there sharpening an axe, and, as arranged, bends over to receive his blow. The Green Knight swings to behead Gawain, but holds back twice, only striking softly on the third swing, causing a permanent scar on his neck. The Green Knight then reveals himself to be the lord of the castle, Bercilak de Hautdesert and explains that the whole game was arranged by "Morgne the goddess" ([[Morgan le Fay]]). Gawain is at first upset, but the two men part on cordial terms and Gawain returns to Camelot, wearing the girdle as a badge of shame. Arthur, however, decrees that all his knights should henceforth wear a green sash in recognition of Gawain's adventure.
 
==TheChart Poetperformance==
"Never Again" debuted at number one on the U.S. ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' magazine [[Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles]] chart based solely on radio airplay. The next week, the song debuted on the ''Billboard'' [[Hot Digital Songs]] chart at #4 with more than 100,000 downloads, subsequently making its [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] debut at #8.<ref>Cohen, Jonathan. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003580358 "Maroon 5 Makes 'Wondrous' Jump To Lead Hot 100"]. ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''. [[May 3]], [[2007]].</ref> The following three weeks the song fell to #17 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, but regained momentum, jumping from #17 to #9 after Clarkson's appearance on the [[Grand Finale (American Idol 6)|''American Idol'' season 6 finale]]. However, its chart strength was largely due to a high number of digitial downloads. After failing to chart higher than #47 on the [[Hot 100 Airplay]] Chart, the track was already being pulled from some stations<ref>http://top40.about.com/b/a/209102.htm</ref><ref>http://blogs.usatoday.com/idolchatter/2007/05/idols_on_the_ai.html</ref><ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,278097,00.html</ref>, leading to the unusual step of releasing "[[Sober (Kelly Clarkson song)|Sober]]" as the second single, only about six weeks later and ahead of the album's release.
{{main|Pearl Poet}}
Though the name of "The ''Gawain'' Poet" (or poets) is unknown, some inferences about him can be drawn from an informed reading of his works. The manuscript of ''Gawain'' is known in academic circle as [[Robert Bruce Cotton|Cotton]] Nero A.x, following a naming system used by its previous owner, Robert Cotton, a collector of English manuscripts.<ref>{{cite web | title = Web Resources for Pearl-poet Study: A Vetted Selection | publisher = Univ. of Calgary | url = http://www.ucalgary.ca/~scriptor/cotton/blog.html | accessdate = April 1, 2007}}</ref> Before the ''Gawain'' manuscript came into the possession of [[Robert Cotton]], however, it was in the library of [[Henry Savile (Bible translator)|Henry Savile]] of Bank in [[Yorkshire]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Pearl: Introduction | publisher = Medieval Institute Publications, Inc. | date = 2001 | url = http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/pearlint.htm | accessdate = April 2, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = SIR HENRY SAVILE (1549–1622) | publisher = Encyclopedia Britannica | date = 1911 | url = http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/SAR_SCY/SAVILE_SIR_HENRY_15491622_.html | accessdate = April 3, 2007}}</ref> Little is known of it, or its author, before that. It has been dated to the late [[14th century]], so the poet was a contemporary of [[Chaucer]], though remote from him in almost every other way.<ref>"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." ''The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Medieval Period.'' Vol. 1. ed. Joseph Black, et al. Toronto: Broadview Press. ISBN 1-55111-609-X Intro pg. 235</ref> Also, the three other pieces found with the ''Gawain'' manuscript, (commonly known as ''[[Pearl (poem)|Pearl]]'', ''[[Patience (poem)|Patience]]'', and ''[[Cleanness]]'' (alternatively ''Purity'')) are often considered to be written by the same author, however, the manuscript containing these poems was written by a copyist and not by the author.<ref name = poet>The Pearl-Poet, By: William Nelles, Cyclopedia of World Authors, Fourth Revised Edition
Database: MagillOnLiterature Plus</ref> There is thus nothing ''explicit'' that says all four poems in the manuscript are by the same poet. However, from a comparative analysis of dialect, verse form and diction, scholars generally accept single-authorship.<ref name = poet/> Consensus on the issue, however, remains elusive. What is known today, is largely general knowledge, as [[Tolkien]], in the introduction to his translation, writes:
:He was a man of serious and devout mind, though not without humour; he had an interest in theology, and some knowledge of it, though an amateur knowledge perhaps, rather than a professional; he had Latin and French and was well enough read in French books, both romantic and instructive; but his home was in the West Midlands of England; so much his language shows, and his metre, and his scenery.<ref name = Tolkein>''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'', Edited JRR Tolkien/EV Gordon, revised Norman Davis, introduction, xv</ref>.
 
In Australia, the song debuted at number five on the ARIA Singles Chart, making it the song's highest debut worldwide to date. The song also showed progress in the Australian digital chart with the song leaping from #24 to #12 within a week.
The most commonly suggested candidate for authorship is John Massey of Cotton, Cheshire.<ref>Peterson, Clifford J. "The Pearl-Poet and John Massey of Cotton, Cheshire." ''The Review of English Studies, New Series'' 25.99 (1974) pp. 257-266</ref> One additional poem, ''[[St. Erkenwald (poem)|St. Erkenwald]]'', has sometimes been attributed to the same poet. ''[[St. Erkenwald (poem)|St. Erkenwald]]'' is found in a manuscript separate from the ''Gawain'' manuscript, which has been dated by some scholars to a time outside the poet's era. Ascribing authorship of ''[[St. Erkenwald (poem)|St. Erkenwald]]'' to [[The Pearl Poet]] is still controversial among most scholars.<ref>The Pearl-Poet, By: William Nelles, Cyclopedia of World Authors, Fourth Revised Edition
Database: MagillOnLiterature Plus</ref>
 
In United Kingdom "Never Again" is currently at #6 on iTunes.
==The verse form==
''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is written in a style typical of the what is called by linguists the "Alliterative Revival" of the fourteenth century. Instead of focusing on a [[Meter (poetry)|metrical]] syllabic count and [[rhyme]], the [[Alliterative verse|alliterative form]] of this period relied on the agreement of (usually a pair of) stressed syllables at the beginning of the line with (usually) a third and fourth at the end of the line. The line always finds a "breath-point" at some point after the first two stresses, dividing the line into two half-lines, separated by the pause called a ''[[caesura]]''.
<!-- [[Image:Gawains return.jpg|thumb|230px|left|Gawain's return to Camelot, as depicted in the original manuscript.]] -->
Although he largely follows the form of his day, the Gawain poet was somewhat more free with convention than his predecessors. The poet broke his alliterative lines into variable-length groups and ended these nominal stanzas with a rhyming section of five lines known as the ''bob and wheel'': one one-stress line rhyming ''a'' (the bob) and four three-stress lines rhyming ''baba'' (the wheel). These lines also alliterated.<ref name = norton /> On the whole, the poem takes up 2530 lines, divided into four parts and 101 [[stanzas]].
 
{| class="wikitable"
==Themes==
!align="left"|Chart (2007)
===Games in ''Gawain''===
!align="center"|Peak<br>position
The word 'gomen' (game) is found eighteen times in ''Gawain''. Its relation to the word 'gome' (man, in the poem 21 times) has led some scholars to draw a connection in meaning, possibly as a representation of man's fallen nature in the Christian sense.<ref name = game /> The poem revolves around two games – first an exchange of beheading, and secondly an exchange of winnings. The two appear at first to be unconnected, but it is later revealed that the hero's survival of the conclusion of the story of the first game depends on his honesty and his purity in the second. Both elements appear in other stories, the beheading game appearing first in the Middle Irish narrative ''[[Bricriu's Feast]]''. However, the linkage of outcomes is unique to this story.<ref name = norton /><ref name = Tolkein/> Games may also be seen as a test of worthiness, as, for example, the Green Knight challenges the court's worthiness of its good name in a "Christmas game."<ref name = game />
|-
|align="left"|Australia [[Australian Recording Industry Association|ARIA]] Singles Chart<ref>[http://www.ariacharts.com.au/pages/charts_display.asp?chart=1U50 "ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart"]. [[Australian Recording Industry Association|ARIA]].</ref>
|align="center"|5
|-
|align="left"|Canadian ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Canadian Hot 100|Hot 100]]<ref>[http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?f=Canadian+Hot+100&pageNumber=Top+11-50&g=Singles "Canadian Hot 100 Chart Positions"]. [[Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems]].</ref>
|align="center"|8
|-
|align="left"|China Singles Chart<ref>[http://hitfm.cri.cn/hitfm/chart/top10.htm "China Singles Chart"]. HitFM.cri.cn. Retrieved [[May 21]] [[2007]].</ref>
|align="center"|8
|-
|align="left"|[[Hot100Brasil|Brasil Hot 100]]<ref>[http://www.hot100brasil.com/chtsinglesb.html "Brazilian Singles Chart"]. Hot100Brasil.com. Retrieved [[June 9]] [[2007]].</ref>
|align="center"|60
|-
|align="left"|German Single Chart 100<ref>[http://www.urlbase.de/include.php?path=content/articles.php&contentid=9414&PHPKITSID=5dcfcf9c84e845bc31f8e497118d0c13 "urlbase.de"]. urlbase.de. Retrieved [[June 12]] [[2007]].</ref>
|align="center"|19
|-
|align="left"|Irish Singles Chart<ref>[http://www.irma.ie/aucharts.asp#singles "Kelly Clarkson enters Irish Charts at #13 - IRMA.ie"]. urlbase.de. Retrieved [[June 15]] [[2007]].</ref>
|align="center"|13
|-
|align="left"|[[Mexican Top 100]]<ref>[http://www.americatop100.com/mexico/index.htm "Mexican Top 100 Singles Chart"]. AmericaTop100.com. Retrieved [[June 11]] [[2007]].</ref>
|align="center"|75
|-
|align="left"|Netherlands Singles Chart<ref>[http://www.radio538.nl/top40.html Netherlands Singles Chart] E! Hot 50</ref>
|align="center"|23
|-
|align="left"|New Zealand [[RIANZ]] Singles Chart<ref>[http://www.rianz.org.nz]</ref>
|align="center"|20
|-
|align="left"|Swedish Charts<ref>[http://www.swedishcharts.com]</ref>
|align="center"|41
|-
|align="left"|Swiss Hot 100<ref>[http://acharts.us/song/25730 "Kelly Clarkson - Never Again global chart positions and trajectories"]. aCharts.us. Retrieved [[May 6]] [[2007]].</ref>
|align="center"|34
|-
|align="left"|U.S. ''Billboard'' [[Billboard Hot 100|Hot 100]]<ref name=acharts>[http://acharts.us/song/25730 "Kelly Clarkson - Never Again global chart positions and trajectories"]. aCharts.us. Retrieved [[May 6]] [[2007]].</ref>
|align="center"|8
|-
|align="left"|U.S. ''Billboard'' [[Pop 100]]
|align="center"|5
|-
|align="left"|U.S. ''Billboard'' [[Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks]]
|align="center"|12
|-
|align="left"|[[United World Chart]]<ref name=acharts/>
|align="center"|19
|-
|}
 
==Formats and track listings==
The "game" of exchanging gifts was actually very common in Germanic cultures. If a man was given a gift, he had to give the giver a better gift, or risk losing his honor, almost like an exchange of blows in a fight (or in a "beheading game").<ref>Harwood, Britton J. "Gawain and the Gift." PMLA 106.3 (1991): 483-99.</ref>
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Never Again".
 
*'''CD Single (Basic)'''
===Times and seasons===
<small>Released [[June 12]], [[2007]]</small><small><ref>[http://www.amazon.com/Never-Again-Kelly-Clarkson/dp/B000PMGQ4C/ref=sr_1_4/002-9889696-7594451?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1181079499&sr=1-4 "Never Again" in the U.S. Amazon Store]. Amazon.com. Retrieved [[June 5]], [[2007]].</ref></small>
Times, dates, seasons, and cycles within ''Gawain'' are often noted by scholars. The story, for example, starts on [[New Year's Day]], with a beheading, and culminates on the next New Year's Day. Gawain leaves Camelot on [[All Saints Day|All Hallows Day]] (or All Saints Day), and arrives at Bercilak's castle on [[Christmas Eve]]. Also, the Green Knight tells Gawain to meet him at the Green chapel in [[a year and a day]]—a period of time seen often in medieval literature. Some scholars interpret these cycles of time, each beginning and ending in winter, as the poet's attempt to convey the inevitable fall of all things good and noble in the world.<ref name = christian>Clark, S. L., and Julian N. Wasserman. "The Passing of the Seasons and the Apocalyptic in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"." South Central Review 3.1 (1986): 5-22.</ref>
# "Never Again" – 3:37
# "Never Again" <small>(Dave Aude Remix)</small> – 4:09
 
*'''iTunes Digital Single'''
==Symbolism==
<small>Released [[April 23]], [[2007]]</small>
===Significance of the colour green===
# "Never Again" – 3:37
[[Image:Michael Pacher 004.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Painting of a green devil from about the same period as the ''Gawain'' poem. Poetic contemporaries such as [[Chaucer]] also drew connections between the colour green and the devil, leading scholars to draw similar connections in readings of the Green Knight.<ref>Why the Devil Wears Green
Author: D. W. Robertson, Jr.
Journal: Modern Language Notes
Pub.: 1954-11
Volume: 69
Issue: 7
Pages: 470-472</ref>]]
In English folklore and literature, [[Green]] has traditionally been used to symbolize nature and its embodied attributes, namely those of fertility and rebirth. Stories of the medieval period portray it as representing love and the amorous in life,<ref>Symbolic Green: A Time-Honored Characterizing Device in Spanish Literature
Vernon A. Chamberlin
Hispania, Vol. 51, No. 1 (Mar., 1968), pp. 29-37
</ref> and the base, natural desires of man.<ref>The Green and the Gold: The Major Theme of Gawain and the Green Knight
William Goldhurst
College English, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Nov., 1958), pp. 61-65
doi:10.2307/372161
</ref> Green is also known to have signified [[witchcraft]], devilry and evil for its association with the [[faeries]] and spirits of early [[English folklore]] and for its association with decay and toxicity.<ref name=evil> Williams, Margaret. The Pearl Poet, His Complete Works. Random House, 1967.</ref> The color, when combined with gold, is also seen as representing the fading away of youth.<ref>Gawain and the Green Knight
John S. Lewis
College English, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Oct., 1959), pp. 50-51
</ref> In the [[Celtic mythology|Celtic tradition]], green was avoided in clothing for its superstitious association with misfortune and death. The green girdle too, originally worn for protection, is later worn as a symbol of shame and cowardice and is finally adopted as a symbol of honour by the knights of [[Camelot]], signifying a transformation from good to evil and back again displaying both the spoiling and regenerative connotations of the colour green.<ref name = knight>''The Idea of the Green Knight'', Lawrence Besserman, ELH, Vol. 53, No. 2. (Summer, 1986), pp. 219-239. The Johns Hopkins University Press.</ref><ref>''Why The Devil Wears Green'', D. W. Robertson Jr., Modern Language Notes, Vol. 69, No. 7. (Nov., 1954), pp. 470-472. The Johns Hopkins University Press.</ref> Given these varied and even contradictory interpretations of the colour green, its precise meaning in the poem remains ambiguous.
 
==Versions==
===The Green Knight===
*Album version
Characters similar to the Green Knight appear in several other works. In [[Thomas Malory]]'s ''[[Le Morte d'Arthur]]'', for example, Gawain's brother [[Gareth]] fights "two brethren whych were called the Grene Knyght and the Rede Knyght". It is unknown if Malory was aware of ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'', or if he drew any influence from it.{{fact}} The stories of [[Saladin]] also feature a certain "Green Knight"; he is a [[Sicily|Sicilian]] warrior in a shield [[vert]] and a helmet brandished with a stag's horns. Saladin had respect for this honourable fighter and tried to make him part of his personal guard.<ref>Richard, Jean. ''An Account of the Battle of Hattin Referring to the Frankish Mercenaries in Oriental Moslem States'' Speculum 27.2 (1952) pp. 168-177.</ref> The figure of [[Al-Khidr]] in the [[Qur'an]] is called the "Green Man" ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: الخضر). He tests [[Moses]] three times by doing seemingly evil acts, which are eventually revealed to be noble deeds to prevent greater evils or reveal great goods. Both the Green Knight and Al-Khidr serve as teachers to holy and upright men (Gawain, Moses), who thrice put their faith and obedience to the test. It has been suggested that the character of the Green Knight may be a literary descendant of Al-Khidr, brought to Europe with the [[Crusades|Crusaders]] and blended with Celtic and Arthurian imagery.<ref>Lasater, Alice E. (1974). ''Spain to England: A Comparative Study of Arabic, European, and English Literature of the Middle Ages.'' University Press of Missippi.</ref>
*Dave Aude Remix
*[[Jason Nevins]] Remix
 
==Notes==
Despite these similarities, the Green Knight is the first of his character parallels to be green.<ref>Who Was the Green Knight?
{{reflist}}
Author: A. H. Krappe
Journal: Speculum
Pub.: 1938-04
Volume: 13
Issue: 2
Pages: 206-215</ref> Because of his strange color, many scholars believe him to be a manifestation of the [[Green Man]] figure common in medieval art.<ref name = knight/> Others see him as being an incarnation of the [[Devil]] himself.<ref name = knight/> In one interpretation, it is thought that the Green Knight, as the "Lord of Hades," has come to challenge the noble knights of King Arthur's court. Sir Gawain, the bravest of the knights, therefore proves himself the equal to Hercules in challenging the Knight, tying the story to ancient Greek mythology.<ref name=evil/> Another possible interpretation of the Green Knight is to view him as a fusion of these two deities, at once representing both good and evil and life and death as self-proliferating cycles. This interpretation also embraces the positive and negative attributes of the colour green and ties in with the enigmatic motif of the poem.<ref name = knight /> The description of the Green Knight upon his entrance to Arthur's Court as "from neck to loin… strong and thickly made" is viewed by other scholars as homoerotic.<ref>Zeikowitz, Richard E. "Befriending the Medieval Queer: A Pedagogy for Literature Classes" College English Special Issue: Lesbian and Gay Studies/Queer Pedagogies. 65.1 (2002) 67-80.</ref>
 
{{Kelly Clarkson}}
===The pentangle===
[[Image:Pentagram green.svg|right|thumb|180px|A '''pentangle''' or '''pentagram''']]
The [[Pentagram|Pentangle]] said in the text to be on Gawain's shield is seen by many critics as having special significance in the poem. It is the first time the word 'pentangle' is recorded to have been used in English, and is the only time it is associated with Gawain's shield. Usually, Gawain is said to have an eagle symbol on his shield.<ref name = pent2>Ann Derrickson (1980) [http://repositories.cdlib.org/cmrs/comitatus/vol11/iss1/art2 "The Pentangle: Guiding Star for the Gawain-Poet"]. ''Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies'', Vol. 11, Article 2.</ref> The poem describes the pentangle as sign descended from Solomon's time, a symbol of truth (or faithfulness), and an "endless knot." It also spends several stanzas carefully outlining the virtues of Gawain which the five points of the pentangle represent.<ref name = pent2 /> The emphasis the author places on the pentangle has even caused some scholars to believe it to be an allegory or representation for the entire poem.<ref name = pent2 />
 
[[Category:Kelly Clarkson songs]]
Other academics compare the Pentangle to the traditional pentagram, which was said to have magical properties. In [[Germany]], it was called a ''Drudenfuss'' and was placed on household objects to keep evil out of the house.<ref>Syr Gawayn and the Grene Knyzt-(Concluded)
[[Category:2007 singles]]
Author: J. R. Hulbert
[[Category:Jason Nevins remixes]]
Journal: Modern Philology
Pub.: 1916-04
Volume: 13
Issue: 12
Pages: 689-730</ref> The symbol was also associated with magical charms which, if recited or written on a weapon, would call forth the magical forces of that symbol, however, the concrete evidence tying the magical pentagram to Gawain's pentangle is scarce.<ref>Sir Gawain's Coat of Arms
Author: I. Jackson
Journal: The Modern Language Review
Pub.: 1920-01
Volume: 15
Issue: 1
Pages: 77-79</ref><ref>Syr Gawayn and the Grene Knyzt-(Concluded)
Author: J. R. Hulbert
Journal: Modern Philology
Pub.: 1916-04
Volume: 13
Issue: 12
Pages: 689-730</ref>
 
[[cs:Never Again]]
Others point out the description of the pentangle in line 625 as "a sign by Solomon”. [[Solomon]], the third king of [[Israel]] in [[10th century]] B.C.E., is not here referred to as regarding his wisdom, but regarding his magic ring seal, having the mark of the pentagram, which he received from the [[archangel]] [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]]. The ring seal bestowed upon Solomon gave him power over [[demons]].<ref>LaBossière, Camille R., & Gladson, Jerry A. (1992). Solomon. In ''A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature'' (Page 722). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, Michigan.</ref>
[[he:Never Again]]
 
[[pl:Never Again]]
The shield on which the pentangle is emblazoned is commonly seen as symbolizing Gawain's Christian faith in the protection of God and Christ.<ref name = game>Lauren M. Goodlad (1987) "The Gamnesof Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies: Vol. 18, Article 4.
[[pt:Never Again]]
http://repositories.cdlib.org/cmrs/comitatus/vol18/iss1/art4</ref>
 
===The girdle===
[[Image:JWW TheLadyOfShallot 1888.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Another famous Arthurian woman, [[The Lady of Shallot]], with a medieval [[girdle]] around her waist.]]
Critics often wonder whether the girdle has sexual meaning. Proponents compare the girdle to other stories of the culture, such as ''[[Nibelungenlied]]'', a story in which the woman character, Brunhilde, is convinced of her being fooled into having intercourse with the wrong man when her stolen girdle is produced as evidence.<ref name = girdle>Friedman, Albert B., and Richard H. Osberg. "Gawain's Girdle as Traditional Symbol." The Journal of American Folklore 90.357 (1977): 301-15.</ref> Also, feminist interpretations see the girdle (called a "love lace" at one point in the text) as a symbol of feminine power. They point out the definition of "lace" at the time, which along with the "article of clothing," also meant "net," "noose," or "snare."<ref name = fem>Heng, Geraldine. "Feminine Knots and the Other Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." PMLA 106.3 (1991): 500-14.</ref> Critics who see the poem through a Christian lens see Gawain's trust in the girdle as a replacement for his trust in God to save him from the axe-wound.<ref>{{cite web | last = Berger | first = Sidney E. | title = Gawain's Departure from the Peregrinatio | publisher = West Virginia University Press | date = 1985 | url = http://www.luc.edu/publications/medieval/vol2/berger.html | accessdate = April 14, 2007}}</ref> Such notions of the image of the girdle as a "sexual symbol," however, should not be confused with modern notions of a girdle as "underwear" <ref>Bloomfield, Morton W. (1961). Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: An Appraisal. ''PMLA'', 76, 16.</ref><ref name = girdle/>, but a girdle in the days of the ''Pearl''-Poet was, “a belt worn around the waist, used for fastening clothes or for carrying a sword, purse, etc.” <ref>''Middle English Dictionary'' (as cited in Friedman, Albert B., & Osberg, Richard H. (1977). Gawain's Girdle as Traditional Symbol. ''The Journal of American Folklore'', Vol. 90, No. 357, pp. 301-315.)</ref>. This is similar to the definition of girdle at the time of ''Nibelungenlied's'' writing. The girdle also reperesnts lack of courage
 
The specific girdle given to Gawain is “Of a gay green silk, with gold overwrought,” <ref>ll. 1832</ref>, which likely was intended to hearken to the Green Knight’s colour of choice. The correlating fox that is caught at the time as Gawain gains the girdle, is given the name “Sir Reynard the Red” <ref>ll. 1920</ref>, whose hide is stripped away. Two more important images are here visible in regards to our tempted Arthurian knight. Firstly, the colour imagery, and secondly the hide, or fur, of the fox can also be seen as symbolically stripped. Red is found at least upon Sir Gawain’s shield <ref>ll. 619</ref>, if not in more places, and the image of the fur is early established as representing a certain humble-nature belonging to Sir Gawain<ref>Woods, William F. (2002). Nature and the inner man in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. ''The Chaucer Review'', 36.3, 209-227, pg. 217</ref>.
 
:''See also'': [[Girdle#The Girdle in literature|The Girdle in Literature]]
 
==Similar stories==
''[[The Greene Knight]]'' is a rhyming retelling of what is almost the same story. The plot is simplified, there is more extensive explanation of motive, and some of the names are changed.<ref>Hahn, Thomas (2000). "The Greene Knight". In ''Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales''. Western Michigan University Medieval Institute Publications. ISBN 1-879288-59-1.</ref> Several other stories also contain a beheading game; the earliest being the Middle Irish tale ''Bricriu's Feast''. It also appears in the ''[[Caradoc|Life of Caradoc]]'', a Middle French narrative embedded in the anonymous First Continuation of [[Chrétien de Troyes]]' ''[[Perceval, the Story of the Grail]]'', and in two other English romances involving Gawain, ''The Turke and Gowin'' and ''The Carle off Carlile''.
 
==Interpretations==
===Christian interpretations===
Christian interpretations of the poem take many forms. Some critics compare it to the other three poems of the ''Gawain'' manuscript, which have heavily Christian themes, and judge ''Gawain'' to be a poem of a similar theme. Like the poem ''Cleanliness'', they see it as a story of the [[apocalyptic]] fall of a civilization, in ''Gawain's'' case, Camelot. In this interpretation, Sir Gawain is like [[Noah]], separated from his society and warned by the Green Knight (who is seen as God's representative) of the coming doom of Camelot. He, being judged worthy through his test, is spared the doom of the rest of Camelot, who misunderstand Gawain's experience and where garters themselves. [[Image:Lady tempt Gawain.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Lady Bercilak at Gawain's bed.]] An argument used to support this is that the period of the poem's writing is around the time of the [[Black Death]] and [[English peasants' revolt of 1381|Peasant's Revolt]], events which gave people the idea that their world truly was going to meet an apocalyptic end, influencing literature and culture.<ref name = christian/> Other critics see faults in this view because, ultimately, the Green Knight is under the control of Morgan le Fay, who is usually a strong figure of evil in Camelot tales. This makes it difficult to see him as a Christ or Christian figure.<ref name = game />
 
===Feminist interpretations===
[[Feminist literary criticism|Feminist literary critics]] see the poem as representing womens' power over men. In their view, Morgan le Fay and Bertilak's wife are the most powerful characters in the poem, Morgan especially, as she is the one who enchanted the Green Knight and started the game. The girdle and Gawain's neck-scar are thus symbols of feminine power, each of them bringing the praised manhood of Gawain down. Gawain's passage of rhetorical anti-feminism, in which he blames all of his troubles on women, and outlines the many men who have fallen to women's wiles, further supports the feminist view of ultimate female power in the poem.<ref name = fem/>
 
===The Order of the Garter===
Many scholars see this poem as the story of the English intertwining of chivalric and [[courtly love]] laws, under the guise of [[The Order of the Garter]]. The motto at the end of the poem is a form of 'honi soit qui mal y pense', which is the motto of the Order and means "Shame be to the man who has evil in his mind." From this, it has been theorised that Gawain's peers wearing the sash is meant to represent the origin of the [[Order of the Garter]], although, in the parallel poem, ''[[The Greene Knight]]'', the lace is white and is said to be the origin of the collar worn by the knights of the Bath.<ref>''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'', edited by JRR Tolkien and EV Gordon second edition, note to lines 2514ff</ref> The motto, though, was probably written by a copyist, and not by the author of the poem. Still, the connection this copyist made to the Order is not a difficult one to make.<ref>The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. 8th ed. Vol. B. New York, London: W. W. Norton and Co., 2006. pg. 213 (footnote).</ref>
 
==Modern adaptations==
* ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (1969), a children's theatre piece by [[Nicholas Stuart Gray]]
*''Gawain and the Green Knight'' (1973) <ref>{{cite web
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*''[[Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]'' (1984) [[Miles O'Keefe]] as Gawain and [[Sean Connery]] as The Green Knight<ref>{{cite web
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*''Gawain and the Green Knight'' (1991) Television Adaptation<ref>{{cite web
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*''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (2002) Animated Television Adaptation<ref>{{cite web
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In 1925, [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] published a translation of ''[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]''.<ref>{{cite web
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==References==
{{reflist|2}}
 
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
===Online texts===
*[http://athena.english.vt.edu/~baugh/Medieval/indexof.htm Medieval English Narrator]- Recorded Readings with Text Alongside
*[http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/AnoGawa.html JRR Tolkien and EV Gordon's Edition]
*[http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poem/62.html The poem in original language]
*[http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/greenfrm.htm "The Greene Knight" Text]
 
===General information===
*[http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/twomey/sggk/ Michael Twomey's SGGK Site]
*[http://www.ucalgary.ca/~scriptor/cotton/blog.html The Gawain/Pearl Poet]
*[http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/gawmenu.htm ''The Camelot Project'' Info on Sir Gawain]
*[http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/gawain.htm ''Luminarium'' SGGK Website]
*[http://www.csis.pace.edu/grendel/proj2b/main.html Sir Gawain in the Poem]
*[http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/rashoaf/gawain/masterng.htm SGGK and Medieval Economics]
[[Category:14th century poems]]
[[Category:Arthurian literature]]
[[Category:Middle English poems]]
 
[[cs:Sir Gawain a Zelený rytíř]]
[[de:Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]
[[es:Sir Gawain y el Caballero Verde]]
[[fr:Sir Gauvain et le chevalier vert]]
[[ko:가웨인 경과 녹기사]]
[[lt:Seras Gaveinas ir Žaliasis Riteris]]
[[nl:Heer Gawein en de Groene Ridder]]
[[ja:ガウェイン卿と緑の騎士]]
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