# Bertilak de Hautdesert — Sir Gawain and the Green Knight character guide

> Bertilak de Hautdesert in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Anonymous.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** the Knight, a fearsome master, Sir Knight

**First appearance:** 0004-fit-ii

## Who they are

A hearty lord whose castle offers Gawain shelter and a strange exchange of winnings, while his hunting parties range the winter woods outside.

## Relationships

### [Sir Gawain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters/sir_gawain)

_rivalry_

Bertilak is Gawain's host and the Green Knight in disguise, orchestrating a complex test of Gawain's knightly virtues through a hunting and exchange game.

### [King Arthur](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters/king_arthur)

_social_

Bertilak is a lord of Arthur's realm who interacts with the king primarily through the challenge he sends to Camelot.

### [The Green Knight](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters/the_green_knight)

_psychological_

Bertilak and the Green Knight are the same person, with the Green Knight being a magical guise Bertilak assumes to test the Round Table.

### [Lady Bertilak](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters/lady_bertilak)

_family_

Bertilak and Lady Bertilak are husband and wife, working together in the plot to test Sir Gawain's knightly virtues.

### [Queen Guinevere](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters/queen_guinevere)

_social_

Bertilak interacts with Queen Guinevere as a guest at Arthur's court, though she plays a minor role in the narrative.

### [Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters/christ)

_social_

Bertilak's household observes Christian customs, and Christ is invoked in the narrative to frame the moral and spiritual dimensions of the story.

### [Sir Gawain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters/sir_gawain)

_rivalry_

Bertilak is Gawain's host and the Green Knight in disguise, orchestrating a complex test of Gawain's knightly virtues through a hunting and exchange game.

### [King Arthur](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters/king_arthur)

_social_

Bertilak is a lord of Arthur's realm who interacts with the king primarily through the challenge he sends to Camelot.

### [The Green Knight](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters/the_green_knight)

_psychological_

Bertilak and the Green Knight are the same person, with the Green Knight being a magical guise Bertilak assumes to test the Round Table.

### [King Arthur](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters/king_arthur)

_social_

Bertilak is a lord of Arthur's realm who interacts with the king primarily through the challenge he sends to Camelot.

### [Sir Gawain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters/sir_gawain)

_rivalry_

Bertilak is Gawain's host and the Green Knight in disguise, orchestrating a complex test of Gawain's knightly virtues through a hunting and exchange game.

### [Lady Bertilak](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters/lady_bertilak)

_family_

Bertilak and Lady Bertilak are husband and wife, working together in the plot to test Sir Gawain's knightly virtues.

## In the story

### [Fit II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/chapters/fit-ii)

Hosts Gawain at his castle, offers to guide him to the Green Chapel, and proposes the exchange of winnings.

### [Fit III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/chapters/fit-iii)

Hunts deer and a fox, exchanges winnings with Gawain.

### [Fit IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/chapters/fit-iv)

Revealed as the Green Knight. He praises Gawain as the most faultless knight, absolves him of sin, and gives him the green girdle as a token.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/chapters/endnotes)

Revealed as the same person as the Green Knight in the notes.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters/bertilak_de_hautdesert
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/sir_gawain_and_the_green_knight_se/characters