Editing Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (section)

===Games===
The word {{lang|enm|gomen}} (game) is found 18 times in ''Gawain''. Its similarity to the word {{lang|enm|gome}} (man), which appears 21 times, has led some scholars to see men and games as centrally linked. Games at this time were seen as tests of worthiness, as when the Green Knight challenges the court's right to its good name in a "Christmas game".<ref name = game /> The "game" of exchanging gifts was common in Germanic cultures. If a man received a gift, he was obliged to provide the giver with a better gift or risk losing his honour, almost like an exchange of blows in a fight (or in a "beheading game").<ref>{{cite journal| last1 = Harwood| first1 = Britton J| year = 1991| title = Gawain and the Gift| journal = Publications of the Modern Language Association of America| volume = 106| issue = 3| pages = 483–99| doi=10.2307/462781| jstor = 462781| s2cid = 163844716| issn = 0030-8129 }}</ref> The poem revolves around two games: an exchange of beheading and an exchange of winnings. These appear at first to be unconnected. However, a victory in the first game will lead to a victory in the second. Elements of both games appear in other stories; however, the linkage of outcomes is unique to ''Gawain''.<ref name = norton /><ref name = Tolkien>{{cite book | editor1-last=Tolkien | editor1-first=J. R. R. | editor2-last=Gordon | editor2-first=E. V. | editor3-last=Davis | editor3-first=Norman | edition=2 | title=Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | chapter=Introduction | page=xv | publisher=Clarendon Press | publication-place=Oxford | year=1967 | isbn=978-0-19-811486-4 | oclc=352281}}</ref>