{"product_id":"the-green-knight-long-strand","title":"The Green Knight (long strand)","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eApproximately 42” and made of moss agate, rainbow obsidian, onyx and spinel. The pattern is inspired by the symbolic importance of the numbers 3, 4, and 5 throughout the poem. You will be able to choose between four Arcana Obscura links: the first green knight face (spikier leaves), the axe, the oak leaf, or the holly leaf. This strand is made-to-order, with approximately a 4-5 week turnaround.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eIf you’ve known me for even a little while, you know how much I love this strange and wonderful 14th-century story. It’s not particularly long (and it survives in only a single manuscript that is all of 5x7in in size!), but it is far and away my “desert island” medieval text. Every time I read it, and I have read it almost every year for the past two decades, I find something new and beguiling in its lines, and one of the more recent realizations (one that I’m currently working on as a dual poetry-literary criticism project) is just how quietly but emphatically queer (and queer affirming!) the story is. I’ll say more about this in future posts this week, but for now, let’s just say that the kisses Gawain and his host share are anything but platonic, and the invitation to return to the host’s castle and be in “joy” with Bertilak and his wife are a bit part of why I read the text as I do.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eNumbers\/Numerology also have a huge role to play in this poem, and I’ve woven several of the biggest into the Green Knight strand. The poem is conventionally broken into four Fitts (or sections) based on the four elaborate capital letters in the manuscript. There is much left unresolved by the time the fourth fitt comes to a close, however (and this is where I see much of the queer utopic imaginings being sustained), and so I have cascades of four moss agate beads flanking a larger rainbow obsidian to represent those possible continuations of the story that were imaginable but not “writeable” in 14th century England.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eThe number five also hearkens to the five points of the pentacle on Gawain’s shield, which in turn—as the narrator tells us—alludes to five virtues that Gawain exudes (and expected to maintain).\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eLastly, the groupings of threes that appear throughout are a nod to the three days of hunting and kissing exchanges at Bertilak’s hall, and also to the polyamorous possibilities between Bertilak, his wife, and Gawain at the story’s close.\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eAs for the stones, I went with the same ones I used in my first Gawain strand: moss agate and rainbow obsidian, with onyx and spinel for the spacers (note that the spinel also comes in 5s!).\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Weird Sister Strands","offers":[{"title":"Green Knight","offer_id":50548771422370,"sku":null,"price":330.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Axe","offer_id":50548771455138,"sku":null,"price":320.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Oak","offer_id":50548771487906,"sku":null,"price":300.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Holly","offer_id":50548771520674,"sku":null,"price":310.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0596\/7891\/6770\/files\/IMG_6582.heic?v=1790718158","url":"https:\/\/weirdsisterstrands.com\/products\/the-green-knight-long-strand","provider":"Weird Sister Strands","version":"1.0","type":"link"}