Just realized that the deal Shadow makes with Czernobog is an awful lot like the deal Gawain makes with the Green Knight. The Green Knight comes to Camelot and throws down a challenge: one of you chop my head off today; in a year, I get to chop your head off. Gawain rises to the challenge. Not unlike Shadow making the deal with Czernobog -- you help us today; you get to chop my head off when we're done.

I sorta figure the Green Knight was a Christian-ization of the Green Man; of nature. Sort of a John Barleycorn motife; nature comes back after the harvest, and we can too, if we live right. Interesting having a god of light and dark step into that role.

Good fun. I love books that I keep thinking of.

I never thought of this, and its really interested. My personal opinion on the poem (which is one of the my favorites) is that the green knight serves as a critique on the chivalric ideology of knighthood and Arthur's court. He shows how there are flaws in the chivalric code (ie, keeping one's word, even if it means death, and the shame for not keeping it, as personified by the green girdle). I can kind of see a parallel with Czernobog making both a critique of the code of the Gods(and this may be one point, even if its a little overreaching, that can argue that shadow was indeed a god, because he held up the deal, therefore upholding a godly code) and it's interesting how, similarly in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that Gawain is offered the girdle as a form of protection, just like the Zorya's keep telling Shadow to go away. Yet Shadow upholds the godly code, where Gawain was unable to hold up the chivalric knightly code, because Gawain takes the girdle and is shamed, whereas Shadow stays and lives (which, if I remember right, Gawain would have anyway) It makes him, in my opinion, a stronger person (or God). I never saw this before you posted it, and I'm sure I've rambled enough that most people have stopped reading, but thanks for pointing that out.

Re Czernobog and the Green Knight:

Don't know how I missed this last week, but I think that's a really geat observation. Thanks so much for pointing it out!

I wouldn't be surprised if Neil had thought of this quite explicitly when he wrote the book, but it could also have been subconscious. When you've read as many legends as Gaiman has, it's hard not to think of an appropriate legend for a given type of situation.

- Cho

the novel is filled with subconscious things, I finished this book weeks ago, and I still think about it everytime I glance at my bookshelf...the homages to other literature, etc, and so strong, yet so subtle at the same time. I knew that the idea of what Czernobog was doing with his game seemed similar, but it never dawned on me til i read this post. This book is amazing like that.