The reason why the Green Knight holds the two different items in stanza 10 is the following:
C. It is meant to provide symmetry between hope and death.
- In "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," the tenth stanza presents the Green Knight's arrival with two items in his hands:
". . . but in his one hand he had a holly twig, that is greenest when groves are bare, and an axe in his other, a huge and prodigious one, a weapon merciless almost beyond description. . ."
- The two items serve as symbols. The holly twig is a symbol of fertility and hope, while the axe is a symbol of death.
- The fact that the Green Knight brings both with him provides symmetry between the ideas the items represent.
- Peace and war, for example, are often connected. Sometimes we must engage in war to protect peace.
- Death is an integral part of life, but so is hope. Life goes on, even if there is death every day.
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