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Originally Posted by Mablung
I think The Saucepan Man hit the point.
It surely was peculiar to Sir Gawain to meet the Green Knight. But the Red Knight or the Pink Knight would have been the same thing. All the real medieval knights were actually rather gray, I think. The synthetic colors was made up much more later. And before that there was not a way to color brightly.
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If you don't mind me singling you out, I'm going to use that statement to make a point. I DO NOT believe it would have been the same thing. The Green Knight and his decapitation challenge was a technical representation of nature's two sides. There is intimidation in the vastness, the hugeness, the looming anarchy of the dark forests, then there is the natural order and peace in nature; the wisdom in the Green Knight's lethal test. In Tolkein, these two things coalesce again. Treebeard and Quickbeam are that calm, strong, wise, and orderly aspect (albeit somewhat forgetful) while the general ominousness of Fangorn, Mirkwood, or Old Man Willow make up for the evil, dark, chaotic greenery.
On the matter of color in general, there is a lot of profound use of color on heraldic devices, which is exhibited in Tolkein as well. White and black and red can be considered evil, but White is probably not, referenced to Gandalf. In fact, the rainbow of the spectrum, one of the most beautiful alignments of color there is, could be designated as evil if we use "Saruman of the Many Colors" as an example. I find that there is some darkness in green, but light green is a color that frequents the Shire and Rohan, along with browns, yellows, blues, and other colors. Maybe green is a representation of "Dead Stuff" if I may put it bluntly. Barrow-Wights (not our esteemed admin, of course), Dead Men of Dunharrow, Dead Marsh ghosts, and the home of the Wraith King, all have that green tint. Maybe the polar opposite of 'happy green' is 'recently deceased green'...which could well be why all the text on these forums is green...or is it? I've been looking so long I hardly even know anymore...Must revamp color-blindness, precious.
There is the different shade aspect. Rohan Green is grassy, Shire Green is vibrant, Morgul Green is lucid and pale, plenty of variations of a single pigment.