How do humans respond to the marvelous in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?

Among the most marvelous events described in the famous
medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are the sudden
appearance (as well as the physical appearance) of the Green Knight and also his strange
behavior after his head is chopped off. Reactions of the people present include the
following:

• When the Green Knight first appears,
  he is greeted with “stares” from Arthur’s courtiers (line 232 in the Marie Boroff
  translation).


• They also “marvel” at his appearance and at
  what his appearance (in both senses) may signify
  (233).


• They are full of anticipation, curiosity, and
  wonder (237-38).


• They at first assume that Gawain may be
  a “phantom” or a “faerie” (240).


• Therefore even the
  boldest of them are nervous about answering the Green Knight’s questions
  (241).


• They are also “stunned”; they sit in “swooning
  silence”; they seem almost to be asleep because they are so quiet; and they are in
  “dread” (242-47).


• Arthur initially greets the Green
  Knight with conventional courtesy but soon assumes that the Knight has come to fight (a
  response typical of Arthur’s immaturity; [250-78]).


• When
  Gawain swiftly removes the Green Knight’s head, and when the Knight thereupon retrieves
  the head and begins talking with it, the response of the king and court is not at first
  described, but surely they must be astonished. (The poet, by the way, hints at the
  ultimate meaning of the story by subtly mentioning the traditional Christmas colors of
  green and red [429]).


• After the Green Knight departs,
  Arthur and his courtiers try to make light of what they have just seen, but clearly they
  consider it also “a wonder past compare” (464-66).


• Arthur
  himself is said to be full of “wonder” (467), but he tries to keep his composure (468).
  He considers the event a “marvel” (475).


• Part one of the
  poem ends, however, on a very ominous note.  Clearly Arthur and the courtiers are very
  concerned about what may now happen to their friend.  The poet closes the first part of
  the poem with the following bleak advice:

readability="11">

Now take care, Sir
Gawain,

That your courage wax not
cold

When you must turn
again

To your enterprise foretold.
(488-91)

Ultimately, then,
the reaction of the courtiers to the marvels they have just witnessed is one of fear,
apprehension, and foreboding.

And who can blame them?  They
are all about to learn a very valuable lesson.