Courtesy in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Courtesy, as it is understood today, is defined more through its affiliation with other words denoting manner, temper and the observance of etiquette than as a concrete attribute to self-presentation delineated by set boundaries. [...] Grace, politeness and fellow consideration are, no doubt, qualities attached to courtesy, but as the word itself suggests, it once referred to a whole mode of behaviour, the practice of which was upheld in medieval courts.