fraternity, purity, politeness, and pity (traits that Gawain possessed around others). In line 625, it is described as (a sign set by Solomon). Solomon, the third king of Israel, in the 10th century BC, was said to have the mark of the pentagram on his ring, which he received from the archangel Michael. The pentagram seal on this ring was said to give Solomon power over demons. Along these lines, some academics link the Gawain pentangle to magical traditions. In Germany, the symbol was called a (nightmare spirit's foot) and was placed on household objects to keep out evil. The symbol was also associated with magical charms that, if recited or written on a weapon, would call forth magical forces. However, concrete evidence tying the magical pentagram to Gawain's pentangle is scarce. Gawain's pentangle also symbolises the "phenomenon of physically endless objects signifying a temporally endless quality." Many poets use the symbol of the circle to show infinity or endlessness, but Gawain's poet insisted on using something more complex. In medieval number theory, the number five is considered a "circular number", since it "reproduces itself in its last digit when raised to its powers". Furthermore, it replicates itself geometrically; that is, every pentangle has a smaller pentagon that allows a pentangle to be embedded in it and this "process may be repeated forever with decreasing pentangles". Thus, by reproducing the number five, which in medieval number symbolism signified incorruptibility, Gawain's pentangle represents his eternal incorruptibility. The Lady's Ring Gawain's refusal of the Lady's ring has major implications for the remainder of the story. While the modern student may tend to pay more attention to the girdle as the eminent object offered by her, readers in the time of Gawain would have noticed the significance of the offer of the ring as they believed that rings, and especially the embedded gems, had talismanic properties similarly done by the Gawain-poet in Pearl. This is especially true of the Lady's ring, as scholars believe it to be a ruby or carbuncle, indicated when the Gawain-Poet describes it as a (fiery sun). This red colour can be seen as symbolising royalty, divinity, and the Passion of the Christ, something that Gawain as a knight of the Round Table would strive for, but this colour could also represent the negative qualities of temptation and covetousness. Given the importance of magic rings in Arthurian romance, this