Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

By Jessie Weston

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A green horse great and tall;
A steed full stiff to guide,
In broidered bridle all
He worthily bestrides

Dating from around 1400 and composed by an anonymous writer, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was first translated and published almost 200 years ago. Its epic nature has not been dimmed by time: the classic story of a knight on a green steed challenging Sir Gawain to a monumental wager, it is a strange tale full of decapitations, seduction and magic.

Soon to be brought to the big screen, Sir Gawain is one of the earliest great stories of English literature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Jun 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9780008485542

Book preview

SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT

Translated by Jessie Weston

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Copyright

William Collins

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This eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2021

Life & Times section © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

Fran Fabriczki asserts her moral rights as author of the Life & Times section Classic Literature: Words and Phrases adapted from Collins English Dictionary

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780008485535

Ebook Edition © June 2021 ISBN: 9780008485542

Version: 2021-04-23

History of William Collins

In 1819, millworker William Collins from Glasgow, Scotland, set up a company for printing and publishing pamphlets, sermons, hymn books, and prayer books. That company was Collins and was to mark the birth of HarperCollins Publishers as we know it today. The long tradition of Collins dictionary publishing can be traced back to the first dictionary William co-published in 1825, Greek and English Lexicon. Indeed, from 1840 onwards, he began to produce illustrated dictionaries and even obtained a licence to print and publish the Bible.

Soon after, William published the first Collins novel; however, it was the time of the Long Depression, where harvests were poor, prices were high, potato crops had failed, and violence was erupting in Europe. As a result, many factories across the country were forced to close down and William chose to retire in 1846, partly due to the hardships he was facing.

Aged 30, William’s son, William II, took over the business. A keen humanitarian with a warm heart and a generous spirit, William II was truly Victorian in his outlook. He introduced new, up-to-date steam presses and published affordable editions of Shakespeare’s works and The Pilgrim’s Progress, making them available to the masses for the first time.

A new demand for educational books meant that success came with the publication of travel books, scientific books, encyclopedias, and dictionaries. This demand to be educated led to the later publication of atlases, and Collins also held the monopoly on scripture writing at the time.

In the 1860s Collins began to expand and diversify and the idea of books for the millions was developed, although the phrase wasn’t coined until 1907. Affordable editions of classical literature were published, and in 1903 Collins introduced 10 titles in their Collins Handy Illustrated Pocket Novels. These proved so popular that a few years later this had increased to an output of 50 volumes, selling nearly half a million in their year of publication. In the same year, The Everyman’s Library was also instituted, with the idea of publishing an affordable library of the most important classical works, biographies, religious and philosophical treatments, plays, poems, travel, and adventure. This series eclipsed all competition at the time, and the introduction of paperback books in the 1950s helped to open that market and marked a high point in the industry.

HarperCollins is and has always been a champion of the classics, and the current Collins Classics series follows in this tradition—publishing classical literature that is affordable and available to all. Beautifully packaged, highly collectible, and intended to be reread and enjoyed at every opportunity.

Life and Times

Not many readers would immediately recognize the English language in the original text of the poem ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ – and yet, the work is a contemporary of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and both are seminal works of Middle English literature. After being lost for centuries, almost being burnt in a fire and languishing in the British Library, ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ has finally taken its place amongst the great texts of medieval English poetry.

The poet

While it’s difficult to state many biographical facts about the poet behind ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ with confidence, academics have made attempts to reconstruct some of their background. An important clue in understanding who the ‘Gawain-poet’ was lies in the manuscript itself, which also contained three other poems – ‘Pearl’, ‘Patience’, and ‘Purity’. Although we can’t know for sure that all of these works were written by the same author, textual analysis indicates that they were. From these texts – both the dialect used, and the topographical references – academics have deduced that the poet must have been from the Cheshire area. It can also be inferred from the Christian subject-matter of three of the poems that the poet was religious, although ‘Gawain’, an Arthurian romance, is somewhat of an outlier in that respect. However, the overtly Christian subject-matter of the other poems in the manuscript has led some academics to interpret ‘Gawain’ through the lens of Christianity as well, commenting on the frequent Biblical references, and the complexities of Gawain’s moral dilemma that goes beyond a simple adherence to the ‘chivalric code’ of the time.

Style

The poem was originally written in alliterative verse, which was the form commonly used in Old English poetry, but was also popular among the fourteenth and fifteenth century Middle English poets. Unlike the metrical forms we are accustomed to in English poetry today, which rely on syllabic count and rhyme schemes, alliterative verse usually contained a pair of stressed syllables and a caesura. It is likely that the poem was enjoyed aurally, and the musicality of the original comes to life most when recited.

The first modern translation of the text by Jessie Weston in 1898 interprets the Middle English poem into modern prose for a retelling that preserves both the spirit of the original and makes it accessible to modern readers.

The chivalric code

The beliefs that guide Gawain’s actions and propels the narrative is the so-called ‘chivalric code’. This wasn’t a fixed, static code, but rather something that developed over time, initially as a way to regulate the behaviour of knights at a time of constant war, especially during the Crusades in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Initially the qualities espoused were to do with discipline in battle – a knight must be brave on the battlefield and loyal to his lord. But later, this set of values was expanded through to the romances written at the time – knights represented as devoutly Christian, courteous and caring for the well-being of others. There was likely a large discrepancy between the actual behaviour of crusading armies and their fictional counterparts, but in the Arthurian legends, at least, knights were often measured against their ability to keep to this chivalric code.

In the poem, Gawain is presented as a paragon of chivalry from the beginning – he intervenes on Arthur’s behalf, taking on the challenge of the Green Knight in place of his lord. Later on, when he is a guest at Bertilak’s castle, at the centre of his dilemma is the fact that as part of the chivalric code he must honour his host, and show loyalty to his lord, but he must also be courteous to the lady. Gawain manages to maintain the balance until –swayed by the prospect of his own death – he both accepts a gift from the lady, lies to his lord, and flinches at the axe, thus revealing a lack of bravery. And yet, neither the lord nor his fellow knights of the Round Table begrudge him these faults, and readers are left to wonder to what extent the chivalric code can truly govern a knight’s actions. Knowing when to deviate from it ends up saving Gawain’s life.

Arthurian romance tradition

The legend of a warrior and king named Arthur was pieced together throughout the middle ages: in the twelfth century, Geoffrey of Monmouth, in his History of the Kings of Britain, solidified the legend, while elements of it were taken up by French writers such as Chrétien de Troyes and Marie de France, who further developed the legend of Arthur, including prominent elements such as the Round Table.

These were popular texts at the time when this poet likely composed ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ and the text shows a familiarity with these works, as well as an understanding that the readers would be familiar with its allusions and contexts. It contains many of the elements of a traditional Arthurian romance: a threat from outside the Round Table, a young knight ready to prove himself and a quest worthy of his abilities. As Gawain travels to Bertilak’s castle, he encounters many of the traditional tests of merit that chivalric heroes must undergo – harsh weather conditions, mythical beasts to slay – and yet the poet moves swiftly past these, as though Gawain’s quest were more than a simple hero’s journey, and at Bertilak’s castle, his tests become more internalised, and value-based.

The poem opens and ends with a reference to Troy, effectively tying this Arthurian legend to the Ancient Greek epic tradition, through the legend of Brutus’s founding of Britain. The complex moral dilemma at the heart of the story, along with frequent references to Christianity and its framing through the lens of antiquity, gives a sense of striving towards something beyond a simple variation on the Arthurian legend.

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

History of William Collins

Life and Times

SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT, IN PROSE

BOOK I

BOOK II

BOOK III

BOOK IV

SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT, IN POETRY

BOOK I

BOOK II

BOOK III

BOOK IV

Classic Literature: Words and Phrases

About the Publisher

BOOK I

OF THE MAKING OF BRITAIN

After the siege and the assault of Troy, when that burg was destroyed and burnt to ashes, and the traitor tried for his treason, the noble Æneas and his kin sailed forth to become princes and patrons of well-nigh all the Western Isles. Thus Romulus built Rome (and gave to the city his own name, which it bears even to this day); and Ticius turned him to Tuscany; and Langobard raised him up dwellings in Lombardy; and Felix Brutus sailed far over the French flood, and founded the kingdom of Britain, wherein have been war and waste and wonder, and bliss and bale, ofttimes since.

And in that kingdom of Britain have been wrought more gallant deeds than in any other; but of all British kings Arthur was the most valiant, as I have heard tell; therefore will I set forth a wondrous adventure that fell out in his time. And if ye will listen to me, but for a little while, I will tell it even as it stands in my story stiff and strong, fixed in the letter, as it hath long been known in the land.

HOW ARTHUR HELD HIGH FEAST AT CAMELOT

King Arthur lay at Camelot upon a Christmas-tide, with many a gallant lord and lovely lady, and all the noble brotherhood of the Round Table. There they held rich revels with gay talk and jest; one while they would ride forth to joust and tourney, and again back to the court to make carols; for there was the feast holden fifteen days with all the mirth that men could devise, song and glee, glorious to hear, in the daytime, and dancing at night. Halls and chambers were crowded with noble guests, the bravest of knights and the loveliest of ladies, and Arthur himself was the comeliest king that ever held a court. For all this fair folk were in their youth, the fairest and most fortunate under heaven, and the king himself of such fame that it were hard now to name so valiant a hero.

NEW YEAR’S DAY

Now the New Year had but newly come in, and on that day a double portion was served on the high table to all the noble guests, and thither came the king with all his knights, when the service in the chapel had been sung to an end. And they greeted each other for the New Year, and gave rich gifts, the one to the other (and they that received them were not wroth, that may ye well believe!), and the maidens laughed and made mirth till it was time to get them to meat. Then they washed and sat them down to the feast in fitting rank and order, and Guinevere the queen, gaily clad, sat on the high daïs. Silken was her seat, with a fair canopy over her head, of rich tapestries of Tars, embroidered, and studded with costly gems; fair she was to look upon, with her shining grey eyes, a fairer woman might no man boast himself of having seen.

But Arthur would not eat till all were served, so full of joy and gladness was he, even as a child; he liked not either to lie long, or to sit long at meat, so worked upon him his young blood and his wild brain. And another custom he had also, that came of his nobility, that he would never eat upon an high day till he had been advised of some knightly deed, or some strange and marvelous tale, of his ancestors, or of arms, or of other ventures. Or till some stranger knight should seek of him leave to joust with one of the Round Table, that they might set their lives in jeopardy, one against another, as fortune might favour them. Such was the king’s custom when he sat in hall at each high feast with his noble knights, therefore on that New year tide, he abode, fair of face, on the throne, and made much mirth withal.

OF THE NOBLE KNIGHTS THERE PRESENT

Thus the king sat before the high tables, and spake of many things; and there good Sir Gawain was seated by Guinevere the queen, and on her other side sat Agravain, à la dure main; both were the king’s sister’s sons and full gallant knights. And at the end of the table was Bishop Bawdewyn, and Ywain, King Urien’s son, sat at the other side alone. These were worthily served on the daïs, and at the lower tables sat many valiant knights. Then they bare the first course with the blast of trumpets and waving of banners, with the sound of drums and pipes, of song and lute, that many a heart was uplifted at the melody. Many were the dainties, and rare the meats, so great was the plenty they might scarce find room on the board to set on the dishes. Each helped himself as he liked best, and to each two were twelve dishes, with great plenty of beer and wine.

THE COMING OF THE GREEN KNIGHT

Now I will say no more of the service, but that ye may know there was no lack, for there drew near a venture that the folk might well have left their labor to gaze upon. As the sound of the music ceased, and the first course had been fitly served, there came in at the hall door one terrible to behold, of stature greater than any on earth; from neck to loin so strong and thickly made, and with limbs so long and so great that he seemed even as a giant. And yet he was but a man, only the mightiest that might mount a steed; broad of chest and shoulders and slender of waist, and all his features of like fashion; but men marveled much at his color, for he rode even as a knight, yet was green all over.

THE FASHION OF THE KNIGHT

For he was clad all in green, with a straight coat, and a mantle above; all decked and lined with fur was the cloth and the hood that was thrown back from his locks and lay on his shoulders. Hose had he of the same green, and spurs of bright gold with silken fastenings richly worked; and all his vesture was verily green. Around his waist and his saddle were bands with fair stones set upon silken work, ’twere too long to tell of all the trifles that were embroidered thereon – birds and insects in gay gauds of green and gold.

OF THE KNIGHT’S STEED

All the trappings of his steed were of metal of like enamel, even the stirrups that he stood in stained of the same, and stirrups and saddle-bow alike gleamed and shone with green stones. Even the steed on which he rode was of the same hue, a green horse, great and strong, and hard to hold, with broidered bridle, meet for the rider.

The knight was thus gaily dressed in green, his hair falling around his shoulders, on his breast hung a beard, as thick and green as a bush, and the beard and the hair of his head were clipped all round above his elbows. The lower part of his sleeves was fastened with clasps in the same wise as a king’s mantle. The horse’s mane was crisp and plaited with many a knot folded in with gold thread about the fair green, here a twist of the hair, here another of gold. The tail was twined in like manner, and both were bound about with a band of bright green set with many a precious stone; then they were tied aloft in a cunning knot, whereon rang many bells of burnished gold. Such a steed might no other ride, nor had such ever been looked upon in that hall ere that time;

Reviews for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

[bookslesstravelled · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great, and intriguing Arthurian classic

[pgchuis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I hadn't even heard of this before, although I gather there is a recent film of it. It was fun, although the descriptions of hunting and the subsequent butchering of the carcasses was a low point for me.

[caseybp · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great to have the translation and the original. Loved the story. The writing had a pace that made it feel like it was happening now.

[willszal-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Many of you have likely seen the new David Lowery film, "The Green Knight." I've watched it twice, and find it to be a particularly mythic film.Of course, it got me down the rabbit hole of the original myth.In many ways, the original is far simpler than the film. There is no Saint Winifred. There aren't multiple lives. And there are some spoilers that are different than in the film.

[wyclif-371215 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I think this is at least my third reading. It's the same classic edition I read as an undergrad. I'm glad this is one of the books that survived those times and remains in my library.

[darthdeverell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bernard O’Donoghue’s translation of The Green Knight adapts the fourteenth century chivalric poem from the unknown Middle English Gawain poet in a contemporary verse. The story focuses on Sir Gawain, a member of King Arthur’s court, who enters into a beheading game on New Year’s Day with a mysterious knight. After besting the Green Knight, Sir Gawain must travel to the Green Chapel to fulfill his end of the bargain, encountering many strange adventures along the way that test his knightly status. Finally, he reaches the Green Chapel and discovers that the events were orchestrated by Morgan le Fay. This edition features a foreword from David Lowery, who directed the 2021 film adaptation starring Dev Patel as Sir Gawain and Ralph Ineson as the Green Knight. Lowery discusses how the poem seized him as a young student and his later efforts to adapt the themes he encountered in reading it. A great alternative edition for those mostly familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien’s translation.

[pomo58 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I admit to not being sure how to review this work. It is a classic and while it is a joy to read simply as a story it really is better understood as a part of Arthurian lore and medieval literature. What I did do was to look at both this translation, from 1909 by Jessie L Weston, and the version I am most familiar with, Tolkien's modern English translation. Aside from the usual differences between reading something in prose versus verse, I was surprised at how well Weston's translation has held up. It reads very well without, as far as I can tell, losing much in the way of nuance. I approached this from the same general position I approached deciding, many years ago, between using the Sayers or the Ciardi translations of the Divine Comedy in a course, and I think I came away with a similar opinion. I prefer the verse translations for study though I would recommend the prose translations for casual reading or for simply refamiliarizing yourself with the story. In other words, if you missed this classic back in school and want to read it now, I would recommend this edition quite readily.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[charlie68_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A do in one day read. Also a slightly odd tale, who knows what they thought in those days. Probably r rated if made into a movie. Also an accurate portrayal of life in Olde England.

[sweetkokoro-61371 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not going to lie my rating is probably very biased as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has always been my favorite of the Arthurian Tales, but I really did like this particular translation.I feel this translation really sticks to the idea that Sir Gawain is an honest knight. I also wasn’t as annoyed by the Lady of the court who “pursued” Gawain, some variations really lay that on heavy and this version didn’t do that.Even up to the end Gawain is not happy with his actions and I have always admired that about him, and I think that’s why I love his tale so much.I will say with this particular version, I love that the original Middle English was included side by side to the modern translated version of English today. It makes more of an eye opening experience into how each line was written. Some lines are easy to read and one who isn’t trained in Middle English could for the most part understand it, while other lines look so unreal and some training is clearly needed, haha. I truly enjoyed that little bit.

[bookishtexpat · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I would never have picked this up if it were not for a project, but I am glad I did. This medieval poem epic is truly that - epic. I was engaged in the story and there was even a twist that had be gasp audibly. This is the only translation I've read, but I really loved how Simon Armitage infused a little bit of modernity into the work. All in all, a fun read!

[bobbybslax · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While uninteresting for long portions, the writing is vivid.

[dominiquemarie-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Back to the Classics Reading Challenge 2017
Category: Published Before 1800

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a medieval alliterative romance poem that is surprisingly deep for it's time. I really enjoyed it. The most striking thing about it to me was Gawain's character. He is a dynamic character which is not typical during that era of Literature. The imagery is fantastic. I chose the translation by Simon Armitage in audio book format. I really wanted to hear the poem spoken aloud, so this version was a great choice for me, and the introduction was very helpful.

[thorold_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The poemThe only known manuscript of the poem known as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight comes, oddly enough, from Sir Robert Cotton's collection, the same source as the Beowulf MS. But the Gawain MS was filed there under the bust of the emperor Nero, rather than Vitellius...We know next to nothing about the poet - there are three other poems in the same MS that look to be stylistically linked and are assumed to be by the same poet ("The Pearl", "Purity", and "Patience"), and a separate poem, "St Erkenwald", that has also been suggested to be by the Gawain poet, although Davis doesn't find the evidence for this convincing. In form, it's a classic Arthurian romance, taking up two themes that appear in several other texts of the period - the beheading contest, and the (attempted) seduction of the knight by his host's wife. What's unusual about it, though, is that the two themes are rather tightly linked, and that the story sticks closely to what all this is doing to Gawain's state of mind, and doesn't ramble off into other embedded narratives as medieval texts tend to do. Very little happens in the poem that isn't obviously relevant to the main storyline in some way (apart from a few little things that look relevant, but the poet appears to have forgotten to come back to). So it feels like a very modern story, in many ways. Gawain is a man who has an appointment with almost certain death coming up in a few days (as a result of a foolish bet that he can't honourably back out of), and he finds himself the guest of a generous and affable stranger who breezily goes off hunting saying "look after my wife whilst I'm out". Gawain is perhaps a little more surprised than we are when the wife turns up in the guest-room in her nightie as soon as the coast is clear, and the handsome young knight has a hard time defending his virtue... The language of the poem - as well as the places referred to in it - places it in the north-west of England, probably somewhere around Cheshire or North Staffordshire. The poet obviously knows his French romances, but the language feels solid and earthy, even when you compare it to Chaucer. There were a surprising number of words that I recognised as (cousins to-) dialect words still in use in the north-west when I was growing up - bonke (bank) for a hill, for example. And it was a surprise to discover that "bird", the coarse word for a girl we were brought up not to use, has its entirely respectable roots in Middle English burde, which originally meant "someone who does embroidery", i.e. a young lady. And much else of the same kind.Because the language is quite close to Old English and doesn't have much French or Latin in it to guide us, there are a few places where it's hard to make sense of it on a first read-through, but there are plenty of other parts where you get a good idea of what's going on even if you don't recognise absolutely all the words. And the Davis edition comes with a comprehensive word-list and good, clear notes, so it didn't take me long to get to grips with even the most obscure parts. Simon Armitage's translationFor those who are primarily interested in the story, and want something that reads naturally, the Armitage translation is a good bet. It's written with a clear sense of the "northernness" of the poem (even though he's from the "wrong" side of the Pennines...), and Armitage is even happier to include modern dialect expressions than Heaney was in his Beowulf, even when it means leaving the literal sense of the original behind (e.g. in l.2002, where he is so gleeful about rediscovering "nithering" that he drops the slightly puzzling but memorable image "to harass the naked" in the original. But his is a great line, and definitely in the spirit of the original (I'm not going to quibble about nithering being a Yorkshire word, so technically out of place here...). But occasionally he seems to get the tone slightly wrong, making it just a bit too modern-informal, e.g. "He leaps from where he lies at a heck of a lick" (l.1309) which was "..he ryches hym to rise and rapes hym sone" (he decides to get up and hastens himself at once). Sometimes the drive to alliterate seems to be a bit too much.But on the whole it's a very lively, consistent translation, giving the progress of the story priority over the shape of the words and drawing the reader on with the energy that a text like this needs. Now I've read the original I wonder whether this is a text that really needs translating, but if you want a translation to read in isolation, this is the one to go for. It's not much use as a literal crib for the Middle English, though.

[laytonwoman3rd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've always liked the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but I never enjoyed reading it before. I first encountered this tale in a survey course of British Literature early in my college career (first semester--Beowulf to Sheridan; second semester--Blake to the Present Day...I still have the texts), in which we were exhorted to remember that the knight's name was pronounced GOWan. With apologies to the late Mr. Graham (who I believe preferred the 18th century to the 14th), I'm all in favor of Armitage's approach---let the rhythm and the alliterative requirements of the text dictate which consonant or syllable gets the stress. This version is so read-out-loudable that I feel it banishes any objection that might be raised to liberties Armitage took with literalness. (I'm not much of a purist that way when it comes to translating poetry anyway. I mean...it needs to remain poetic, above all.) I later had some exposure to the medieval language of the poem in a more advanced course; I may even have been expected to claw some of it into modern English myself, an effort best lost to time. This edition places the ancient version side-by-side with the new translation. It's interesting to compare, and to try to remember the sounds of the good old Anglo-Saxon, a clankier language by far. I counted four different spellings of our valiant knight's name in that text--Gawan, Gawayne, Gawen and Gauan. Surely that isn't just sloppiness or inconsistency, but suggestive of varying pronunciation in the original? In any case, if you're inclined to visit this classic tale, I commend you to Armitage's translation. It's just plain fun.

[richardderus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the book to get your poetry-resistant friend this #Booksgiving 2017. I read it on a dare. I don't like poetry very much, it's so snooty and at the same time so pit-sniffingly self-absorbed that I'd far rather stab my hands with a fork repeatedly than be condescended to in rhyming couplets.This tale is fabulous in every sense of the word, which is no surprise since it's survived for so many centuries. But poet and translator Simon Armitage has made the old world new again. He sucked me right in and never let me come up for air with his gorgeous words and his carefully chosen words and his alliterative rhythmical phrases.If the idea of a Norton Critical Edition is keeping you far away from this delightful read, rest assured it's not stodgy or dry or just plain boring. It's vibrant, alive, shimmering with an inner power, waiting for you to open its covers and fall utterly under its spell. Become happily ensorcelled, gentle reader, relax into the sure and strong embrace of a centuries-old knight and his spectacular tale.

[dreesie-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The poet of this poem (and a few others) is unknown, and scholars have been guessing and debating for decades. In any case, this poet was a contemporary of Chaucer, but his poems are much more accessible. I can only imagine how difficult the translating is, as this poem is alliterative, with clear cadences throughout. I actually read about half of it out loud, simply because it sounds good.Gawain is a well-known character in Arthurian circles, though I am unfamiliar with him. In this poem he takes on a challenge given by the Green Knight--and fulfills it. No spoilers, but a quest of sorts is involved, as well as honesty. There are also some short essays on the manuscript, the poet, the pentangle, Arthurian themes, and there are a few pages of original text (which is almost readable but not quite).Very much worth reading!

[amishtechie-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love this Edition of the book. Some say the Simon Armitage translation has too many modern inclusions, however that is what makes it approachable to the modern reader. The flow of the metre and the language is so rich you can just feel the heavy air in the ancient halls or the spring-fresh breezes and tang of new growth. All is enhanced by this Folio Society edition which Diana Sudyka presents us a mixture of a modern minimalist style (bold outline-stroke outlines) enriched with the classic medieval styling of vibrant color accents.A Beautiful and certainly collectable classic.

[medievalgirl-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Interesting story, well executed compellingly told, excellent and sometimes beautiful use of language and good moral messages. Would give a higher rating but for the ending.

When everything is done, and Gawain completes his quest, and the moral aspects of the story are dealt with (truth, honour, keeping word, resisting temptation etc), the Green Knight reveals the identity of the Old Woman in his castle as none other than Morgana le Fey, Arthur's mortal enemy and practitioner of Black Magic- who put him up to challenging Arthur's knights.

Said Green Knight seems to have no problem Morgana living in his manor, and doing what she says, and asks dear Gawain to come in and say hello to her because she is his Aunt-- so apparently he has no problem with her association with 'the black arts' and thinks it is perfectly acceptable for a 'good Christian' to be involved with such.

The other issue was with the translation whilst generally good, the use of some overtly modern terms and phrases could be questionable.

[mbmackay · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Arthurian legendary fight with supernatural Knight.Read Samoa Nov 2003

[philsyphe · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I read this in 2011 for one of my university modules.I found it interesting to read something as old as this but didn't find it especially entertaining. I only read this because I had to!

[trilliams · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wouldn't trust anyone wearing all green in the first place.

[meandmybooks-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I would have loved this if for no other reason than that Armitage, in the Introduction, offers support for pronouncing Gawain's name with the stress on the second syllable (pg 15), which is the pronunciation I grew up with but which seems uncommon. If there is scholarly difference of opinion, then I'm not wrong when I slip up and call him Gawain. Anyway, Armitage's translation has much more going for it than an introduction which favors my pronunciation! It zips along, with modern diction and a translation which is more poetic than literal. A few times I felt like his word choices were a bit too silly but, looking at the original text on the facing page, it always appeared (to my very inexpert eye) that his choices were well supported (the Gawain poet was not above silliness!). It's been a long time since I last read Sir Gawain, and I'd forgotten what a great poem it is – beautiful, funny, and moving. I plan to read Marie Borroff's translation next to compare, but Armitage's looser translation is really marvelous!

[heidip_38 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Isn't this just the creepiest cover? Anyway, I've read this for the thriller category for the Back to the Classics Challenge. King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table enjoy a Christmas celebration. But, along comes a huge green knight who goads them into accepting a challenge. In order to protect King Arthur, Sir Gawain agrees to the challenge. He must make one blow with his sword against the Green Knight today, then in one year Sir Gawain must come and find the Green Knight and receive one blow from him. Well, Sir Gawain chops his head off in one blow, but the Green Knight picks up his head and laughingly gallops off. You'll have to read it to see what happens.

[dylkit · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very readable version of the poem. Armitage retains the verve of the original story as well as the beat,alliteration and bob-and wheel sections (two syllable lines followed by a quatrain) of the original poetry.

'And they danced and they sang til the sun went down
that day
But mind your mood, Gawain,
keep blacker thoughts at bay,
or lose this lethal game
you've promised you will play.'

The poem was fastened to the page in the late 14thc, in the "alliteration revival" style : it was a style of verse that keeps to an Anglo-Saxon literary style and was almost certainly orally transmitted before. The use of repetition and alliteration are characteristic of the oral tradition: think about how fabulous the rhythm of lines like these sound spoken aloud

'Then they riled the creature with their rowdy ruckus
and suddenly he breaks the barrier of beaters -
the biggest of wild boars has bolted from his cover'

I love that Simon Armitage has let the poem breathe and remain a living thing rather than a dry academic exercise. The loss of a star is due to the fact that occasionally there is a choice of a word that jars, that sounds a bit too modern, chosen for the sake of the alliteration but can feel a bit shoe- horned in. I also prefer a side by side translation, but that is being a bit nit picky as the original is readily available .

[andreablythe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

During holiday festivities in King Arthur's court, a mysterious green knight appears with a challenge: any knight of Arthur's court may strike the green knight a blow, and the green knight will return the strike in a year's time. The only knight brave enough to face the challenge is young Gawain, who indeed strikes the green knight, chopping off his head. Unperturbed, the green knight picks up his head and tells Gawain to find him in a year's time in order to receive the return blow. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by an unknown fourteenth-century poet, is my favorite of the classic Arthurian tales (so far). The story is vivid and full of gorgeous contrasts, love and death and trust and renewal. The story unfolds with good pacing and entertaining adventures with true courtly manners, all without being redundant or dull (as some unnamed fourteenth-century Arthurian romances can be).Armitage's translation from the Middle English focuses on the alliterative and poetic structure of the original, rather than being a literal translation. The Middle English version appears on the left hand page with the Modern version on the right, so the reader can compare and see the differences. For the most part his version is surprisingly readable with beautiful phrases and imagery, though in some cases it strays into being a bit too modern (at one point Arthur is described as "keeping his cool"), which can be jarring. My second reading was just as enjoyable as the first, and I would love to add it to my library.However, since Arimitage's is only the only translation I've read, I'm very curious about trying a more literal translation. Apparently, even J.R.R. Tolkien did a translation, and I'd love to read that. For audio book lovers, I highly recommend the audio version of Armitage's translation, which is read by Bill Wallis. He does an amazing job highlighting the alliterative aspects of the text, while making it easy to follow. Once the Modern English translation is finished, Wallis then does an amazing reading of the original Middle English version of the book. It's amazing to hear and I found myself understanding more than I thought I would. Fantastic.

[gbsallery · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Something of a slog. Whilst the archaic English form is in many ways delightful, it contains at least two letters which just don't come up in modern usage, which is at the very least a challenge. However, persistence is rewarded, as the story of the Green Knight is pleasantly odd and offers a real window into the early medieval mind-set. The descriptions of hunting are particularly vividly brought to life, which makes a sharp contrast to the motivations and drives of Sir Gawain - who remains utterly an enigma (if incorruptible).

[alcracka · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The meter on this thing is pretty impressive: a strict alliterative pattern of two stresses, a pause, and two more stresses, with a five-line rhyming stanza (a short line followed by four with an ABAB scheme) at the end of each passage. It should be terribly constrictive, but the Gawain poet flows through it like it's nothing.

Not that I can read the original, of course, so I have to take Armitage's word for it that it's as good as his translation, which I did like. This edition has the original on the left side and the translation on the right, though, which allows you to see how close he's hewing and also lets you play the "How well could I understand this?" game. (Answer: not at all. Those people talked funny.)

The intro here has an interesting point: Anglo languages, Armitage says, stress the beginnings of words, whereas Romantic ones stress the ends. For this reason, Anglo epic poetry tends to focus on alliteration, while Romantic ones focus on rhyme. Get it? It had never occurred to me before. That's kindof cool.

This isn't a long book; I blazed through it in a single night over a couple glasses of wine while Kirsten was out getting blasted at some company event.

[dulac3_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the best of the 'classic' Arthurian tales. Gawain is presented a bit differently here from many of the other ones. Usually he's a bit of a braggart and kind of a jerk, especially to women, but here he is presented as the perfect exemplar of courtoisie. He's also a bit young and still untried, so maybe that explains it for those who want to be able to have a grand unified theory of Arthuriana.

Anyway, you probably all know the story: Arthur is about to have a New Year's feast, but according to tradition is waiting for some marvel to occur. Right on cue in trots the Green Knight on his horse, a giant of a man who proceeds to trash the reputation of the entire court and dare someone to cut off his head as long as he gets to return the favour. No one makes a move and Arthur decides he better do something about this until Gawain steps up and asks to take on this quest himself. Everyone agrees and Gawain proceeds to smite the green head from the Knight's body. Everyone is fairly pleased with the result until the Green Knight gets up, picks up his smiling head, and says: "See you next year, G. Don't forget that it's my turn then." (I paraphrase, the middle english of the poet is far superior.) Needless to say everyone is a bit nonplussed by this.

The year passes and Gawain doesn't seem to do much of anything until he finally decides it's time to get out and find this green fellow and fulfill his obligation...hopefully something will come up along the way to improve his prospects. What follows is a journey to the borders of the Otherworld as well as a detailed primer on just how one ought to act in order to follow the dictates of courtliness. Gawain ends up being the guest of Sir Bertilak, a generous knight who says that the Green Chapel, the destination of Gawain's quest, is close by and Gawain should stay with them for the duration of the holidays. We are treated to some coy (and mostly chaste) loveplay on the part of Bertilak's wife from which Gawain mostly manages to extricate himself without contravening the dictates of politeness, as well as the details of a medieval deer, boar and fox hunt with nary a point missing.

In the end Gawain goes to the chapel and finds that his erstwhile host Bertilak was in fact the Green Knight. Gawain submits himself and is left, after three swings, with only a scratch as a reward for his courteous behaviour in Bertilak's castle. Despite the apparent success of Gawain, he views the adventure as a failure since he did not come off completely unscathed and he wears a girdle he was gifted by Bertilak's wife as a mark of shame to remind himself of this. Harsh much?

The language of the Gawain poet's middle english is beautiful and I highly recommend reading it in the original with a good translation at hand to catch the nuances of meaning. The poem is replete with an almost dreamlike quality that is made real by all of the exquisite details of medieval life that are interspersed throughout the text. This is a great book to read at Christmas time.

[helenliz_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

 I adore this. I have to admit to cheating slightly, in that it was in translation and not in the original middle English, but I think that's allowed.



Poetry of this vintage is very different to that we're used to - there's nothing even resembling the usual iambic pentameter, and the end of the lines don't even begin to rhyme. Instead the rhythm comes from the alliteration of the stressed sylables within a line. It seems to lend itself to being read aloud - maybe an indication of the transition from an aural to a written tradition.



The poem itself is a tale of king Arthur's court, with a challenge being issued by a stranger at the Christmas court, and the bulk of story being played out at the following year's end. It has everything - chivalrous knights, the splendour of court, lovely ladies, but it also has dark overtones - there's sex, blood and gore of the hunt (both beast and man). There's also the threat of nature to the ordered life of the court and to an individual against it. It's not very long, no more than 115 pages, but it has so much packed into it that it goes by in a flash.

[bryndahlquis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's not at all what I was expecting. I'm not sure what I -was- expecting, but Sir Gawain and the Green Knight wasn't quite as epic and noble as I was thinking. Perhaps I was envisioning too modern a version of an arthurian knight.I got really into the beginning, even reading it aloud at times because the translation is just so pretty, but then the middle lost me. When Gawain started just sitting around the castle dodging the seductive lady (who is freaky), I grew very disappointed in him.But the ending makes up for it. I was -not- expecting a twist from a classic epic poem!