Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (A New Verse Translation)

Simon Armitage's translation is playful and readable, but sometimes the modern vocab felt tacked-on rather than part of a cohesive style. The poem itself is as weird and cool as ever, favorite scenes were of course the first head chop and the arrival at the chapel.

Yes I was inspired to reread it because of the movie-- which was also weird and cool, in slightly different ways. David Lowery did kind of wuss out by 1) only having Gawain and Bertilak kiss once instead of six times, and making Gawain not into it, and 2) not including all the extensive hunting and butchering scenes. But whatever.

The Tolkien version is best know, and I read it many years ago. This, with the Middle English and Armitage's translation alongside is great fun.

I have not read a version this poem since I was in college 45+ years ago. Armitage's poetical translation is a great improvement (as far as I remember) over that first version.

Chivalry is when you don't make a cuck out of your host