Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

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 show more 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. show less

During "Christmastide" at King Arthur's court, a "giant" green-skinned man with red eyes in emerald armor, astride a green horse, arrives to challenge any member of the court to strike him a blow with his "Danish" axe if he may return the gesture. Just as King Arthur is about to accept the challenge, Sir Gawain humbly offers himself in his liege's stead. Gawain successfully cuts off the Green Knight's head but is astonished to see him still alive. In a year's time, before the New Year, Gawain must seek out the Green Knight at the Green Chapel to accept the returning blow.

I read this one in high school, and while it is a short 115 pages, and brimming with chivalrous affectations, it is still a delightful read. The introduction to the show more Penguin edition provides an outline of events and explains the contrasts throughout, esp. the warm "life" of Arthur's court vs Gawain's journey through a cold, mysterious land towards "death."

Even though it was written in the late 14th c., you can spot several pagan influences. The Green Man - in this case a knight - appearing since the 12th c., was a symbol of rebirth and he holds a sprig of holly, further implying rebirth and that he "proceeds in peace." On the face of Gawain's shield is a pentacle - an endless knot of protection. The Green Knight's arrival at "Yuletide" is also no coincidence, as it is traditionally a time of "cleverness" or rather, when the supernatural veil between the living and the dead is thinnest.

It follows the traditional lay tropes of the hero's journey, three tests and an equal exchange. However, it flips the script on the "magical object" motif. It upends the readers expectations, especially if they're used to sly deeds of Greek mythology. It's a story that surprisingly stands the test of time and I recommend it! show less

Well, now. That was interesting.

It's kind of hard not to have healthy respect for a 700 year old poem written about a knight of King Arthur's court that survives in only one Middle English manuscript, a story about a literal green giant of a man who picks up his own head after it's been chopped off by an axe and challenges the untried virgin knight to have the same done to him in a year's time, all done as some sort of chivalric "game."

Hoo boy.

Armitage's translation was beautifully clear and easy to follow through all 2,530 lines. I learned a thing or two about a traditional form of old verse where there is no end line rhyme but instead contains plentiful inner line alliteration and that rather grows on a person. I liked it. At the end show more of each stanza there is something called a "bob and wheel." You gotta love that phrase, bob and wheel.

I read this as part of a February-long group read on LibraryThing and had a hoot with fellow readers, including one who kindly shared photos of the Folio edition illustrations, risking life and limb to merely lift that hefty tome from a top shelf.

When done, I tried to watch a film version, one from 1973. Er, I wouldn't recommend it unless you are a fan of that 70s camp and/or are a partaker of "the herb." Matter of fact, I wonder a little about the original audience of the original poem--just how much ale did they drink while listening to it?

Four stars merely because I don't have the audacity to rate such a rare historic work a 3. show less

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 show more 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. show less

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 show more 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. show less

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 - show more 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. show less

This work of translation/poetry enables us to enjoy, and understand, the literature of the middle ages -- an Arthurian romance in alliterative verse. The translator Borroff is a poet. The tale was provided by an anonymous contemporary of Chaucer -- in the 1300s.

Gawain is a knight of his age, expected to adhere to a standard of conduct with established mores of courage, loyalty, and courtesy.

Folkloric "challenges" are included in this story -- the hero agrees to meet the Green Knight in honor of a promise to accept a killing stroke. He is unable to find the Green Chapel on New Years' as instructed, but instead, comes upon a magnificent castle where he is entertained for three days. The hosts' beautiful wife visits his bedchamber and show more makes amorous overtures. He must refuse the lady's advances without insulting her--this is high comedy.

He finally accepts a green girdle from her which has the power to make its wearer invulnerable. There are hunting scenes, which bracket the bedchamber scenes, in joyous pursuit of deer, boar and fox.

The poet gives the hunt -- with its demanding physical exertions carried on with skill in fine weather with loyal companions -- the kind of "meaning" which is sheer delight. The joy is of the body, of the man who is at one with all animals. The narrator's sense of love for the physical world, juxtaposed -- he loves juxtapositions -- with the urges of sex in the bedchamber.

The subplots are resolved in the last part of the poem when Sir Gawain and the Green Knight meet once more. The narrative clearly presents an honored knight, famed for courage and courtesy, proved fallible. He is in breach of faith with his host, indulged cowardice, and in covetous desires. The final tension is stretched by whether the Green Knight will forgive Gawain for his perfidy. And whether Gawain -- angered by the revelation of his multiple and humiliating faults -- will forgive himself.

The repeated phrase "joy surpassed all measure". [29]

I love the alliteration, the joyfulness of the poetry, and the wicked wit of the plot. This is tragicomedy, not baltering swordplay and handwringing.

There is an odd "religious" motif as well - knights commending each other "to the Prince of Paradise", and crossing themselves and crying "On Christ". The lovers kiss and then "commend each other to Christ". [28] But that is of course, a joke. Christian sanctifications play no part. The poem is completely priest-free until Gawain accepts the unfair power of a magic girdle and then he immediately goes to a priest to pray he "lead a better life and lift up his mind" ! He confesses the sin and then still concealing the girdle, goes right back to making merry with the ladies. [39] This must bring howls of recognition from a medieval court. And the magic -- a woman's loin cloth "green girdle" -- is entirely pagan.

And then the generosity, the inclusion of the blessing:
"Many such, ere we were born,
Have befallen here, ere this,
May He that was crowned with thorn
Bring all men to His bliss!" show less