Poet Laureate
Preserved on a single surviving manuscript dating from around 1400, composed by an anonymous master, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was rediscovered only 200 years ago, and published for the first time in 1839. One of the earliest great stories of English literature, after Beowulf, the poem narrates the strange tale of a green knight on a green horse, who rudely interrupts the Round Table festivities one Yuletide, casting a pall of unease over the company and challenging one of their number to a wager. The virtuous Gawain accepts, and decapitates the intruder with his own axe. Gushing blood, the knight reclaims his head, orders Gawain to seek him out a year hence, and departs. Next Yuletide Gawain dutifully sets forth... His quest for the Green Knight involves a winter journey, a seduction scene in a dream-like castle, a dire challenge answered - and a drama of enigmatic reward disguised as psychic undoing.
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 9780571223282
Number of pages: 128
Weight: 160 g
Dimensions: 200 x 130 x 10 mm
Edition: Main
Like most people I have heard of and usually avoided this epic poem suspecting that it might be very boring. I was drawn to this translation by the lovely painting on the hardback cover and by the fact it has been... More
Armitage's translation just skips along unfolding the bizarre events of Gawain's journey. It's one to be read aloud, and for sharing.
Simon Armitage's research to rewrite this poem pays off in spades. It's written in a very readable, but northern way, and is a fabulous read. I couldn't put it down. You don't need to be a poetry...
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