The David Lowry movie adaptation was my first overall exposure to this story and such a shame that my first literary exposure to it seemed aesthetically and thematically uninteresting. Not to mention that the reading experience of the Tolkien retelling is encumbered by absolutely boring writing that devotes long stretches of verse to articulating irrelevant story elements like the merriment with which Gawain was kept his first few days at the lord’s castle, while spending very little real estate on the gravity and meaning of the green knight to Gawain as he journeys to him.

Wow. Just, wow.
When I was younger, once, I tried reading the original text of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, untranslated, and soon despaired of the incomprehensible language, though to ears it was as lovely as poetry from another world. A Christmas party. King Arthur refusing to eat "until he had heard of some marvel or story, or witness some great feat" and Guinevere sitting beside. That was when I stopped. Oh, what adventure did I miss! And yet, I was not old enough for this tale yet.
For this is a fairy tale for adults, and so is the poem titled Pearl, and so is Sir Orfeo.
For a class on the Medieval Period, I got the pleasure of taking this little book off my shelves once again and delving into the mysteries lying there within.
This particular book contains J R R Tolkien's own translations of the three works mentioned above. And he does a splendid job of recreating the language in English - although it is a wonder to accompany it with a hearing of the original sounds of Middle English.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, King Arthur's nephew, Gawain, is challenged to a fateful fight and must undertake a journey in one year's time to seek out the Green Knight who disturbed the Christmas party at the beginning, just after the place I had first stopped reading.
There is much more, but that is all I shall say for this tale.

Pearl is a tragic poem about a man mourning the loss of his daughter who meets her grown up in a dream of heaven that he has. It is a skillfully written poem of 1212 lines with 12-line stanzas, mirroring the twelve gemstones of heaven and the twelve gates. Revelations is referenced and also are words that Jesus said in the gospels referenced.

Sir Orfeo reminds me of C S Lewis' book the Silver Chair a little bit, and it also is very similar to the Greek tale Eurydice with the exception that this story has a happy ending. This one is very like a fairy tale.

I would recommend reading it aloud in small pieces, to yourself or to someone who likes poetry, or listening to a recording of someone reading it aloud.

My favorite poem from this wonderful book was Sir Orfeo. What an amazing philologist J.R.R.Tolkien was!

I really enjoyed going back to this work since college. It’s a fun story told through alliterative verse. Tolkien’s into is very helpful too.

Reading an anonymous author makes me uncomfortably aware of how I'll never truly understand the past. Without an author to call upon, a name to whisper, how do we approach these poems? As sentences that never existed and then suddenly did?

I'm writing a review on the Internet of a book I read on my laptop based on material from a single surviving manuscript by an unknown author who lived 700 years ago and would not even understand the language their work has been translated into, let alone the world it exists in.

And yet, not all hope is lost. We know incredibly little about the Gawain Poet's life, and they know absolutely nothing of ours - but somehow we can still share the poetry. Across time and space, we'll always have poetry.

So yes, reading an anonymous work makes me uncomfortable, as does rating 14th-century literature. But, alliterative revival makes me happy, as does Orpheus, so this was an enjoyable read.

4.5 ★ — I think this is one of the most accesible english / arthurian poems out there. A really nice start if you want to keep reading this type of stuff. Might reread this every year and i’ll try to make a Christmas tradition or something similar, because I know i’m going to miss Gawain. Although I hope that on my next read I have more time and analyse everything a little bit better so I can understand more things than on my first read.

Tolkien’s translation wasn’t my cup of tea to be honest, If you’re planning to read this I would recommend Simon Armitage’s one (only if you’re a newbie reading this type of literature).

I will never tire of reading this aloud to myself in my silly Midyle Englelyshe voice:)

I really enjoyed this and THE TWIST?? amazing!

I only listened to Sir Gawain. I listened to the Tolkien translation which included a very interesting translator's note.

This particular poem is interesting because it relies on alliteration, which is a scheme that more or less fell out with the standardization of "Chaucer's" middle English, and that it shows young Gawain on a knightly quest and showing the pitfalls, limitations, and most gentlemanly reparations for "courtly love" which is to say, finding a warm hole belonging to a lady of appropriate social rank.

It throws interesting light on the Monty Python Holy Grail bit, and has, quite intentionally, lended itself to comparison with similar stories in the Ramayana, which I find interesting.

It's funny how often chivalry invents itself as a way to keep men in check.

Tolkien translated these ancient works long ago, and were edited by his son years later. No one’s sure who the poet is, but they resemble works of Chaucer. One is something of a “tryst” tale involving a knight of the RT, one is a tale of a lord disgraced, and one is I don’t really know what. All told in medieval verse, some very beautiful.

Hard to judge something way outside my comfort zone, and some of which I didn’t understand at all. Poetry just isn’t my thing: I prefer someone just telling me what he/she means, giving me simple language to understand the story. “Gawain” also went into massive detail about dress and ornate living, and “Pearl” was something of a theological thing. I think I liked “Orfeo” most of all: short, sweet, easy to follow.

Finally, after “Gawain” there was a fifty-page lecture on the prior text. I can’t imagine how long that would’ve taken to hear it in person, and there are a zillion places I’d rather have been than at a three-hour talk about poetry. Also, and here’s again why I’m such a knucklehead: over and over I couldn’t stop thinking of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Especially when one of the characters gets his head lopped off…and tucks it under his arm and rides off. “All right…we’ll call it a draw…”

But hey: I’m judging something that I don’t understand, thick-headed troglodyte that I am. Fans of medieval lit and grad students with oodles more patience than me will love it.

I really enjoyed Tolkien's translations of these English medieval poems/tales, especially "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and "Sir Orfeo." "Pearl" was a little harder to enjoy, though it had its moments. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" held the suspense well and made a good point. "Sir Orfeo" read very smoothly and was as you would think a medieval tale should be.

In Britain all these lays are writ,
there issued first in rhyming fit,
concerning adventures in those days
whereof the Britons made their lays;
for when they heard men anywhere
tell of adventures that there were,
they took their harps in their delight
and made a lay and named it right. - "Sir Orfeo"

So many a marvel in the mountains he met in those lands
that 'twould be tedious the tenth part to tell you thereof.
At whiles with worms he wars, and with wolves also,
at whiles with wood-trolls that wandered in the crags,
and with bulls and with bears and boars, too, at times;
and with ogres that hounded him from the heights of the fells.
Had he not been stalwart and staunch and steadfast in God,
he doubtless would have died and death had met often;
for though war wearied him much, the winter was worse,
when the cold clear water from the clouds spilling
froze ere it had fallen upon the faded earth. -"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a very fascinating and engaging piece of Medieval Literature. I am a sucker for anything Arthurian, so I knew I would like the story. The language and way in which it is written is absolutely beautiful, and Tolkien's translation made the story feel old yet understandable.

Even though I really enjoyed it, it wasn't until the end that I truly understood why it is held in such high esteem. The revelation that the Green Knight is the lord which Gawain has been staying with was fascinating and gave a new light and life to his time at the castle.

I do believe that Gawain was right to be so hard on himself. The ideals and pursuits of Arthur's knights are to be as holy as possible. Their measuring stick of a good Knight is not Arthur, Lancelot, or Gawain but Jesus himself. However, I do believe that the round table's reaction to Gawain is good. While he must strive to be as holy as possible, he must also realize that he cannot and eventually move on to other duties.