This is my second time reading the Tolkien translation, and I enjoyed it even more this time. For me, it's really the Sir Gawain that makes it

An Arthurian tale contemporary with Chaucer. Tolkien's translation apparently is pretty literal. And therefore, the language is a little stiff and labored. The poetry style is alliterative. Rather than strong end-word rhymes, the words on a line try to start with the same letter.

The whole game of chopping heads now & later is a little weird. But, hey, people like it, I guess.

If you will listen to this lay but a little while now,
I will tell it at once as in town I have heard
it told,
as it is fixed and fettered
in story brave and bold,
thus linked and truly lettered,
as was loved in this land of old.

This book collects J.R.R. Tolkien’s translations of three medieval English poems. I have read Sir Gawain before, in the Marie Borroff translation in an anthology of world literature, but the other two poems were new to me.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written by an anonymous poet from the West Midlands in the late fourteenth century. The poem is in stanzas of alliterative verse, each of which ends with a "bob and wheel," a very short line followed by a four-line rhyming stanza.

During a New Year’s Eve feast at King Arthur’s court, a mysterious figure appears dressed in green and with green skin, holding a bundle of holly in one hand and an enormous axe in the other. He is referred to only as the Green Knight.The Green Knight challenges the men there to a game. He says that he will allow whomever accepts the challenge to strike him with his own axe, on the condition that the challenger meet him at a place called the Green Chapel in a year and a day, on New Year’s morning, to receive a blow in return. At first, no one answers.

What! Is this Arthur’s house, said he thereupon
the rumor of which runs through realms unnumbered?
Where now is your haughtiness , and your high conquests,
your fierceness and fell mood, and your fine boasting ?
Now are the revels and the royalty of the Round Table
overwhelmed by a word by one man ere spoken,
for all blench now abashed ere a blow is offered?

Arthur steps forward to take the challenge, but Gawain volunteers to do it instead. He decapitates the Green Knight and the Green Knight grabs his head and holds it up. The head speaks to remind Gawain of the quest he must undertake when the time is up.

Gawain’s adventures on his journey are briefly described until he arrives at the castle of Sir Bertilak, which turns out to be very close to his destination.

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 bears too, at times;
and with ogres that hounded him from the heights of the fells.

Pearl is probably the work of the same poet. In this poem a father mourning the loss of his daughter falls asleep in a garden. He has a dream in which she shows him a vision of the Heavenly City.

Sir Orfeo is a retelling of the story of Orpheus. The Sir Orfeo of the title is an English king (in Winchester, the old capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex) rescuing his wife from the king of the fairies. Unlike the other two poems in the book, this poem is told in rhyming couplets. The main difference between the medieval poem and the classical myth is that Sir Orfeo’s rescue is successful.

There often by him he would see
when noon was hot on leaf or tree,
the king of Faerie with his rout
came hunting in the woods about
with blowing far and crying dim
and barking hounds that were with him;
yet never a beast they took nor slew,
and where they went he never knew.

Oh Gawain...upon rereading you, I still think that the real test you failed was choosing to laze around in bed instead of going on the hunt. Tolkien's translation is masterful. I enjoyed Pearl as well and Sir Orfeo especially with the trip to Faerie.

I only read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, not the other short stories.

It was very interesting. I wanted to give it four stars because it made me think, and Sir Gawain seems like he’s meant to be a good role model, but this translation uses unnecessarily fancy words which makes it harder to read. So I want to try reading another translation.

My main takeaway was that we should be aware of situations that might compromise our honor. Sir Gawain stuck strictly to the rules of chivalry, until this lady who he kept talking to (because he wanted to be courteous) wore him down and got him to accept a gift which she said showed that she loved him more than her husband

I am a Tolkien fan and acquired this book years ago. I picked it up recently while casting about for something short to read. I was very pleasantly surprised by it. For something originally written in the Middle Ages, "Gawain" is an engaging read--I would say much more so than Tolkien's translation of another Middle-Ages epic, "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun." I think a lot of the difference was just in the fact that "Gawain" comes from a culture that is recognizably "mine." Even if the setting is quite different, the values and logic of Arthurian England are more or less similar to those of the dominant culture today, whereas the values and logic of "Sigurd"'s Nordic culture felt fairly unfamiliar. But, I will also give credit to the translator. The translation follows the alliterative verse form of the original, in a way that is very pleasant to read. Forced alliteration can often sound artificial and grate on the ear, but Tolkien's verse form is fluid enough to avoid this fate; the alliteration is prominent enough to provide a noticeable rhythm, but it doesn't take center stage. I think this would be a very nice book to read (listen to) aloud, which I'm sure JRRT would be happy to hear.

Written in a slightly archaic verse, I found this both entertaining and charming. I have little complaint. It wasn’t fantastic, but it was good, and kept things rolling and interesting. My one complaint though, has much sway, because the concept is repeated multiple times throughout the book, and the result of the climax is based on that premise. I’m referring to the virtuosity of Gawain. Feh.
This guy is lauded all throughout the book as the most noble and pure man on earth. I have quotes throughout the text that contradict this. I’ll list off the salient ones here, quick and clear.

Gawain has no compunction chopping a man’s head off.

The victim enticed him to do this with a bloodthirsty challenge of revenge.

Gawain repeatedly acts promiscuously with his host’s wife!
Stealing kisses from her after she slips in his bedroom and chats flirtatiously all morning with him! This happens no less than three times. Never mind the fact that he comfortably chats with her and another lady in the castle like all day and night.

If that’s the paradigm of a noble and virtuous man, Gawain can wipe my ass, because I and almost everyone I know is substantially more righteous than he, a bloodthirsty and borderline adulterer!

Four stars.

only read Gawain and the green knight... I have like no thoughts on this anymore

This Gawain story is one of my favourites, and is a lot of fun to read regardless of your familiarity with either the legends or the sort of academic study that really brought it to life for me. Gawain's journey is unorthodox, the lessons learned complex, and all in all it's a worthy, intelligent story with lots to say and a damned good way of saying it.

Sir Orfeo, my brain finds it more difficult to place. While the story itself - of a king gone to rescue his queen from a conniving fairy - is clearly based in the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, the poem is very much of its time, and it's message can feel a little ham-fisted. However, the ballad form and the light, enjoyable language keep it all engaging enough to make a decent casual read.

The less I say about Pearl, the better. There might be children reading.

Really really loved Sir Gawain and the Green Knight! Didn’t realize I live for Arthurian tales and how I want to go to there. Imagery is unbelievable and I feel the urge to buy some chainmail or somthin.

This audiobook surprised me with its content. I selected it as it was written by JRR Tolkien, one of the many writers whose work I’m intrigued by.

It was good to revisit Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, this time I had more ‘oh, I get it moments’ as I listened to it, and I could easily listen to again just for leisure.

The other poems were also JRR Tolkien’s translations of works from the Middle Ages. I did not connect to these as easily but was interested as I have heard of them.

I really likes how the book was accompanied with intro, notes and appendixes that now I've added it to my Kindle wish list.

Didn't like Pearl that much, but Orfeo was very funny and I liked the story of Gawain.