“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is a tale about chivalry and the meaning of loyalty. This book takes place in the 11th century. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” really made me open my eyes about chivalry and how it has died out in recent centuries. I really liked this book even though it was a hard read.

Sir Gawain, the main character, is faced with many challenges in this book. The Green Knight mocks Sir Gawain and the king. Sir Gawain stands up and agrees to fight the Green Knight instead of the king. In failing this challenge, he sentenced himself to his death. The Green Knight, our other main character, seems to be in Sir Gawain’s words the Devil, but we find out in the end of the story that he is just trying to test Sir Gawain and his acts of chivalry.

There are a couple of settings in this book but the main one is in Camelot during the 11th century. Camelot is King Arthur’s kingdom, and it is where Sir Gawain and the Green Knight first meet. The second setting takes place at the Green Knight's castle. Both of these settings are very important to the plot because Sir Gawain would never have learned his lesson in chivalry and loyalty without the events that took place there.

The thematic connection I made in this book is that we all make mistakes. The code of chivalry can easily be broken with little mistakes you make. Doing the right thing is hard to do when it is a life or death situation.

I would recommend this book to an older generation. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is a hard story to understand. In all honesty, I would have never given the story a second look if it wasn’t required for class.

This was on my to read list since 2015! And now I've finished it, I know why I stalled so long. This is a translation of the old stories, done by J. R. R. Tolkien. And, like many other people already mentioned before, his scholarly writing can be hard to follow for people without the same formal writing style or training. So I tried, really, but actually Tolkien's version needs another round of translating.. lol.. I will pick up the "normal" English translation from another writer later. I do admit it was easier to read than some of Tolkiens other translations.

I only read “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” not the other stories included in this edition. I enjoy stories about King Arthur and his knights more now than I used to, and this one was interesting, though slow-going for me. The alliterative poetry took me a while to get used to, as well. I’ve heard this isn’t the best translation, but since I love Tolkien, I thought I’d give it a shot!

Enchanting. I did not expect to be so pulled into the stories. The alliteration in Gawain is amazing, and his temptations are page-turning suspenseful. Orfeo was my favorite - a short and sweet fairy tale, beautifully rhythmic poetry.

This one is hard to review because it’s medieval epic poetry - pretty timeless and classic! I kind of disagreed with the ending, and I realized there was a whole huge chunk I didn’t understand or read correctly. So I’m giving it 4 stars but might need to revisit this one in the future.

Поезія - то не моє. Але оцінка стосується більше краси видання, перекладу. Скажу чесно - купила “Сер Ґавейн” лише тому, що дивилася нещодавно однойменний фільм, який видався мені не дуже зрозумілим, тому захотілося перечитати цю історію, яка виявилася досить повчальною та цікавою. Фільм принагідно теж раджу переглянути.

Середньовічна легенда про одного з лицарів Круглого столу - сера Ґавейна. Я лиш не зрозуміла, чому його в тексті називають іноді Вавейном. Ну, менше з тим. Оповідь про те, як древнє божество у вигляді Зеленого лицаря приходить на застілля Короля Артура в Різдво й пропонує своєрідну “гру”. Хто вступить з ним в поєдинок та завдасть удар, той отримає рівно через рік такий же удар в храмі де проживає цей Зелений Лицар - в зеленій Каплиці. Сер Ґавейн юнак, який прагне звитяги й слави, вступає у гру, рубає голову цьому Лицарю і змушений наступного року вирушити у мандрівку, щоб з честю винести такий же удар по собі.
Вся історія сповнена символізму, багато християнської моралі, але не тільки. Історія цікава. Оригінальний текст та сюжет фільму відрізняються, проте обидва цікаві по-своєму.

Як на мене, книга показує мораль, вихваляє честь та безстрашність, смирення прийняти свою долю й дотримати слова. А фільм більше показує пригоди лицаря, які переважно зображаються бравадно й героїчно, з іншого боку. Наче висвітлює іншу сторону такого лицарського життя - приреченість, смертність, невідворотність. Тобто замість романтики й пригод, депресивність і халепи.

Але я от подумала. Якщо уявити, що Зелений Лицар символізує древні сили природи, а Лицарський Стіл - цивілізацію, то може йде про цікаве протистояння людини й природи. Природи, яка насправді не хоче завдавати смертельного удару, але людина перша обирає свій хід і замість легкого удару одразу стинає голову Зеленому Лицарю. Тож людство чекає такий самий вирок, на який ми прирекли природу. Якось так. Теж цікаво виходить)

Окремо заслуговує уваги історія із володарем замку та його дружини, що неодноразово хоче спокусити лицаря Ґавейна. А потім виявиться, що… Не буду спойлерити, ця частина історії мені дуже сподобалася і якраз у фільмі її якось не так гарно зобразили, як воно читається у текстах.

First a few facts to get out of the way. This is not an original work by Tolkien, but rather his translation of three poems written in Middle English in the 13th century. The poems are all taken from the same Medieval document and are written in the same hand writing, but it is likely a copyist's handwriting and the poems likely all have different authors, but the authors' names are lost to history.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an Arthurian adventure. The poem's style is alliterative, with multiple words in each sentence starting with the same letter. The effect is distracting and at times makes it challenging to follow the narrative as the reader gets a bit bogged down in the artificiality and oddness of the language. The story follows a knight of King Arthur's court who accepts a bizarre challenge to cut off a stranger's head and then one year later have his own head chopped off by the same man. It turns out to be an elaborate test of his knightly virtues, in turn testing his courage, honesty, generosity, chastity, and honor. I may reread this in a different translation as it is a fascinating narrative, but I feel I did not get everything out of it on a first read.

Pearl is a vision narrative in which a father mourns for his young daughter who has passed away. He is comforted by his Christian faith and has an elaborate vision in which he sees his daughter again in an afterlife inspired by the Book of Revelations.

Sir Orfeo was my favorite section of the book, although it is the shortest. Orfeo is a king whose wife is snatched away by the fairy folk. He abandons his kingdom to live in the woods and pursue his lost wife all the way to the other world of Faerie. The story seems to be an adaptation of the myth of Orpheus, with fairy land substituting for Hades. The ending also has elements of the homecoming of Odysseus from the Odyssey, with much less murder.

I decided to take a Christmas break from reading the very heavy Denial of Death by Ernest Becker, only to find that all of these stories are very much about death.

I love the Green Knight story, although I feel like the GK was a bit unfair to Gawain. Even though I am a Tolkien fan, I have to warn you away from his translation in favor of Simon Armitage's. Here's a sample of Tolkien's translation:

'If I tell thee the truth of it, when I have taken the knock,
and thou hast handily hit me, if in haste I announce then
my house and my home and mine own title,
then thou canst call and enquire and keep the agreement;
and if I waste not a word, thou'lt win better fortune,
for thou mayst linger in thy land and look no further-

but stay!
To thy grim tool now take heed, sir!
Let us try thy knocks today!'
'Gladly,' said he, 'Indeed, sir!'
and his axe he stroked in play.

Here is Armitage's comment on the Tolkien translation: "I read Tolkien's translation when I was in my mid-20s; not surprisingly for someone who had studied and decoded the original text, his is a highly faithful rendition. But I never really responded to the antique diction and syntax - it struck me at times as even older than the original."

Here is Armitage's version of the same passage:

'I could tell you the truth once you've taken the blow;
if you smite me smartly I could spell out the facts
of my house and home and my name, if it helps,
then you'll pay me a visit and vouch for our pact.
Or if I keep quiet you might cope much better,
loafing and lounging here, looking no further. But
you stall!

Now grasp that gruesome axe
and show your striking style.'
He answered, 'Since you ask,'
and touched the tempered steel.

This looks like a pretty clear case of Tolkien being more faithful and Armitage being more readable. Generally, Armitage's alliteration is less hokey than Tolkien's, and that's what I responded to.

What else is in this volume? Stuff you could probably do without. "Pearl" is a very dry narrative about a guy who has a long metaphorical dream about Heaven. It largely rehashes portions of the Bible, mainly from Revelations. "Sir Orfeo" is more interesting- basically a take on the Orpheus legend- but not anything ground-breaking.

Incredible pieces of historical literature that explore morality, ethics, the afterlife, theology, romance, grief, and more. Reading poetry is different than novels (obviously), it allows for more subtle themes, messages, or hints to what the author(s) may have been trying to communicate. I did not pick up on many of these elements through the first reading, but through exposition offered by Tolkien or additional searching online was able to appreciate in greater depth what these pieces have to offer.


“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
I read the tale of Sir Gawain many years ago, but decided to reread it because I recently watched the new movie adaptation of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” titled “The Green Knight” and found many things I did not recall from the original work (which is indeed the case).

The original tale brings the reader on an Arthurian adventure which allows one to explore the crossroads of the moral law and the law of courtesy (politeness) and explores what a “true knight,” is.

“Pearl”
My first time reading this piece. You begin walking with the speaker through the grief of losing a dear loved one. Through a dream conversation, you are able to see the author’s views of the afterlife, eschatology, and other theological doctrines important to the people of 14-15th century England.

Personally really enjoyed reading aspects that mirrored or paraphrased much of what is written in “the Apocalypse of John,” or the book of Revelation in the Bible. I don’t agree fully with the author’s theology on all things, but that’s not the point. Descriptions of the “New Jerusalem,” “the Lamb,” and “the bride” were really great. The poem seems to end with a charge, call, or challenge to live this life for the one to come.

Also, upon further reading (online), my attention was drawn to the structure. 12 stanzas (most) with 12 lines each which reflect similarities as the “New Jerusalem,” as described in the book of Revelation.

“Sir Orfeo”
Also my first read through. Really quick, fun romantic narrative. It felt Odyssey-esk in the wisdom, cunning, strength, determination, and drive of the king to seek after his queen. Also, the poetic structure and rhythm is easy to “feel” in this piece which allows for an adventurous, galloping feel (which is sometimes interrupted by translation differences OR which may reflect something narratively, I’ll need to research more on that).

In yon tome of Arthurian lore,
I said, "Interesting, nothing more."
Respect for age, yet passion wanes,
Not every classic in my heart gains.

So, here's the thing: I can understand Gawain. He's Him. He's stonecold. But I don't really understand what the Green Knight's angle is -- I mean, think about it. He's a bit of a cuck, frankly.

I think I read this as a kid.

I enjoyed reading this while following along with the class from House of Humane Letters. I also realized that Sir Orfeo was an inspiration for C.S. Lewis' "The Silver Chair", which was an exciting discovery!