listened on audiobook. Just wanted to make sure that the Green Knight movie that came out is as awful as I think it is. (It is.)

I enjoy this poems a great deal,

Sir Gawain was one of the books I studied in college that only received the perfunctory attention of desperate, late-night skimming before the class in which it was to be covered. Once I actually sat down to read it, I enjoyed it as the best chivalric romance I have yet to read. Sir Gawain's uncomplicated approach to his knightly duty, and his calm preparations for his certain death - green girdle aside - is beautiful. The translated poetry is pretty, and the adventure part is fun. The poem is also a gem in terms of revealing medieval Catholic spirituality; great importance is placed on holy days (every significant event happens to fall on a holy day: All Souls' Day, Christmas, the Solemnity of Mary), the severity of failing to avoid the near occasion of sin, Mass and confession play an essential role in Gawain's preparations for his quest and, later, prep for his death, and Mary's role as Mother and intercessor is clearly laid out. I am still slightly confused about just what the Green Knight is running around trying to accomplish (so he is under the power of King Arthur's enemy Morgan la Fey to bring chaos and destruction to...some random people, but also plays the part of a quasi-confessor and judge of sin why exactly?), so I need to either study that aspect of medieval literature a bit more, or just accept that that mysterious part of the Otherworld is best left under-analyzed.

I listened to two versions of Sir Gawain and the green knight. one was the one feature here translated by the great scholar J.R.R Tolkien. The other was an easy-to-follow version translated by Jessie L. Weston. Tolkien's version is a very high brow scholarly with his own interpretation on what the stories means. to be sure the about as accurate translation as can be found. Unfortunately, it's translated in such a florid language that it is hard to follow. The second is just the sir Gawain story told in modern language even a butcher from Georgia can understand. I liked Weston translation better because I'm a uneducated moron.

The Sir Gawain story is a fun Arthurian tale. I've heard the synopsis before but never the fully tale. The green Knight swaggers up to Camelot and challenges the round table court. Sir Gawain the weakest of the knights nephew of Arther accepts the challenge. his chivalry and the Arthurian court is tested by Morgan Lafaye. a 4 or 5 star story.

Pearl is a very Christian tale. J.R.R thinks it's about a daughter who has died, and the father resolves to meet her in heaven. Thinks is the key word because the translation is quite bad. 1 star!

Sir Orfeo is a familiar type of tale. where the king's wife is taken by fairy folk i think? translation is hard to understand again! Sir Orfeo spends 10 years looking for his wife then returns home with her 3 to 4 stars.

I know it's weird to put down J.R.R. But the translation is meant for scholarly accuracy. this of course is a problem with scholarly pursuits it's not intended for everyone and unfortunately, it's not intended for my pleasure. Weston's translation was so much better!