Much better than I was expecting, thanks, I suspect, mostly due to Marie Borroff's superb translation, which retained most of the amazing alliteration and a satisfying regular meter but without too many overly-cheesey "on the nose" rhymes. The story itself is fairly basic (unless you're majoring in fashion or hunting practices of the time), but I found it just a joy to read (best out loud!) and the notes at the end helped with understanding.

An uninvited guest (dressed in green) crashes the Christmas party at Camelot and proposes a crazy game. He says (I'm paraphrasing) chop my head off and in one year later let me chop your head off. So Sir Gawain chops his head off. The guy picks his head up off the ground, gets on his horse, and rides away.

Do I have your attention yet? It's heck of a way to begin the story. I wonder if Washington Irving got his idea for a headless horseman from this book.

So a year later Sir Gawain visits a castle on his way to meet the green knight. The king of the castle says (I'm paraphrasing) I'll leave the castle for the day and will leave you here alone with my wife. Implicitly, he can do anything he wants with the wife, and the wife's behavior is seductive. This happens three days in a row. Sir Gawain of course behaves properly, and only accepts a kiss.

So later when Sir Gawain meets the green knight he survives his blow. But Sir Gawain is embarrassed because he secretly carried a charmed sash from the king's wife.

So the point of the story? If you're pure (i.e. you don't yield to sexual temptation) you'll be magically protected from harm. Also, tell the truth (i.e. don't secretly carry a charmed sash).

Those people in medieval times had strange stories.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a rich and beautiful work. This chivalric romance kept me guessing and made me ask questions. That's something I always appreciate in any work of literature. I remember many of its scenes vividly, but some aspects of it are blurred in my mind. If I remember well, I read more than one version of this work and found different renderings interesting. Whose version did I prefer? What copy was my favourite one? Did I attempt to read it in original? Sadly, I don't remember. I did enjoy it a lot and I even wrote papers on it. That much I do remember. Another classic I clearly need to reread before attempting a longer review. I need to dig up my old textbooks and handbooks, I know I will find at least one copy of this chivalric romance in some of them.

This was a little hard to read at times and a little boring but overall I liked this!

n  Shame be to the man who has evil in his mindn

Written c. 1375, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an Arthurian quest fantasy. It has all the elements that make such a fantasy work, the brave and redoubted knight, the alluring lady, the magical and mysterious stranger (after all, the Green Knight is able to have his head removed and then hold it in his hand while it talks to you), the ranging quest and the moment of truth.

The poetry is so beautifully written; it sings. I do not know, but I imagine, this poem being recited to a gathering, perhaps at court, much as Homer sang his poems to the Greeks. To the possible chagrin of my husband, I read this aloud to myself. It seemed to demand it.

"By God," said Gawain then,
"I shall not give way to weeping;
God's will be done, amen!
I commend me to his keeping."

kocham arturianskie yaoi

Wer auch immer das geschrieben hat, hat gekocht.

this was absolutely wild tbh. i don't know WHAT to think of it but it sure was a ride. also all i could picture the green knight as was that green dude from like the green beans or whatever frozen vegetable it is, which definitely added a layer of hilarity to an already bizarre story

Contains the greatest "OH FUCK" moment in medieval literature!

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - listed here as written by Unknown, though I believe it may have been penned by that prolific Greek author Anonymous - is a classic tale from Arthurian legend in which the code of honor attributed to chivalry is heavily ensconced.

There are many interpretations of the poem's meaning, and historically speaking it's often dependent on the reader's bias. For instance, Christians latched on to the sex aspect and pagans saw a Green Man parallel. Me? I just see it as damn good fun, just as I'll wager the eagerly listening common folk heard it told by their smoky peat fires so many hundreds of years ago.

Wow. AMAZINGLY ALLITERATIVE LINES LAYERED WITH LOVELY LANGUAGE!
I thoroughly enjoyed analysing it. Everything was so brilliantly connected and the storyline had twists and turns galore! It had morals, alliteration, brilliant Bob-and-wheels (so there was rhyme but not excessive rhyme), a wonderfully varied pace and just general excitement and epiphanies!!!!!
The narrative is gripping and a real page-turner!!!
Entertaining, suspenseful and descriptive all rolled into one!
I felt second-hand embarrassment AND mudita because it’s just so vivid! What’s that you said about books not being as lifelike as movies? No? My imagination? Thought so.

Sadakat, doğruluk, sözüne bağlı kalma gibi erdemlerin övüldüğü, okuması keyifli bir ortaçağ meseli. Yuvarlak masa şövalyesi denince daha hareketli bir şeyler bekliyordum ama Gawain'in yaşadığı en büyük zorluk kendisine kur yapan çekici bir kadına karşı koymaya çalışmak oldu. Bir de yeşil rengi doğaya bağlayan okumalar yapılıyormuş ama şiirde üç gün süren av partisinin en ince ayrıntılarıyla anlatıldığını düşününce pek anlamadım onu, ortaçağ İngiltere'sinin etik değerleri bugünden çok daha farklıdır mutlaka ama yine de tuhaf geldi.

Nazmi Ağıl'ın çevirisi çok akıcıydı, sanki orijinali de Türkçe yazılmış gibi keyifle okudum. Ancak metnin kendisi konusunda azıcık hayal kırıklığına uğradım galiba.