I first read this in 1975. I've read it several times since. The translation (Marie Borroff) is good. I am entirely taken in by the parallel structures in the story. Sir Gawain comes off as a wonderfully human character in a type of literature not known for well developed characters.

I’m not much of one for Arthurian tales, but Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is gripping.

For there the festival lasted a whole fifteen days
With all the feasting and merrymaking that could be devised;
Such sounds of revelry splendid to hear,
Days full of uproar, dancing at night.
Everywhere joy resounded in chambers and halls
...
When New Year was so fresh that it had hardly begun,
Double helpings of food were served on the dais that day.

Home for the holidays, and scarcely time to read. But Sir Gawain offers all this, and an emerald green antagonist.

I did not enjoy the hunting scenes, but Sir Gawain made up for it. I love the guy.

I actually can't believe how much I loved this! I was looking forward to it, but something about it just enchanted me entirely.

behind every gay person (sir gawain) is a gayer more evil person (the green knight)

There's little I can say about this book, given that scholars like Tolkien have said more than I ever could. Suffice to say that it's one of my favourite books. Despite its 700 years, it has a psychological depth which still feels relevant. The folkloric elements give it a magical, otherworldly atmosphere, but it is also earthily grounded. Love it, love it, love it!

Meer latente homo-erotiek dan verwacht, tof verhaal, ik ga het eens in de winter herlezen

Kind of what you'd expect from a 14th century chivalric text. Quite enjoyable, but not amazing.

on a scholarly level, this poem is fascinating and this translation is gorgeous (i love that borroff kept the alliterative line structure & what she did with the rhyme scheme). on an emotional level, i kind of wish the green knight was literally just some fucked-up-if-true green guy down bad for sir gawain. i think it would be funnier

Oh, I remember this game. My brother 12 or 13, me 6 or 7: he offers to let me hit him as hard as I can. And then it’s his turn. Fun.

The way of the Knight is to horse around with lots of bombastic games of violence and showing off and to kill every animal you can for sport; and to honor each other with longueurs of ‘marvelous words’ and ‘practiced methods of converse’ which get even more tedious when there’s a woman around; and to fuss and primp endlessly over helmets and breastplates and belts and ermine-fringed capes. Ugh. Chuckleheads.

Anyway . . . some nice similes and turns of phrase here, better than you might expect from such an old text, and of course the Green Knight and his green chapel are pretty fun. None of it touches The Mabinogion, though.

2/12/2022 Review:

“And the wars were one thing, but winter was worse: clouds shed their cargo of crystallized rain which froze as it fell to the frost-glazed earth.
With nerves frozen numb he napped in his armour, bivouacked in the blackness amongst bare rocks where melt-water streamed from the snow-capped summits and high overhead hung chandeliers of ice.”

3.75 || The backdrop to this tale is set during the Christmas period so I suppose this is my first festive read of this year? Armitage has done a really great job weaving the lyricism of his own writing style into the translation of the original iconic story of Sir Gawain, though as a Medieval literature fanatic I think I would/will be just as engaged reading the Middle English original text. I really enjoyed the exploration of the binaries between religion and carnival as well as the function of the supernatural and courtly lover within a court setting. I also appreciated how Mary is depicted within this, acting as a spiritual mother to male dominated knighthood (Considering my dissertation is about the agency of motherhood in medieval texts, I definitely got excited when Mary was mentioned and reflected onto certain characters.)