Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation

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One of the earliest great stories of English literature after Beowulf, Sir Gawain is the strange tale of a green knight on a green horse, who rudely interrupts King Arthur's Round Table festivities one Yuletide, challenging the knights to a wager. Simon Armitrage, one of Britain's leading poets, has produced an inventive and groundbreaking translation that "[helps] liberate Gawain from academia" (Sunday Telegraph).


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  • heartwyldslibrary
    Feb 12, 2025
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    Not going to lie my rating is probably very biased as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has always been my favorite of the Arthurian Tales, but I really did like this particular translation.

    I feel this translation really sticks to the idea that Sir Gawain is an honest knight. I also wasn’t as annoyed by the Lady of the court who “pursued” Gawain, some variations really lay that on heavy and this version didn’t do that.

    Even up to the end Gawain is not happy with his actions and I have always admired that about him, and I think that’s why I love his tale so much.

    I will say with this particular version, I love that the original Middle English was included side by side to the modern translated version of English today. It makes more of an eye opening experience into how each line was written. Some lines are easy to read and one who isn’t trained in Middle English could for the most part understand it, while other lines look so unreal and some training is clearly needed, haha. I truly enjoyed that little bit.

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