Preserved on a single surviving manuscript dating from around 1400, composed by an anonymous master, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was rediscovered only 200 years ago, and published for the first time in 1839. One of the earliest great stories of English literature, after Beowulf, the poem narrates in crystalline verse the strange tale of a green knight on a green horse, who rudely interrupts the Round Table festivities one Yuletide, casting a pall of unease over the company and challenging one of their number to a wager. The virtuous Gawain accepts, and decapitates the intruder with his own axe. Gushing blood, the knight reclaims his head, orders Gawain to seek him out a year hence, and departs. Next Yuletide Gawain dutifully sets forth...His quest for the Green Knight involves a winter journey, a seduction scene in a dream-like castle, a dire challenge answered - and a drama of enigmatic reward disguised as psychic undoing. Simon Armitage's new version is meticulously responsible to the tact and sophistication of the original - but responsible equally to its own powerfully persuasive claims to be read as an original new poem. It is as if, six hundred years apart, two northern poets set out on a journey through the same mesmeric landscapes - acoustic, physical and metaphorical - in the course of which the Gawain poet has finally found his true and long-awaited translator
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
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'Armitage rises to the challenge of translating this mysterious tale of chivalry, supernatural forces and seduction.' -- Sunday Times
'Crisp, fun and true to its original alliterative rhythm.' -- Sunday Herald
'It might even be the best translation of any poem I've ever seen.' -- Nicholas Lezard, Guardian Paperback Choice of the Week
'With deceptively simple lyricism and energy the poem sings from the page.'
-- Observer
'Crisp, fun and true to its original alliterative rhythm.' -- Sunday Herald
'It might even be the best translation of any poem I've ever seen.' -- Nicholas Lezard, Guardian Paperback Choice of the Week
'With deceptively simple lyricism and energy the poem sings from the page.'
-- Observer
Book Description
A fantastic revival of an arthurian classic from on of Britain's foremost contemporary poets.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 46 people found the following review helpful
By TR
Format:Hardcover
A terrific book. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an early classic of English Literature - lost until the 19th century. This is a very readable, witty, bright translation with Simon Armitage's customary edge. In places: warm, funny, violent, dramatic, sexual. I've long been a big fan of Armitage - a Yorkshire writer who uses language brilliantly and has proved to be extremely versatile as poet, editor, playwright, novelist, non-fiction prose stylist and more recently translator. His Homer's Odyssey was a pleasure; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a delight. This would make a great Christmas present (much of the setting is Christmas/New Year) for anyone who enjoys literature.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Graham S
Format:Paperback
"...It was Christmas at Camelot - King Arthur's Court,
where the great and the good of the land had gathered .."
Hopefully the recent - and excellent - BBC Four documentary in which Simon Armitage guided viewers on a journey through the literal landscape of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight will have brought this poem to the attention of a wider audience.
This book works at every possible level: it's a wonderful translation from the Middle English of the 1400's, it's a rollickingly exciting tale of chivalry, drama and moral dilemma, and, most significantly, it stands as poetry in its own right.
One word of warning: your friends will inevitably soon regard you as dotty, as the book just cries out to be read aloud!
Impossible to recommend strongly enough!
where the great and the good of the land had gathered .."
Hopefully the recent - and excellent - BBC Four documentary in which Simon Armitage guided viewers on a journey through the literal landscape of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight will have brought this poem to the attention of a wider audience.
This book works at every possible level: it's a wonderful translation from the Middle English of the 1400's, it's a rollickingly exciting tale of chivalry, drama and moral dilemma, and, most significantly, it stands as poetry in its own right.
One word of warning: your friends will inevitably soon regard you as dotty, as the book just cries out to be read aloud!
Impossible to recommend strongly enough!
41 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Thoroughly enjoyable, muscular, vivid, exciting rendition of this wonderful poem: I first read the original at university and loved it then. But Armitage's modernisation brings the text to life for those readers who aren't ever going to need or want to tackle Middle English. I can't recommend it too highly. It is beautifully paced, extremely detailed and accessible without in any way dumbing down. I really felt as though I was in the poem, particularly in the third and fourth sections where Gawain faces a moral dilemma.
Terrific. Simon Armitage is the true Poet Laureate of Britain, bringing our literary heritage to a fresh audience.
Terrific. Simon Armitage is the true Poet Laureate of Britain, bringing our literary heritage to a fresh audience.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great modern translation
I've been curious to read this 'modern translation' of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - I find the modern translations an interesting phenomenon. Read more
Published 23 days ago by Schiehallion 1977
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great
Great, book needed for uni studies, good for those who are interested in poetry as I needed this for my creative writing part of my English Degree.
Published 1 month ago by Sharfa Sorwar
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great stuff.
Loved every line of this. Armitage's translation has a rich earthy quality that compliments the sensual undertone of this epic poem.
Published 3 months ago by Peter Leslie Clee
5.0 out of 5 stars
My first Poem
Having never been interested in poetry before I fell across this book whilst looking for Arthurian tales. I bought it with some doubt that I would enjoy it but how wrong was I? Read more
Published 11 months ago by Jaggededgejess
5.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't be happier!
This is a wonderful translation by Armitage. I REALLY like how it follows the alliterative form. It was easy to read as well.
Perfect.
Perfect.
Published 16 months ago by Peter Bryld
5.0 out of 5 stars
An exquisite translation of an Arthurian legend
One new year a Green Knight interrupts the feasting at Camalot and challenges the assembly: this day he will stand still an receive one blow from any one of them with his axe. Read more
Published 23 months ago by Aidan J. McQuade
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent attempt on the impossible!
Simon's transliteration has the grit, the feeling for landscape and the indefinable taste of "Northernness" of the original. Read more
Published on 12 May 2011 by Bertilak Hautdesert
5.0 out of 5 stars
A joy to read
I first encountered Sir Gawain at school, and although the English was hard the underlying story fabulous to uncover. Read more
Published on 1 Sep 2010 by sparky the hamster
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
A compelling and complex tale, beautifully rendered in modern English by Simon Armitage, and instantly accessible. Great stuff for all but the academic purist.
Published on 12 Jun 2010 by BA Moore
5.0 out of 5 stars
ANGLO SAXON FOR EVERYONE
I READ THIS BOOK AT THE SAME TIME AS THE NEW TRANSLATION OF "BEOWULF".
I CAME TO BOTH "FRESH" AND AS A STRANGER AND WAS ENTHRALLED. Read more
I CAME TO BOTH "FRESH" AND AS A STRANGER AND WAS ENTHRALLED. Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2010 by Mr. J. E. Thorpe
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