Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Penguin Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Anonymous (Author), Bernard O'Donoghue (Translator, Introduction)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: April 24, 2007

One of the greatest works of the Middle Ages, in a marvelous new verse translation

Composed in the fourteenth century, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is as beloved as it is venerable, combining the hallmarks of medieval romance—pageantry, chivalry, and courtly love—with the charm of fairy tales and heroic sagas.

When a mysterious green knight rides on horseback into King Arthur’s court, interrupting a New Year’s feast, he issues a challenge: if any of King Arthur’s men can behead him and he survives, then a year later he is entitled to return the strike. Sir Gawain takes up the challenge and decapitates the green knight, only to see him pick up his severed head and ride away, leaving Gawain to seek him out to fulfill their pact. Blending Celtic myth and Christian faith, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a Middle English masterpiece of magic, chivalry, and seduction.

@GawainsWorld So listen here, some green man came to the hall and wants someone to cut his head off. Some sort of dare? Could be fun, right?

The deal is I cut off his head now, and he cuts off mine a year later. What a jester, doesn’t he know he’ll be dead?

This goblin fellow is totally dead.

All seemed fine until Ichabod Crane here fell to the floor, stood up, and picked up his head. His head, in his hands. In HIS HANDS!

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Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

We know the "Gawain Poet" was a contemporary of Geofrey Chaucer's. He appears to have been the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Patience, and Cleanness; "he" may also have composed Saint Erkenwald. Bernard O'Donoghue is a Fellow in English at Wadham College and a noted Irish poet

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 94 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (April 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140424539
• ISBN-13: 978-0140424539
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,090 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Modern English Translation of This Masterpiece, May 5, 2002

By 

Joelline "joelline" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I know that the Marie Borroff translation is much praised, but this one is far better for the undergraduate classroom. While both translations share some characteristics (both are in poetry, both try to maintain the alliteration), you need only compare/contrast the "bob and wheel" (last 5 lines of each stanza) to see that Stone has managed to maintain "the sting in the tail" so typical of the original Middle English version--wherein a significant or surprising part of the stanza often appears in the bob and wheel--start with Fitt I, stanzas 4 and 7. Stone also maintains the "alliterative signaling" oral tradition: when possible he tries to alliterate only key words (Boroff seems happy when she can alliterate anything in the line, regardless of its significance to theme or motif!). As a medievalist, I am truly sorry to see so many of my colleagues jumping on the Borroff bandwagon when this superior, alternative translation is so readily available.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Burrow's Penguin Classics edition is a solid resource, December 5, 2003

By 

Christopher Culver - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

The Penguin Classics edition of SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT, edited by J.A. Burrow, is fantastic for motivated readers who wish to approach the text as it really is, and delve deep into its symbolism and historical references. Burrow's edition is not a translation into modern English, but a presentation of the original Middle English with enough notes and and a glossary so copious that the reasonably well-educated reader will be able to tackle and even really enjoy this important work.

While it was written at the same time as Chaucer's CANTERBURY TALES, which is difficult but of which the modern reader can usually get the gist, SIR GAWAIN is written in a dialect of rural England which seems more impenetrable nowadays. Under this archaic facade, however, lies a magical tale ostensibly of Arthurian myth, but which is really an adaptation of an older, indigenous legend. The framing of the tale attempts to claim a noble heritage for England from Troy like the Roman poet Vergil had done for Rome with his AENEID.

I was a bit disappointed by the lack of a decent introduction. Barrow provides only a brief explanation of how the text was typeset and minor alterations in spelling, but I would have preferred coverage of the history of the story, the role of Arthurian myth in the popular literature of the writer's region, and a brief mention of the other contents of the manuscript on which the work was found.

If you are a student of English literature, or simply a lover of archaic English texts, the Penguin edition of SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT is a great choice.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite Gawain, October 10, 2002

By 

Judith C. Kinney (Westerville, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I have read at least four translations of Gawain, including Tolkein's, and the Brian Stone version is my favorite. It is written in understandable English. As another reviewer has pointed out, Stone's version is most like the medieval one in its structure, its use of alliteration, and the rhyme scheme of the bob and wheel. Tolkein, in an appendix to his version, gives a clear and enlightening explanation of the principles of this kind of poetry. Once you've read Tolkein's explanation, your appreciation of the poem will be greatly enhanced. Nowadays, many poets and others turn up their noses at alliteration, but I love it. So the language is one of the things that make the poem such a pleasure to read.

Another thing that makes Gawain a great read is that it is just a darn good story. When a green man riding a green horse and carrying his own green-haired head gallops into Arthur's dining hall, you know there's going to be some drama in this tale. And there is! There's some hunting and killing of animals for the sportsperson and the bloodthirsty. There's romantic temptation, and there's suspense.

One reviewer speculated on possible symbolism in the novel. The search for deeper meanings might interest some readers. For me to "get" a symbol, it has to jump out of the book and bite me on the nose.