In Looking Westward, the author argues that a close study of the poetry, landscape, and politics of late thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Wales and the Welsh March is important to a fuller understanding of the Gawain-poet and his poem. Although the poem was likely composed in the northwest Midlands, little attention has been paid to the influences of the west: the Welsh alliterative poets and Henry Grosmont, the physical landscape of Wales and the March, and the political tensions that generated a historical beheading tradition, especially between 1265 and 1330, a tradition that gave way in the court of Edward III to the desire for a harmonious Camelot. This new literary, geographical, and historical perspective provides a better understanding of Sir Gawain and the virtues he embodies and acquires, and the relevance of these virtues in the turbulence of the poet’s contemporary world.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You'll Love Ordelle Hill's "Looking Westward",
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This review is from: Looking Westward: Poetry, Landscape, and Politics in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Hardcover)
I'm SO impressed with "Looking Westward," Ordell Hill's book about some of the influences on the writing of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight."Author Hill looks westward to Wales, the westernmost part of England at that time, and to the middle land between, called the "Welch March" to find influences on the story of Sir Gawain. I appreciate the well written and interesting text - and the incredible amount of hardworking scholarship that went into making of this book. I think it will have a wide readership, both people who are familiar with the Authurian legends (you'll recognize characters such as Morgan le Fey), and those who would like to know more about him and the knights of his round table. Most of you probably read about Sir Gawain of King Arthur's knights in your English lit class in high school. Go back and enjoy it once again, and then read this book to see where so many of those ideas probably came from. And for those who want more details, there are extremely helpful appendices and footnotes (such as a "Beheading Chart" of 13th and 14th century beheadings!) Especially fascinating (and jolting) are the connections of beheading in the Gawain story and the large number of early Welch leaders who had been beheaded. (My favorite illustration is that of Thomas Lancaster's beheading with the two failed gashes on his neck). Hill points out good writing in the poem, such as the way the fox-hunting scene so closely parallels the seduction in the lady's bed chamber. If you like apt metaphors, closely related to the text, you'll like this book: "The historical context, like the illustrated margins on a medieval book, provides an enlarged frame for the poet's Arthurian tale. . . ." My advice? Buy, read, enjoy!
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