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 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.
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[Once the siege and assault of Troy had ceased / with the city a smoke-heap of cinders and ash / the traitor who contrived such betrayal there / was tried for his treachery, the truest on earth]***
(@FaberBooks, 5 March 2009, first published 1397, 114 pages, paperback, bought from @AmazonUK, set text for @OpenUniversity course)
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I'm a fan of Armitage. I read his translation of Antigone, The Burial at Thebes and loved it so had high expectations for this book. I was not disappointed. I loved this epic poem. It's split into four sections. I knew I was going to enjoy it when I read the opening section which ends with the Green Knight lifting up his own severed head and tucking it under his arm which the head speaks to Gawain. There's so much to love in this epic poem. The poem is written is quite old fashioned English but is easy to read. The verses are packed with descriptions and imagery and each line was a pleasure to read. I really loved it.
