Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Poetic Reimagining of an Ancient Tale

Twilight: Students comprehend this text and are enjoying the experience of learning. They are able to annotate the material and discuss plot, characterization and more. I would recommend this novel.

United States on Oct 18, 2023

Kenzi: Book arrived in great quality.
Something that I like about this book in particular is that it contains the Old English/original writing side by side with a modern interpretation. This allows you to see the book in its original glory while also being able to understand what is written due to the modern version.

United States on Sep 27, 2023

Evan SnoesEvan Snoes: This review has nothing to say about the translation, it’s perfect, 5 stars, and absolutely worth a read. This review is more to warn about the sheer disappointment that comes with the hardcover edition of this poem. Each and every illustration is displayed at an embarrassingly noticeable low resolution, and it’s extremely distracting for how many of them there are. Some images are worse than others, but when it gets bad, it gets really bad. I wish in my heart it wasn’t like this, because otherwise this would be a thousand times over one of the most perfect things you could own. But alas, maybe go with the standard paperback for this one.

United States on Sep 02, 2023

Cielle: Rather disappointing.

United Kingdom on Aug 26, 2023

Evelyn Dunn: Simon Armitage provides a comprehensive and engaging translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Armitage rather than a literal translation keeps the lyric traditions alive within the text. He maintains the combination of Old Germanic quatrain with post-Normandy Conquest French alliteration which made the text so notable in the original Middle English. The side-by-side of the original text in Middle English and Armitage's translation allows the viewer to see the differences as well as gain insight into the original form of the text. Overall, Armitage's translation is both beautifully poetic and highly informative. One of the best translations of this text.

United States on Mar 06, 2023

Stu Argyle: This was a university book that I had to buy for my course, and I was not looking forward to reading it. However, within a few pages, I was pleasantly surprised. It's a harmless, enjoyable read and while it is not my usual kind of text, it's certainly one I may consider picking up to read again!

United Kingdom on Apr 01, 2022

LA in Dallas: Two weeks ago I did not know this poem existed. I was of course familiar with the outlines of the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight -- a simplified version appeared in one of my high school literature textbooks. A knight shows up at King Arthur's court on Christmas Day and issues a challenge: "Let one of your knights strike my head off here and now. In exchange, he must show up at my place in a year's time to let me strike his head off." Gawain accepts the challenge and decapitates the Green Night, who calmly picks his head up off the floor by the hair, tells Gawain how to find him, then rides away. Gawain duly shows up and the Green Knight, in recognition of Gawain's honorable submission, does not behead him.

But many of the old stories didn't come down to us in so coherent a form as this poem. The Tales of Robin Hood, for instance, were mainly preserved in the form of ballades sung in the countryside from which such modern compilers as Howard Pyle collected them (directly and indirectly) and put them in book form. Most of the tales of King Arthur survived in the form of French songs until they were collected by Thomas Malory, and later by such as T.H. White. I...

United States on Jul 31, 2021

Tufnell Paul: Like The Iliad, which I have also read recently, this work is timeless. Or at least, it is when translated into modern idiom as well as Simon Armitage has done here.
The story is surprisingly subtle. Gawain is a “Master of the Universe” in the same sense as Sherman McCoy was in 1980s New York. Related by blood to King Arthur himself, he is physically strong and beautiful. He has all the knightly virtues. Fearless on the jousting field with courtly manners, he prides himself on his ease and learned conversation with the court ladies. He is held in high regard at Camelot and clearly holds himself in high regard.
Just as Sherman was taken out of his comfort zone, so is Gawain. The mysterious Green Knight crashes into the Round Table’s new year’s eve celebrations and Gawain finds himself entangled in an impossible duel.
Gawain does not shirk. He intends to meet his obligations, even though they can only lead to his death. He enters into bargain with another man he meets on his quest, but this bargain he does not keep to the letter. Offered a token that will save his life in the upcoming meeting with the Green Knight, he takes it and keeps it, even though this is owed,...

United Kingdom on May 07, 2016

Schiehallion 1977: I've been curious to read this 'modern translation' of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - I find the modern translations an interesting phenomenon. Armitage's introductory essay is an engaging and persuasive read, and did contextualise his translation.

The 'modern' translations are often criticised for lack of textual fidelity to the original - and it's certainly true that some of Armitage's phrasing is startlingly non-medieval. But translations will always bear the mark of their translator and there are different forms of fidelity.

Armitage has attempted to preserve the alliteration of the original, and this lends the poem a wonderful momentum; I read it practically at a sitting, the pages turning rapidly. He also seeks to place the poem accurately in geographical terms - using his voice of a northern writer, as the writer of the original was. And it 'translates' to the demotic, the engaging, the storytelling - you can imagine being on the edge of your seat while listening to this read by a skilled reader. Of course, other translations have done some of these things - and have been more faithful to the original vocabulary, perhaps - but I'm not aware of one that does...

United Kingdom on Apr 28, 2013

Lister of Smeg: I first encountered Sir Gawain at school, and although the English was hard the underlying story fabulous to uncover. 35 years have intervened - and I never gave Sir Gawain a thought again until it inexplicably re-entered my consciousness a few weeks ago. I trawled - and bought this translation and was immediately captivated by the clarity of this portal into the story. The modern English language still captures the essence of the medieval, and the tongue-twisting alliteration a joy to read (and read aloud!).

With sorrow, I finished the poem, only to find that I had the previous day missed a repeat on BBC4 of a programme by Simon Armitage on the journey of Sir Gawain! How bizarre can that be - it's not crossed my mind for 35 years, and then in the very week I read it again there is a programme by its author! Thankfully, BBC iplayer came to the rescue, and after viewing the programme, I promptly started to re-read the poem to discover new delights. This is a tale worth reading, and re-reading again - since every reading uncovers new details and new wonders at the use of the language.

Simon Armitage has done English literature a massive service via this masterpiece,...

United Kingdom on Sep 01, 2010