Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo
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- Create Date：2021-08-16 07:51:36
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：J.R.R. Tolkien
- ISBN：0358652979
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Summary
SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT， PEARL， AND SIR ORFEO
THREE MEDIEVAL ENGLISH POEMS， WITH TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY BY J。R。R。 TOLKIEN
It’s Christmas at Camelot and King Arthur won’t begin to feast until he has witnessed a marvel of chivalry。 A mysterious knight， green from head to toe， rides in and brings the court’s wait to an end with an implausible challenge to the Round Table: he will allow any of the knights to strike him once， with a battle-axe no less， on the condition that he is allowed to return the blow a year hence。 Arthur’s brave favorite for the challenge is Sir Gawain…
Accompanying Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in this book are Sir Orfeo， a medieval version of the story of Orpheus and Euridice， a love so strong that it overcame death， and Pearl， the moving tale of a man in a graveyard mourning his baby daughter， lost like a pearl that slipped through his fingers。 Worn out by grief， he falls asleep and dreams of meeting her in a bejewelled fantasy world。
Interpreted in a form designed to appeal to the general reader， J。R。R。 Tolkien’s vivid translations of these classic poems represent the complete rhyme and alliterative schemes of the originals。 This beautifully decorated text includes as a bonus the complete text of Tolkien’s acclaimed lecture on Sir Gawain。
THREE MEDIEVAL ENGLISH POEMS， WITH TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY BY J。R。R。 TOLKIEN
It’s Christmas at Camelot and King Arthur won’t begin to feast until he has witnessed a marvel of chivalry。 A mysterious knight， green from head to toe， rides in and brings the court’s wait to an end with an implausible challenge to the Round Table: he will allow any of the knights to strike him once， with a battle-axe no less， on the condition that he is allowed to return the blow a year hence。 Arthur’s brave favorite for the challenge is Sir Gawain…
Accompanying Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in this book are Sir Orfeo， a medieval version of the story of Orpheus and Euridice， a love so strong that it overcame death， and Pearl， the moving tale of a man in a graveyard mourning his baby daughter， lost like a pearl that slipped through his fingers。 Worn out by grief， he falls asleep and dreams of meeting her in a bejewelled fantasy world。
Interpreted in a form designed to appeal to the general reader， J。R。R。 Tolkien’s vivid translations of these classic poems represent the complete rhyme and alliterative schemes of the originals。 This beautifully decorated text includes as a bonus the complete text of Tolkien’s acclaimed lecture on Sir Gawain。
Reviews
Aaron I
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I liked Tolkien’s translation alright， still not as easy to fallow as newer translations。 The 3 star is more for the included Pearl and Sir Orfeo。 I really can’t comprehend the deep level of research done into those poems。 I tried， but I just can’t read it。 It’s just drivel to me。 I’m not too keen on older English as I lose focus with it。 All in all， Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a good tale that I enjoy， but the other two poems… spare me。 Lol。
Jim Maguire
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Really cool morality tale and peek into the medieval mind。
Greg
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I do miss Terry’s voice…
Arnold Baruch
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I just read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to my son， translated by J。R。R。 Tolkien。 A bizarre tale of magic， chivalry and moral purity， it also wallows in elitism， misogyny， and brutality towards nature。 Christianity in the 12th century: go figure。King Arthur and his crew are partying at Christmastime， imbibing wine nonstop， yet expressing only that which is mannerly and virtuous and elegant， when this huge green knight rides into the great hall on a huge green horse。 Basically he challenges ev I just read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to my son， translated by J。R。R。 Tolkien。 A bizarre tale of magic， chivalry and moral purity， it also wallows in elitism， misogyny， and brutality towards nature。 Christianity in the 12th century: go figure。King Arthur and his crew are partying at Christmastime， imbibing wine nonstop， yet expressing only that which is mannerly and virtuous and elegant， when this huge green knight rides into the great hall on a huge green horse。 Basically he challenges everyone to a fight， and Sir Gawain steps forth in place of the king， because that’s what knights do。 Green Knight dismounts， says， “OK， hit me with your best shot，” so Gawain chops off his head with an axe。 Green Dude picks up his head， climbs back on the green horse and tells Gawain to show up at his “Green Chapel” next New Year’s Day， and he’ll return the favor。 I guess back in the day it was easy being green。“Where’s this Green Chapel？” Gawain asks。“Hit the road，” says the head， hanging from the left hand of the torso， “you’ll find it。” So Gawain is in trouble。 Oh， the moaning and wailing。 But the next few chapters are all about fashion: how Gawain is clad， adorned， armored in gold and jewels and the finest of everything before he takes off。 He spends the next year wandering around England fighting bad guys and dragons， the usual stuff， then as Christmas approaches， he prays to Mary for shelter in a snowstorm so he can observe the birth of the blessed Christ。 A castle appears out of nowhere， and he’s welcomed and treated like the renowned knight that he is。 The lord of the castle， learning Gawain is looking for the Green Chapel， makes his day by informing him， “It’s only a mile or two from here。” Hmmm， thinks the reader。 “You have some free time until New Years， so kick back while I go hunting，” he says。 “What I get I give to you。 What you get， you give to me。” “Huh？” thinks Gawain。Off goes the lord next day， killing several truckloads of female deer。 Next day， it’s a wild boar that savages his crew， but they get him in the end。 Day three， it’s Reynard the fox， who leads them a merry chase until he’s finally mauled and disabused of his fur coat。 Meanwhile， the Lady of the Castle， described as hotter than Guinevere herself， is sneaking into Gawain’s bedchamber to check out his mannerly virtue， bestowing a kiss on him， but he’s a no-go。 He may be a hunk， but he’s not stupid。 But oh， the gay repartee， the flirting， the elegant badinage。 So: Day One Gawain kisses the lord on the neck on his return。 Day Two， the Lady gave him a couple， so he lays two on the lord。 Day Three， the Lady was on fire: he must kiss the lord thrice， but wait: Gawain also caved and accepted， as a token of her love， a green garter that would， she said， protect him against the Green Knight。 （Oh， the garter is green？ Hmmm， thinks the reader。） But Gawain reporteth this not to the lord！Cut to the cut。 When his encounter with Sir Green goes down， he bows and bares his neck。 On the first swing of his giant axe， Green only fakes it。 Gawain flinches though。 “Not cool，” says Mr。 Green。 Second swing， same fake， but Gawain doesn’t flinch。 “You bad！” says Green。 Third swing， no flinch， but Green just slightly bloodies him on his neck –a nick on his neck。 Gawain jumps up， grabs his sword and gets ready to throw down。 “Cool it，” says Sir Green。 “I’m the lord of the castle！ Merlin enchanted me or something， OK？ Anyway， I sent my wife in to test you， and you were almost perfect， but you caved and took the garter， so I had to slice you a bit。 You didn’t take the garter on romantic grounds， you took it to survive， so you get points on that。 Bottom line， you passed the test！ So let’s go back to the castle and party down some more！” But they didn’t admit Gawain to the Round Table for nothing。 He is devastated by his imperfection。 “Man， I took the garter to try to save my life， instead of trusting in Christ！ My bad。 My really， really bad！” Party over。 He heads back to the Round Table。 But the rest of the crew is so happy to see him， they make green garters for everyone， to remind them how everyone falls short of the glory of Christ。 They all live happily ever after until， instead of them slaughtering their enemies， I assume they get skewered and go straight to heaven。 You know， like the dudes who did the World Trade Center。 A few things sink in after you finish reading。 The compounding of knightly elegance and bloody violence is reminiscent of samurai。 Of course， the samurai’s context is loyalty and personal honor。 No green samurai can forgive him for a dishonorable choice。 There is also no Jesus’。 There wasn’t even cheeses。 I think the cheeses came in with the Portugueses。 And it’s still too expensive here。 Then there’s that strange chivalric obsession with male chastity – in the literature if not in fact。 More than this， the duality of the romantically idolized female and her opposite， the manipulative slut: the book speaks of Eve in the garden， Delilah， Bathsheba。 Aside from a knight’s idealized Lady， women， not men， are the immoral seducers， men are simply victims。 There is no such ideology in Japan， yet surely in both cultures （and uncounted others） warriors and men took what they wished， to the extent of the social power they wielded。 This speaks to the issue of class。 It struck me recently that for the elite classes， unreserved contempt for perhaps 90% of humanity has prevailed for 98% of recorded history。 The notion that a given human life has intrinsic value is about as new as your iPhone。 Wealth inequality？ But of course！ What could be more natural for the animal we call Homo sapiens。 The brains of Republicans are not reptilian， they are just very Homo sapient。 Well， for the last 7，000 years， anyway。 Hunter-gatherers treated each other much better。 Tribal is no problem if there’s just one tribe。 But right outside Arthur’s castle walls the poor scuffled about， praying to Christ not for Guinevere’s love， but that they could pay the taxes that purchased her silken robes and her jewels。 I don’t think she paid taxes， but then neither does Jeff Bezos， I hear。 So， democracy？ 1776？ All men are created equal？ Good luck with that。 The noble Gawain heareth you not。 Neither does Donald Junior。But back to Gawain and…oh， the wanton slaughter of the does， all the pretty deer。 They didn’t confine them into cramped stalls like we do to our chickens and pigs， but one sees in the rapacious bloodletting， the lord’s clearing of the forest of deer， a foretelling of our clearing of the planet。 But let us not give in to depression。 They say it makes you stupid。 After all， women are on the rise。 Take Angela Merkel – what would Hitler say？ Most of us used to die at 35， now 70 is a slam dunk。 And in another 30 years， maybe less， we’ll have stem-cell meat and the pigs and chickens and cattle can all go to Disney World。 Just that pesky global warming thing…well， the Avatar Meher Baba said humanity learns through suffering， although he didn’t say anything about the poor squirrels and polar bears and nightingales。 But I actually believe some of us will make it to the other side and by then have learned how not to fuck everything up。 Hope， and new species， springs eternal。 And remember， if the earth were the Green Knight and we cut off her head， she’d just pick it up and move on。 If some fragments of humanity can manage to hold on to her torso while she recovers， that’s up to us。 But in a limitless universe and unfathomable microcosm – in the grand scheme of things that is – we may ultimately be just the personification of nothingness。 （By the way， no wonder Gawain didn’t get it on with the Lady。 He would have had to get down with the Lord too！ Medieval swingers， I guess。 Weird。） 。。。more
Richard Cubitt
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Exercises in translation from Tolkien。 Sir Gawain & the Green Knight - Excellent; clever， amusing in places， bawdy， and about the impossibility of achieving/maintaining the chivalric ideal。Pearl - A debate about why God allows suffering - nicely composed， great imagery， but not that interesting。Sir Orfeo - Narrative is akin to Orpheus but with a happy ending。 Light in tone。 A pleasure to read。
Emily Cladinos
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I'm not a huge fan of poetry， but it was a good read and nicely written。 I rated it 3 stars because it's just not my cup of tea。 I'm not a huge fan of poetry， but it was a good read and nicely written。 I rated it 3 stars because it's just not my cup of tea。 。。。more
Lois
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