Other editions of book Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Arthurian legends have long been the source of countless popular tales. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is one of the best known and most widely read. During King Arthur's New Year's celebration, a mysterious knight, with green clothes and horse, arrives with a challenge to the knights of the round table—any one of them may swing at the Green Knight with an axe if he too is willing to take a blow one year and one day after. Gawain, one of Arthur's most noble knights, steps up and easily beheads the Green Knight. Yet the knight magically picks up his head and tells Gawain he will see him in one year and one day. Gawain must go through many tribulations during this year as he upholds the values of the chivalric code, approaching reunion with the enigmatic character. Jessie L. Weston (1850-1928), a noted medieval scholar and folklorist provides a skilled prose rendition staying true to the original while maintaining readability. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" continues to resonate and captivate readers today.

Arthurian legends have long been the source of countless popular tales. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is one of the best known and most widely read. During King Arthur’s New Year’s celebration, a mysterious knight, with green clothes and horse, arrives with a challenge to the knights of the round table—any one of them may swing at the Green Knight with an axe if he too is willing to take a blow one year and one day after. Gawain, one of Arthur’s most noble knights, steps up and easily beheads the Green Knight. Yet the knight magically picks up his head and tells Gawain he will see him in one year and one day. Gawain must go through many tribulations during this year as he upholds the values of the chivalric code, approaching reunion with the enigmatic character. Jessie L. Weston, a noted medieval scholar and folklorist, provides a skilled prose rendition staying true to the original while maintaining readability. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” continues to resonate and captivate readers today. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

Brave, chivalrous, loyally faithful to his plighted word, scrupulously heedful of his own and others' honour, Gawain stands before us in this poem. We take up Malory or Tennyson, and in spite of their charm of style, in spite of the halo of religious mysticism in which they have striven to enwrap their characters, we lay them down with a feeling of dissatisfaction. How did the Gawain of their imagination, this empty-headed, empty-hearted worldling, cruel murderer, and treacherous friend, ever come to be the typical English hero? For such Gawain certainly was, even more than Arthur himself. Then we turn back to these faded pages, and read the quaintly earnest words in which the old writer reveals the hidden meaning of that mystic symbol, the pentangle, and vindicates Gawain's title to claim it as his badge-and we smile, perhaps, but we cease to wonder at the widespread popularity of King Arthur's famous nephew, or at the immense body of romance that claims him as its hero.

Brave, chivalrous, loyally faithful to his plighted word, scrupulously heedful of his own and others' honour, Gawain stands before us in this poem. We take up Malory or Tennyson, and in spite of their charm of style, in spite of the halo of religious mysticism in which they have striven to enwrap their characters, we lay them down with a feeling of dissatisfaction. How did the Gawain of their imagination, this empty-headed, empty-hearted worldling, cruel murderer, and treacherous friend, ever come to be the typical English hero? For such Gawain certainly was, even more than Arthur himself. Then we turn back to these faded pages, and read the quaintly earnest words in which the old writer reveals the hidden meaning of that mystic symbol, the pentangle, and vindicates Gawain's title to claim it as his badge-and we smile, perhaps, but we cease to wonder at the widespread popularity of King Arthur's famous nephew, or at the immense body of romance that claims him as its hero.

Brave, chivalrous, loyally faithful to his plighted word, scrupulously heedful of his own and others' honour, Gawain stands before us in this poem. We take up Malory or Tennyson, and in spite of their charm of style, in spite of the halo of religious mysticism in which they have striven to enwrap their characters, we lay them down with a feeling of dissatisfaction. How did the Gawain of their imagination, this empty-headed, empty-hearted worldling, cruel murderer, and treacherous friend, ever come to be the typical English hero? For such Gawain certainly was, even more than Arthur himself. Then we turn back to these faded pages, and read the quaintly earnest words in which the old writer reveals the hidden meaning of that mystic symbol, the pentangle, and vindicates Gawain's title to claim it as his badge-and we smile, perhaps, but we cease to wonder at the widespread popularity of King Arthur's famous nephew, or at the immense body of romance that claims him as its hero.

Brave, chivalrous, loyally faithful to his plighted word, scrupulously heedful of his own and others' honour, Gawain stands before us in this poem. We take up Malory or Tennyson, and in spite of their charm of style, in spite of the halo of religious mysticism in which they have striven to enwrap their characters, we lay them down with a feeling of dissatisfaction. How did the Gawain of their imagination, this empty-headed, empty-hearted worldling, cruel murderer, and treacherous friend, ever come to be the typical English hero? For such Gawain certainly was, even more than Arthur himself. Then we turn back to these faded pages, and read the quaintly earnest words in which the old writer reveals the hidden meaning of that mystic symbol, the pentangle, and vindicates Gawain's title to claim it as his badge-and we smile, perhaps, but we cease to wonder at the widespread popularity of King Arthur's famous nephew, or at the immense body of romance that claims him as its hero.