The Knightly tales of Sir Gawain

He collection here illuminates the many aspects of Sir Gawain's illustrious reputation. The reader will find Gawain engaging his opponents and emerging as the best and most courageous fighter. Gawain's chivalry is contrasted with the rudeness of Sir Kay, and his charm succeeds where Kay's boorishness fails. As a great lover, Gawain knows no rival. The stories which have been collected here were originally written in verse. A minstrel sang these medieval tales or a storyteller recited them in the great hall of a castle, at pilgrim's inns, or in lively town taverns. Modern verse versions (such as those by Alfred Lord Tennyson or Edwin Arlington Robinson) and the modern prose narratives are thought to be best read silently and alone. With such differences in purpose come many differences in style. The stylistic devices - commands to the audience, use of the first person, and the "inexpressible" as a rhetorical device - have been preserved in this translation even though they may appear rather stilted today.… (more)