Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

by Burton Raffel (Translator), Burton Raffel (Preface by), Brenda Webster (Introduction), Neil D. Isaacs (Afterword)

Overview

An epic poem of honor and bravery written by an anonymous fourteenth-century poet, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is recognized as an equal of Chaucer’s masterworks and of the great Old English poems, including Beowulf.
 
It is Christmas in Camelot, and a truly royal feast has been laid out for King Arthur and his knights. And though there is plenty of good cheer to go around, the festivities hardly begin before a monstrous, axe-wielding, green-skinned knight barges in. He has come to see the famous Knights of the Round Table and offer them a simple but deadly challenge—a challenge taken on by the brave Sir Gawain—a challenge that will force him to choose between his honor and his life...

Includes a Preface by Burton Raffel an Introduction by Brenda Webster and an Afterword by Neil D. Isaacs 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451531193
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/03/2009
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	15,827
Product dimensions:	4.10(w) x 6.70(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Burton Raffel is professor emeritus at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and an eminent poet and translator. He is the author of numerous books of literary criticism, including How to Read a Poem, and critically acclaimed translations of such works as Beowulf and Don Quixote.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
A Note on the Text

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Appendix A: From Caradoc

Appendix B: The Story of the False Guenevere and Bertelay

Appendix C: From The Knight with the Sword

Appendix D: From Edward of Norwich, Second Duke of York, The Master of Game

Glossary

Select Bibliography and Works Cited

Editorial Reviews

“Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is arguably the greatest poem surviving in English from any period, and Paul Battles’ edition is the ideal introduction to it. The text has been reconsidered at every level, and the notes and glossary take in the latest scholarship, but the scholarship never threatens to overwhelm the beauty and power of the poem. The new appendices on sources and analogs are especially valuable.” — Tom Shippey, Professor Emeritus, Saint Louis University

“Among the increasing number of translations of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, it is good to be able to welcome a new edition of the poem itself. The very richness of the poem’s verbal detail and the subtlety of its philosophical argument require a mastery of the original text, and in this edition the beginning student is fortunate to have not only a learned guide but also a sensible one who writes with engaging clarity and is tolerant of the diversity of critical opinion. The text itself is supplied not only with marginal glosses and succinct, informative notes but also a full glossary. The four well-chosen appendices are worthy of special mention, providing valuable source material that places the poem in its authentic context of Arthurian romance and aristocratic culture.” — Gerald Morgan, Trinity College Dublin

From the Publisher

"Among the increasing number of translations of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, it is good to be able to welcome a new edition of the poem itself. The very richness of the poem's verbal detail and the subtlety of its philosophical argument require a mastery of the original text, and in this edition the beginning student is fortunate to have not only a learned guide but also a sensible one who writes with engaging clarity and is tolerant of the diversity of critical opinion. The text itself is supplied not only with marginal glosses and succinct, informative notes but also a full glossary. The four well-chosen appendices are worthy of special mention, providing valuable source material that places the poem in its authentic context of Arthurian romance and aristocratic culture."

Gerald Morgan

"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is arguably the greatest poem surviving in English from any period, and Paul Battles' edition is the ideal introduction to it. The text has been reconsidered at every level, and the notes and glossary take in the latest scholarship, but the scholarship never threatens to overwhelm the beauty and power of the poem. The new appendices on sources and analogs are especially valuable."

Tom Shippey