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Read the complete translated text of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight here.
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Andrew Benson Brown has had poems and reviews published in a few journals. His epic-in-progress, Legends of Liberty, will chronicle the major events of the American Revolution if he lives to complete it. Though he writes history articles for American Essence magazine, he lists his primary occupation on official forms as ‘poet.’ He is, in other words, a vagabond.
This video is expertly executed and provides an excellent teaching resource for a work that does not get enough exposure in classrooms. Well done, Andrew!
-Evan Mantyk
Thanks. As we previously discussed on the first episode of my podcast, the Pearl Poet is rolling in his anonymous grave after viewing the latest “Green Knight” adaptation.
The Sean Connery version from the 80s, “Sword of the Valiant,” is over-the-top absurd, but Connery himself as a great GK. That movie is itself a remake of the 70s one, both done by the same director, both cheesy but have their merits. I think in terms of faithfulness, the 1991 version is the best of the lot that I’ve seen. There is also supposed to be an animated version from the early 2000s that’s decent.
Will the Pearl Poet ever be visually vindicated?
The Pearl Poet, whoever he was, had the worst luck possible for a writer. His ability and skill were absolutely stellar –right up there with Chaucer and Gower — but he wrote in an obscure dialect, his work survived in a single manuscript, and no real attention was paid to him until the late 19th century.
If “The Pearl” is not purely fictive, we know that the poet was a deeply bereaved father who lost a small daughter (probably named Margery). His name may have been Hugh de Massey.
This is a beautiful production, ABB. And Evan, what a job you have done to make the poem accessible for students! I taught “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” every spring semester for decades, and it never failed to delight the class.
Very interesting about Hugh de Massey, Joe. He seems one with the Beowulf poet—we’re lucky to have his work at all. Sometimes it only takes 500 years to get famous. I think I excerpted a few screenshots from the surviving manuscript.
I’d never heard this story of the Green Knight. Now… can Gawain keep his head after GK has lost his?
With every YouTube video and short, Andrew, you’re getting better and better.
Thanks, Mike. For some reason this one hasn’t gotten the traction the Odyssey and Christmas Carol readings have. Could it be that the thumbnail is too hard to read maybe? Or it’s just more obscure than those…even though it’s still kinda pretty famous.
Check out the short I just uploaded today–a ‘video poem’ I wrote last night that is specific to the format. The decaheptameter rolls unbroken by margins!
I just watched the short here:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ram8qpTCKc4
I like the scrolling words with one impactful image. I think that because shorts are short, of course, multiple images detract from the immediacy and focus of longer pieces. I think that slower scrolling and reading, again of course, of short pieces might help people to grasp the main point of the piece.
I still believe that every piece needs an ending, maybe the SCP logo, that lasts a few seconds before the beginning again ensues. The title of the poem can be the title of the short.
What do you think?
Yes this is good feedback Mike, thanks. In this case I just forgot to add the end logo. And the scrolling is a bit too fast.
I think that speed thing is a bit of a tightrope… probably can be too fast or too slow depending on the content.
Your rendition, as always, is excellent. The selections are quite entertaining, especially when the Green Knight loses his head, yet retrieves it. Is this a translation from Middle English?
Thanks Cheryl. Yes, from the Middle English, but as Joe noted above, a different dialect from Chaucer’s London English that didn’t go on to become the basis for standard modern English.
Totally agree with Evan: this is a wonderful teaching resource. Sadly, though, the reality of the poem is that it simply has never had the fame/the currency of, not only the Odyssey (what would have?), but also more homegrown epics such as Beowulf. Yet the story is astonishing, and so beautifully symmetrical. Well done ABB – a great job.
Thanks James. It’s probably the best Arthurian tale in English verse (though some might say Tennysons Idylls). And since Arthur was Welsh, it should count as homegrown! But Arthur had taken on more European connotations by this time I guess.
The pdf of ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ is posted here:
https://classicalpoets.org/2021/11/06/sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight-free-pdf/
Incidentally, it has received over one thousand views per month since it was posted and now stands north of twenty-seven thousand views here at SCP!
Beautifully done, ABB, and of great worth in an age in which classic literature is given the cold shoulder by controllers who know it’s the key to the door of a world of wonder. Thank you for your dedication to keeping fine works out there!
I really appreciate your support, Susan.