Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - Softcover

Barron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0389210188 ISBN 13: 9780389210184

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1998

Synopsis

Preserved on a single surviving manuscript dating from around 1400, composed by an anonymous master, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was rediscovered only two hundred years ago, and published for the first time in 1839. One of the earliest great stories of English literature after Beowulf, the poem narrates in crystalline verse the strange tale of a green knight on a green horse, who rudely interrupts the Round Table festivities one Yuletide, casting a pall of unease over the company and challenging one of their number to a wager. The virtuous Gawain accepts and decapitates the intruder with his own axe. Gushing blood, the knight reclaims his head, orders Gawain to seek him out a year hence, and departs. Next Yuletide Gawain dutifully sets forth … His quest for the Green Knight involves a winter journey, a seduction scene in a dream-like castle, a dire challenge answered — and a drama of enigmatic reward disguised as psychic undoing.

About this title

About the Author

Bernard O'Donoghue is a Fellow in English at Wadham College and a noted Irish poet.

Language Notes

Text: English

Edition details

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0389210188
• ISBN 13: 9780389210184
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 1