Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

In a recent post I talked about the “100 Books with Dante” method of tackling daunting classics by reading short chunks each day with a knowledgeable tutor to guide you through. There is nothing wrong with using training wheels to get through a classic for the first time.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of those stories that I knew I should read, but didn’t think I could because of the 14th Century Middle English. I noticed that Grace Hamman had covered the book on her podcast, “Old Books with Grace," and decided to read along with her, which was a great way to work my way through the book. I found a simplified (but not dumbed-down) kindle version by Marie Borroff (1923-2019, Lit professor from Yale) for 55 cents. I listened first to Grace’s half-hour introduction to each chapter, and then read the chapter. Hamman’s rich commentary and Borroff’s lovely translation made it a delight.   

The story takes place at Christmastime in the court of King Arthur. While he and his men are feasting, a huge green knight appears and challenges them to a "Christmas game" of chopping off each other's heads. If Arthur is unsuccessful, he must come to the green knight “in a year and a day” to have his own head cut off. King Arthur’s nephew, Sir Gawain, begs to take the king’s place in the match. The rest of the poem recounts his adventures.

I enjoyed this book so much that I bought the Simon Armitage version on Audible (the version Hamman used on her podcast) and look forward to re-visiting it in the future. 

Has anyone else tried to read this? Any thoughts?

Blessings,