Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Norton Critical Edition

Book Overview

Marie Borroff's acclaimed verse translation, marginal glosses, and explanatory footnotes. Laura L. Howes's full introduction along with Borroff's seminal essay, "The Metrical Forms," as well as her "Translator's Note." For comparative study and classroom discussion, two French tales of Sir Gawain, four selections from the original Middle English poem, and a passage from the Alliterative Morte Arthure. Nine critical essays on the poem's central themes, four of them new to the Second Edition. A chronology and a selected bibliography. About the Series Read by more than 12 million students over fifty-five years, Norton Critical Editions set the standard for apparatus that is right for undergraduate readers. The three-part format--annotated text, contexts, and criticism--helps students to better understand, analyze, and appreciate the literature, while opening a wide range of teaching possibilities for instructors. Whether in print or in digital format, Norton Critical Editions provide all the resources students need. "Almost lost to the ages, now surviving in but one faded, precious, manuscript, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight calls forth with exceptional brilliance and mordant precision a chthonic force rarely investigated in other works of the later Middle Ages. Unquestionably, this poem would have been challenging even to its first readers in the turbulent fourteenth century, and so the present volume brings to bear all the advantages of the Norton Critical Edition format--superlative translations, comparative source and background texts, and landmark critical studies--to facilitate an access made even more challenging (but no less enticing) by the passage of centuries." ?Stephen H. A. Shepherd, Loyola Marymount University "A masterpiece of Middle English literature, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight spins an Arthurian tale full of suspense, magic, and adventure. This newly revised edition of Marie Borroff's classic verse translation offers a lively and accessible text as well as a rich array of contextual and critical material for the reader who wants to dig deeper into the poem's fantastical world, alliterative poetry, or literary themes." --Shannon Gayk, Indiana University, Bloomington

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393532461
• ISBN13: 9780393532463
• Release Date: June 2021
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Another great Arthurian Legend!

I’ve been wanting a copy of this little book for a while. It arrived in the correct condition, and even a few days early.

Literature for the Ages

Merwin has risen to the challenge, and, unlike Gawain, he has prevailed triumphantly on the first stroke.A new, exciting translation of the Arthurian legend, SIR GAWAIN & THE GREEN KNIGHT reads excitingly crisp and vibrant. A story with equal parts chivalry, temptation, redemption, and romance, Merwin's GAWAIN deserves to be read by a far wider audience or, even better, deserves a touring one-man roadshow presented theatrically. Easily explored in a single sitting, this clever tome should be required reading for any serious explorer of mythology, real or even the realms of pure fantasy.Highest recommendation!

"Hony Soyt Qui Mal Pense"

"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is considered one of the finest Arthurian romances in English. It belongs to the so-called Alliterative Revival: the organizing device of the line is alliteration, the beginning of several words with the same sounds ("foemen fled"). Unlike most Arthurian romances, which deal with the end of Arthur's life and his death, in "Sir Gawain," Arthur is still a youth, and the court is in its springtime. The main plot belongs to a type folklorists classify as the "Beheading Game," in which a supernatural challenger offers to let his head be cut off in exchange for a return blow. The poem is chock-full of games and exchanges.Dr. Borroff studied under E. Talbot Donaldson, who translated "Beowulf" to prose during the same period at Yale. Her translation is a joy and great fun to read.

excellent story, outstanding translation

I love Sir Gawain and The Green Knight; it is interesting not only because of its expansive picture of what chivalry is (and what people pretend it is), but also for the fact that it can be read from many perspectives (try giving it a feminist reading, for instance, and see what you come up with!). I want to commend Borroff's translation in particular; she reproduces the alliterative meter and verse structure superbly, adding much to the reading. This work is captivating and entrancing; I highly recommend it.