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sarahrigg 's review for:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
by Gawain Poet
At Christmas time, a mysterious green knight barges into King Arthur's court and challenges the knights to a contest: They can take one swing at him with a weapon if he can return the blow in a year and a day. Brave Sir Gawain steps up to take the blow, and a year later, travels to keep his word to let the Green Knight return the blow. Adventures and magical mishaps befall Gawain on the way.
Gosh, I really wanted to like this book, one of the oldest extent stories that involves King Arthur! But, I think I should have picked a different version/translation. This was a Penguin Classic, and they kept the Middle English and supplied a glossary and notes.
I feel like this is the absolute hardest way to read the book. I had to put in 3 bookmarks: one for the text, one for the glossary, and one for the end notes. I think a side-by-side comparison of the original text and a modern translation would have been my preference. Second best would be to have footnotes with vocabulary and explanatory notes right on the page. I think the authors didn't do this because half of each page would be glossary notes!
Anyway, I'm giving this 3 stars because the story is classic and fun, and reading the original text did give me an appreciation for the tradition of alliteration in old English texts, but if anybody is thinking of tackling this, try a different edition! Upon doing some googling, I think if I ever read this again, I would go for the Simon Armitage retelling in modern English.
Gosh, I really wanted to like this book, one of the oldest extent stories that involves King Arthur! But, I think I should have picked a different version/translation. This was a Penguin Classic, and they kept the Middle English and supplied a glossary and notes.
I feel like this is the absolute hardest way to read the book. I had to put in 3 bookmarks: one for the text, one for the glossary, and one for the end notes. I think a side-by-side comparison of the original text and a modern translation would have been my preference. Second best would be to have footnotes with vocabulary and explanatory notes right on the page. I think the authors didn't do this because half of each page would be glossary notes!
Anyway, I'm giving this 3 stars because the story is classic and fun, and reading the original text did give me an appreciation for the tradition of alliteration in old English texts, but if anybody is thinking of tackling this, try a different edition! Upon doing some googling, I think if I ever read this again, I would go for the Simon Armitage retelling in modern English.