Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: with Pearl and Sir Orfeo
(Hardback, Deluxe Slipcased edition)
Available Formats
Publishing Details
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: with Pearl and Sir Orfeo
By (Author) J. R. R. Tolkien
HarperCollins Publishers
HarperCollins
8th July 2020
30th April 2020
Deluxe Slipcased edition
United Kingdom
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
Classic and pre-20th century poetry
Literary studies: poetry and poets
821.1
Physical Properties
Hardback
256
Width 149mm, Height 228mm, Spine 35mm
870g
Description
This elegant deluxe slipcased edition of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour, features a beautifully decorated text and includes as a bonus the complete text of Tolkiens acclaimed lecture on Sir Gawain.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl are two poems by an unknown author written in about 1400. Sir Gawain is a romance, a fairy-tale for adults, full of life and colour; but it is also much more than this, being at the same time a powerful moral tale which examines religious and social values.
Pearl is apparently an elegy on the death of a child, a poem pervaded with a sense of great personal loss: but, like Gawain it is also a sophisticated and moving debate on much less tangible matters.
Sir Orfeo is a slighter romance, belonging to an earlier and different tradition. It was a special favourite of Tolkiens.
The three translations represent the complete rhyme and alliterative schemes of the originals, and are uniquely accompanied in this special deluxe slipcased edition with the complete text of Tolkiens acclaimed 1953 W.P. Ker Memorial Lecture that he delivered on Sir Gawain.
Reviews
The introduction to Gawain is a little masterpiece.
Times Higher Educational Supplement
This magnificent Arthurian tale of love, sex, honour, social tact, personal integrity and folk-magic is one of the greatest and most approachable narrative poems in the language. Tolkiens version makes it come triumphantly alive, a moving and consoling elegy.
Birmingham Post
Author Bio
J.R.R.Tolkien (1892-1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over 60 languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.
