Poetry.
Just as important, the densely mythic ethos, fully intact, enriches every word.--Richard Wakefield Panoramas of banqueting and hunting, closely observed rituals of dressing, arming, and game preparation, and rich descriptions of landscape and weather--Ridland\'s Translation presents these in all their delightful, over-the-top particularity.--Maryann Corbett The language in which the consummate poet and translator John Ridland serves up this delicious story in Verse is exactly w.
Ridland gives the poem a long, loose line that sings in the lyrical passages, creeps in the spooky ones, and cavorts in the comic ones.
Originally written in the same alliterative Verse as Beowulf, SIR Gawain AND THE Green Knight was archaic in its own day; now, over six-hundred years later, alliterative Verse can be as inaccessible as the pentatonic harp tunes that apparently accompanied it.
It is slightly elevated, as befits a work so finely crafted, but only enough to demand our attention.
The language is ours.
Kennedy John Ridland gives us a recognizably English GAWAIN, and a very pleasurable one at that.
Here is a book to enjoy right now and to cherish forever.--X.
J.
His preface, too, is useful and illuminating.
I\'ve seen several other versions of this masterpiece, but none so engagingly readable as Ridland\'s.
With his loving rendition of a great classic into vigorous metrical lines, John Ridland has given SIR Gawain AND THE Green Knight a fresh lease on life.
This Translation is a must-have for unlocking all the pleasures and delights of the original classic.
Ridland\'s introduction and notes are enlightening.
And Dr.
His is the only version written in a familiar Modern meter--pleasurable to Modern ears, yet retaining the spirit of repetition and alliteration of the medieval original.
John Ridland\'s new Modern English translation, unlike most presentations, is complete, covering every passage and word of the Middle English, Northwest Midland dialect original with the same line numbering, contents and meaning.
Hailed as the finest Arthurian romance, this technically brilliant tale of enchantment, faith, temptation, and chivalry is tautly constructed, with a wonderfully rich vocabulary and vivid language that blends sophisticated atmosphere with psychological depth.
SIR Gawain AND THE Green Knight by the anonymous Gawain-Poet (or Pearl-Poet) is, like Beowulf, one of the greatest classics of English literature.
Poetry
