Pearl Poet

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th century romance, written in the alliterative form and in the north-west Midland dialect of Middle English. The author is now referred to as the Gawain Poet or the Pearl Poet, his real name being unknown.

Unless otherwise stated the translations are taken from the version by Brian Stone (Harmondsworth, 1974) ISBN 0140440925.

• Wheþer hade he no helme ne hawbergh nauþer,
  Ne no pysan ne no plate þat pented to armes,
  Ne no schafte ne no schelde to schwue ne to smyte,
  Bot in his on honde he hade a holyn bobbe,
  Þat is grattest in grene when greuez ar bare,
  And an ax in his oþer, a hoge and vnmete,
  A spetos sparþe to expoun in spelle, quoso myzt.
  Þe lenkþe of an elnzerde þe large hede hade.
  • Yet hauberk and helmet had he none,
    Nor plastron nor plate-armour proper to combat,
    Nor shield for shoving, nor sharp spear for lunging;
    But he held a holly cluster in one hand, holly
    That is greenest when groves are gaunt and bare,
    And an axe in his other hand, huge and monstrous,
    A hideous helmet-smasher for anyone to tell of;
    The head of that axe was an ell-rod long.
  • Passus 1, stanza 10, line 203

• Bot þenne þe weder of þe worlde wyth wynter hit þrepez,
  Colde clengez adoun, cloudez vplyften,
  Schyre schedez þe rayn in schowrez ful warme,
  Fallez vpon fayre flat, flowrez þere schewen,
  Boþe groundez and þe greuez grene ar her wedez,
  Bryddez busken to bylde, and bremlych syngen
  For solace of þe softe somer þat sues þerafter
  Bi bonk;
  And blossumez bolne to blowe
  Bi rawez rych and ronk,
  Þen notez noble innoze
  Ar herde in wod so wlonk.
  • Then weather more vernal wars with the wintry world,
    The cold ebbs and declines, the clouds lift,
    In shining showers the rain sheds warmth
    And falls upon the fair plain, where flowers appear;
    The grassy lawns and groves alike are garbed in green;
    Birds prepare to build, and brightly sing
    The solace of the ensuing summer that soothes hill
    And dell.
    By hedgerows rank and rich
    The blossoms bloom and swell,
    And sounds of sweetest pitch
    From lovely woodlands well.
  • Passus 2, stanza 22, line 504

• For werre wrathed hym not so much þat wynter nas wors,
  When þe colde cler water fro þe cloudez schadde,
  And fres er hit falle myzt to þe fale erþe;
  Ner slayn wyth þe slete he sleped in his yrnes
  Mo nyztez þen innoghe in naked rokkez,
  Þer as claterande fro þe crest þe colde borne rennez,
  And henged heze ouer his hede in hard iisse-ikkles.
  • Yet the warring little worried him; worse was the winter,
    When the cold clear water cascaded from the clouds
    And froze before it could fall to the fallow earth.
    Half-slain by the sleet, he slept in his armour
    Night after night among the naked rocks,
    Where the cold streams splashed from the steep crests
    Or hung high over his head in hard icicles.
  • Passus 2, stanza 31, line 726

• Bi a mounte on þe morne meryly he rydes
  Into a forest ful dep, þat ferly watz wylde,
  Hize hillez on vche a halue, and holtwodez vnder
  Of hore okez ful hoge a hundreth togeder;
  Þe hasel and þe hazþorne were harled al samen,
  With roze raged mosse rayled aywhere,
  With mony bryddez vnblyþe vpon bare twyges,
  Þat pitosly þer piped for pyne of þe colde.
  • Merrily in the morning by a mountain he rode
    Into a wondrously wild wooded cleft,
    With high hills on each side overpeering a forest
    Of huge hoary oaks, a hundred together.
    The hazel and the hawthorn were intertwined
    With rough ragged moss trailing everywhere,
    And on the bleak branches birds in misery
    Piteously piped away, pinched with cold.
  • Passus 2, stanza 32, line 740

• I sende hir to asay þe, and sothly me þynkkez
  On þe fautlest freke þat euer on fote zede;
  As perle bi þe quite pese is of prys more,
  So is Gawayn, in god fayth, bi oþer gay knyztez.
  • I instructed her to try you, and you truly seem
    To be the most perfect paladin ever to pace the earth.
    As the pearl to the white pea in precious worth,
    So in good faith is Gawain to other gay knights.
  • Passus 4, stanza 95, line 2362