Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a fourteenth-century Middle English poem from the English Midlands, written by Bernard O'Donoghue. This literary work combines Celtic mythology with Christian themes and tells the story of the mysterious green knight who rides into Camelot at midwinter. The story focuses on Sir Gawain, who takes up the challenge from the green and puts his honor on the line.
Product information
- Author: Bernard O'Donoghue
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
- Imprint: Penguin Classics
- Language: English
- Binding type: B-format paperback
- Publication date: 2006-08-03
- Number of pages: 128
- ISBN: 9780140424539
- Theme: Literary studies: poetry and poets
- BISAC: LITERARY CRITICISM / Poetry
Summary
This epic poem describes how Sir Gawain meets the challenge of the green knight, who exposes himself to a deadly blow with the promise to return to answer it. The combination of medieval knights, magic, and morality makes Sir Gawain and the Green Knight a classic work in English literature and an important example of medieval poetry.
About the author
Bernard O'Donoghue is a Fellow in English at Wadham College and a respected Irish poet. The original author, known as the "Gawain Poet", lived in the same period as Geoffrey Chaucer and, besides Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, may also have written Patience, Cleanness, and Saint Erkenwald.