Publisher's Synopsis
Landmark Modern-Verse Translations of the Medieval Poems Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl.
The two finest Middle-English poems newly rendered into modern English verse in an entirely original and eminently readable way.
A shining model of medieval chivalry, mystery, romance and fantasy imbued with the glowing spirit of generosity and purity, bound together with an aura of green and gold, and with the perfectly poised sheen of a priceless pearl.
These beautiful works by the so-named Gawain Poet can now be read as they were meant to be - with all their brilliant detail and colour and their movingly devout spirit of Christian virtue, expressed with a fresh clarity and musical fluidity.
Gavin Bantock has spent more than forty years working on these two poems, fine-tuning his modern text to bring out the real meaning behind the words as faithfully and accurately as possible.
"Mr Bantock's bold and rigorous approach to translation makes these gems of Medieval English literature both perfectly accessible and, with sumptuous alliteration and novel, brilliant rhyming, true to the essence and feel of the originals. 'Sir Gawain & the Green Knight' and 'Pearl' are re-born for a new generation." Professor Martin Connolly, Tsurumi University.
"Gavin Bantock's translation of 'Sir Gawain & the Green Knight' and 'Pearl' makes available two of the greatest poems of medieval literature. His modern rendering is lucid and highly engaging, while also preserving the tone and dignity of the originals. This is undoubtedly a precious entrance into the treasures of English literature." Hiroki Okamoto, Associate Professor, Ritsumeikan University
Author profile: Born in England in 1939, Gavin Bantock, poet, novelist, dramatist and director of drama, majored in English Language & Literature at New College, Oxford, where he also wrote his prize-winning long poem Christ . He has lived in Japan since 1969. He won major UK poetry awards in 1964 (Richard Hillary Award), 1966 (Alice Hunt-Bartlett [Poetry Society] Prize), 1969 (Eric Gregory Award), 1997 (Cardiff International) and 1998 (Arvon International). He has four publications with Carcanet Press. Recently he revised his epic poem Christ, which was republished as Christos in 2016. His latest work Katharsis, A Trilogy - Hiroshima, Person & Ichor was published in 2020.
