At Camelot's New Year feast, a huge green knight rides in and offers a challenge: anyone may strike him with an axe, if he can return the blow in a year and a day. Sir Gawain accepts and cuts off the knight's head, but the Green Knight picks it up and rides away, reminding Gawain to meet him. Gawain sets out the next winter, spends days at a castle where the lord offers a game of exchange and the lady tempts him, and he finally faces the axe. The anonymous Middle English poem is about honor, fear, and temptation.
Readers who enjoy Arthurian legends and medieval literature will find a vivid story. Modern translations make it accessible, and it is short enough for a single evening.
Deep; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1375
- Language
- EN
