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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: with Pearl and Sir Orfeo

CD-Audio

Main Details

Title Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: with Pearl and Sir Orfeo
Authors and Contributors      By (author)
Translated by J. R. R. Tolkien
Read by Terry Jones
Physical Properties
Format:CD-Audio
Dimensions(mm): Height 125,Width 142
Category/GenrePoetry anthologies
ISBN/Barcode 9780007223619
ClassificationsDewey:821.1
Audience
General
Edition Unabridged edition

Publishing Details

Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
Imprint HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Publication Date 17 April 2006
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

A collection of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Pearl are two poems by an unknown author written in about 1400. Sir Gawain is a romance, a fairy-tale for adults, full of life and colour; but it is also much more than this, being at the same time a powerful moral tale which examines religious and social values. Pearl is apparently an elegy on the death of a child, a poem pervaded with a sense of great personal loss: but, like Gawain it is also a sophisticated and moving debate on much less tangible matters. Sir Orfeo is a slighter romance, belonging to an earlier and different tradition. It was a special favourite of Tolkien's. The three translations represent the complete rhyme and alliterative schemes of the originals.

Author Biography

J.R.R.Tolkien (1892-1973) was a distinguished academic, though he is best known for writing The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, plus other stories and essays. His books have been translated into over 60 languages and have sold many millions of copies worldwide.

Reviews

'The introduction to Gawain is a little masterpiece.' Times Higher Educational Supplement 'This magnificent Arthurian tale of love, sex, honour, social tact, personal integrity and folk-magic is one of the greatest and most approachable narrative poems in the language. Tolkien's version makes it come triumphantly alive, a moving and consoling elegy.' Birmingham Post