Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

By: Simon Armitage

Narrated by: Bill Wallis

The famous Middle English poem by an anonymous Northern England poet is beautifully translated by fellow poet Simon Armitage. This audiobook features a brilliant reading of the translation by Bill Wallis; as a bonus, Wallis also masterfully tackles the poem in its original Middle English text.

"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" narrates in crystalline verse the strange tale of a green knight who rudely interrupts the Round Table festivities one Yuletide, casting a pall of unease over the company and challenging one of their number to a wager. The virtuous Gawain accepts and then decapitates the intruder with his own axe. Gushing blood, the knight reclaims his head, orders Gawain to seek him out a year hence, and departs. Next Yuletide, Gawain dutifully sets forth. His quest for the Green Knight involves a winter journey, a seduction scene in a dream-like castle, a dire challenge answered, and a drama of enigmatic reward disguised as psychic undoing.

©2007 Simon Armitage (P)2007 BBC Audiobooks America

Critic reviews

"'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' is one of the eerie, exuberant joys of Middle English poetry....Simon Armitage has given us an energetic, free-flowing, high-spirited version. He reminds us that 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' still wields an uncanny power after 600 years." ( The New York Times Book Review)

great original, translation, and reader

I loved this in Middle English, in grad school, and it was a huge treat to encounter a skilled reader, a very good new translation AND the original as well, competently read.

The story is really good, and the poetry remains to a fair extent in the translation. The reader is outstanding.

Breathtaking

This medieval tale of gallantry and honour is brought to glorious life by narrator, Bill Wallis.
The hint of supernatural forces at play in the narrative is heightened by the gripping vocal interpretations that Wallis brings to the reading.
The rich language and alliterative composition remain a thing of joy these hundreds of years later.

Great

No way this can rate under 5 stars. Whoever would do so would be a Grinch! Excellent altogether, and the untranslated version comes after. That was unexpected.

Old Fable in a Superb, Refreshing New Translation

I didn't fully appreciate this when I read it 25 years ago, at least as I can recall. This new translation is refreshing and easily comprehensible without watering down the tale's mysticism or sacrificing its bite.

Very good performance by the narrator.

One of the greatest of all winter tales

Listening to this perfect performance of Armitage's great translation of this classic has become part of my annual winter traditions. The poem was meant to be read aloud, and its alliterative language is lively and musical to hear. Its perfect for hearing in Christmas season, especially in the week leading into the new year, when the meat of the story takes place. Bill Wallis has a rich and resonant voice, and is well suited to narrating both the modern translation and the Middle English original.

Half in Modern English, half in Old English

The first half is the poem read in modern-day vernacular, and the second half is read in old English. I actually skipped the last half because I wanted to move on to something else, but it is worth listening to if you can understand and appreciate the language.
It’s a beautiful, colorful (pun intended), comedic, and fantastical story and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Arthurian Romance

The poem was easy to understand, much like The Lady of Shalott, or The Highwayman. And any one that loves a good Arthurian tale will surely love this. Another added bonus was the translator Simon Armitage's introduction. And at the end of the story Bill Wallis, who by the way does a fantastic job, re-reads the poem but this time in Middle English, wow it was a real treat to hear it the way it sounded 600 years ago.

Timeless

Would you consider the audio edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to be better than the print version?

This medieval Englsh poem was intended to be listened to - not read. This version allows a modern audience to respond to it in perhaps a similar way to those listening in or around the year 1400.

Who was your favorite character and why?

One can picture Sir Gawain easily - not only physically in the perfection of his body and clothes, but also as a young knight eager to behave as he knows he should. His reaction when confronted with his failings is movingly described.

What does Bill Wallis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Narration by Bill Wallis would give depth and drama to the back of a cereal packet.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The moment when the identity of the Green Knight is revealed.

Any additional comments?

I wondered if I would be able to concentrate on this, sharing as I'm afraid I do the lack of concentration of many other modern listeners to anything that might be difficult or out of the ordinary. I needn't have worried. I only stopped listening when real life intruded, and then was eager to get back to it.Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has been translated into a masterly modern alliterative version by Simon Armitage - and Bill Wallis was the perfect narrator of this timeless, moving, magical story. Then there is the bonus of hearing the text as it probably sounded in its original form - musical to listen to even when one only understands part of each stanza.

Great Listen

I loved listening to this audiobook. The story of this valiant knight kept me interested, and the narrator was excellent. Great listen!

Great!

The first three hours are in modern English, and the last three are in Old English. The narrator manages to use a distinctive voice for each character in both versions. Good, fun story, and it was easy to appreciate the lovely poetry even though I'm not a big poetry fan.

I wasn't originally planning to listen to the Old English, but once I got started it was fun to see which lines were recognizable as English and which ones weren't. I got so much more out of the audio version of this book than I would have if I had bought the print edition. There's no way I would have read half a book of Old English, so having someone pronouncing all of the words really added to my enjoyment of the text.