Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

with Pearl and Sir Orfeo

By: not specified, J. R. R. Tolkien - translator

Narrated by: Terry Jones

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.

Critic 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

Contains bonus stories

The title of this audiobook would have you believe that it's entire contents are Sir Gowain and the Green Knight. Sir Gowain's story is here but there are also the Tolkien translations of two other medieval English works: Pearl and Sir Orpheo. Pearl is a poem that acts as a vessel for medieval Catholic theology, but also contains a rather colorful description of Heaven as a tiered city (not unlike Minas Tirith, but made out of different types of stone). Sir Orpheo is a medieval anglicization of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. I found both additional works to be enjoyable, if unexpected.

Also, Terry Jones, of course, does a great job reading these works and their introductions.

It’s Tolkien

It’s Tolkien AND Terry Jones, of Monty Python game. Of course it is good. Nay, tis glorious. Tis a marvel. Tis a vision.

Absolutely a delight.

So many of the modern stories, are uncompelling and repetitive. But you can’t go wrong with a classic like this. So beautifully written, enchanting and a story, so full of meaning.

beuatifully read

I love the content and narration, it seems difficult to read in this style of verse/metre

I really liked Sir Gawain

I really enjoyed Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The other two poems were well done. However, I didn’t find them as interesting. Perhaps I needed a break before reading them, but having not taken one, they just didn’t hold my attention as well. Still, it was a good book. The rhythmic flow of the poetry was quite interesting and refreshing from other poems I’ve read.