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Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales

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Author
Thomas Hahn
Editor
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description

This edition provides the first modern collection of all eleven known Middle English Gawain tales composed or recorded in the fifteenth century or later. These romances highlight Gawain’s status as the most popular hero of Arthurian legend in medieval England, producing a tradition that discards Gawain’s roles of foil, rival, and even villain in Continental European romances to elevate him as the English flower of chivalry. Whether facing the supernatural in the wilderness, danger on the battlefield, or the perils of love, it is Gawain’s peerless courtesy, his “perfect composure in moments of crisis,” that reasserts social bonds and propriety, tames the socially or exotically monstrous, and brings the unruly under royal rule. Demonstrating that Gawain’s prominence in English romance extends far beyond Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, these tales cast this familiar character in a new light and offer valuable insights into English views on the chivalric ideal.

forms
Poetry
additional information
Cover design by Elizabeth King.
contents
  1. General Introduction
  3. Introduction to The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle
  4. The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle
    2. Introduction to Sir Gawain and The Carle of Carlisle
    3. Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle
      2. Introduction to The Avowyng of Arthur
      3. The Avowyng of Arthur
        2. Introduction to The Awntyrs off Arthur
        3. The Awntyrs off Arthur
          2. Introduction to The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain
          3. The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain
            2. Introduction to The Greene Knight
            3. The Greene Knight
              2. Introduction to The Turke and Sir Gawain
              3. The Turke and Sir Gawain
                2. Introduction to The Marriage of Sir Gawain
                3. The Marriage of Sir Gawain
                  2. Introduction to The Carle of Carlisle
                  3. The Carle of Carlisle
                    2. Introduction to The Jeaste of Sir Gawain
                    3. The Jeaste of Sir Gawain
                      2. Introduction to King Arthur and King Cornwall
                      3. King Arthur and King Cornwall