from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, lines 1921-1978, by the [anonymous] Pearl-poet
Original text in Middle English:
And þenne þay helden to home, for hit watz nieȝ nyȝt,
Strakande ful stoutly in hor store hornez.
Þe lorde is lyȝt at þe laste at hys lef home,
Fyndez fire vpon flet, þe freke þerbyside,
Sir Gawayn þe gode, þat glad watz with alle—
Among þe ladies for luf he ladde much joye.
He were a bleaunt of blew, þat bradde to þe erþe,
His surkot semed hym wel, þat softe watz forred,
And his hode of þat ilke henged on his schulder;
Blande al of blaunner were boþe al aboute.
He metez me þis godmon inmyddez þe flore
And al with gomen he hym gret and goudly he sayde,
‘I schal fylle vpon fyrst oure forwardez nouþe,
Þat we spedly han spoken, þer spared watz no drynk.’
Þen acoles he þe knyȝt and kysses hym þryes
As sauerly and sadly as he hem sette couþe.
‘Bi Kryst,’ quoþ þat oþer knyȝt, ‘Ȝe cach much sele
In cheuisaunce of þis chaffer, ȝif ȝe hade goud chepez.’
‘Ȝe, of þe chepe no charg,’ quoþ chefly þat oþer,
‘As is pertly payed þe porchas þat I aȝte.’
‘Mary,’ quoþ þat oþer mon, ‘myn is bihynde,
For I haf hunted al þis day and noȝt haf I geten
Bot þis foule fox felle—þe Fende haf þe godez! —
And þat is ful pore for to pay for suche prys þinges
As ȝe haf þryȝt me here þro, suche þre cosses
So gode.’
‘Inoȝ,’ quoþ Sir Gawayn,
‘I þonk yow, bi þe rode,’
And how þe fox watz slayn
He tolde hym as þay stode.
With merþe and mynstralsye, with metez at hor wylle,
Þay maden as mery as any men moȝten—
With laȝyng of ladies, with lotez of bordes,
(Gawayn and þe godemon so glad were þay boþe),
Bot if þe douthe had doted oþer dronken ben oþer.
Boþe þe mon and þe meyny maden mony japez,
Til þe sesoun watz seȝen þat þay seuer moste;
Burnez to hor bedde behoued at þe laste.
Þenne loȝly his leue at þe lorde fyrst
Fochchez þis fre mon and fayre he hym þonkkez
‘Of such a selly sojorne as I haf hade here.
Your honour at þis hyȝe fest þe Hyȝe Kyng yow ȝelde!
I ȝef yow me for on of yourez, if yowreself lykez,
For I mot nedes, as ȝe wot, meue tomorne,
And ȝe me take sum tolke to teche, as ȝe hyȝt,
Þe gate to þe Grene Chapel, as God wyl me suffer
To dele on Nw Ȝerez Day þe dome of my wyrdes.’
‘In god fayþe,’ quoþ þe godmon, ‘wyth a goud wylle
Al þat euer I yow hyȝt halde schal I redé.’
Þer asyngnes he a seruaunt to sett hym in þe waye
And coundue hym by þe downez, þat he no drechch had,
For to ferk þurȝ þe fryth and fare at þe gaynest
Bi greue.
Þe lorde Gawayn con þonk
Such worchip he wolde hym weue.
Þen at þo ladyez wlonk
Þe knyȝt hatz tan his leue.
Modern English translation by Marie Borroff:
And then they headed homeward, for evening had come,
Blowing many a blast on their bugles bright.
The lord at long last alights at his house,
Finds fire on the hearth where the fair knight waits,
Sir Gawain the good, that was glad in heart.
With the ladies, that loved him, he lingered at ease;
He wore a rich robe of blue that reached to the earth
And a surcoat lined softly with sumptuous furs;
A hood of the same hue hung on his shoulders;
With bands of bright ermine embellished were both.
He comes to meet the man amid all the folk,
And greets him good humoredly, and gaily he says,
“I shall follow forthwith the form of our pledge
That we framed to good effect amid fresh-filled cups.”
He clasps him accordingly and kisses him thrice,
As amiably and as earnestly as ever he could.
“By heaven,” said the host, “you have had some luck
Since you took up this trade, if the terms were good.”
“Never trouble about the terms,” he returned at once,
“Since all that I owe here is openly paid.”
“Marry!” said the other man, “mine is much less,
For I have hunted all day, and nought have I got
But this foul fox pelt, the fiend take the goods!
Which but poorly repays those precious things
That you have cordially conferred, those kisses three
so good.”
“Enough!” said Sir Gawain;
“I thank you, by the rood!”
And how the fox was slain
He told him, as they stood.
With minstrelsy and mirth, with all manner of meats,
They made as much merriment as any men might
(Amid laughing of ladies and lighthearted girls,
So gay grew Sir Gawain and the goodly host)
Unless they had been besotted, or brainless fools.
The knight joined in jesting with that joyous folk,
Until at last it was late; before long they must part,
And be off to their beds, as behooved them each one.
Then politely his leave of the lord of the house
Our noble knight takes, and renews his thanks:
“The courtesies countless accorded me here,
Your kindness at this Christmas, may heaven’s King repay!
Henceforth, if you will have me, I hold you my liege,
And so, as I have said, I must set forth tomorrow,
If I may take some trusty man to teach, as you promised,
The way to the Green Chapel, that as God allows
I shall see my fate fulfilled on the first of the year.”
“In good faith,” said the good man, “with a good will
Every promise on my part shall be fully performed.”
He assigns him a servant to set him on the path,
To see him safe and sound over the snowy hills,
To follow the fastest way through forest green
and grove.
Gawain thanks him again.
So kind his favors prove,
And of the ladies then
He takes his leave, with love.
Source of the original text – The Complete Works of the Pearl Poet, translated with an introduction by Casey Finch, with facing-page Middle English text edited by Malcolm Andrew, Ronald Waldron, and Clifford Peterson. Berkeley : University of California
Source of the translation – The Gawain Poet: Complete Works, edited and translated by Marie Borroff. New York
Bourguignomicon: Christmas feast as the thing we do to stave off death. Listen to the urgency-of-evoking-beauty the poet imparts with his alliterative lines.
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