But he also avoids the tack chosen by Seamus Heaney in his Beowulf; Heaney delighted in using obscure words from time to time, which does not fit with the context of such works. These tales were declaimed, read out loud, and to groups of people who were certainly not learned. What may seem obscure in the original - or what may have an obscure equivalent today - shouldn't sound as such in a translation. These tales need to be rendered in contemporary language, as they were heard in the contemporary languages of their originators.

On the down side, Merwin seems to fall into the trap of false cognates - words that, while spelled the same, have different meanings today. A few examples:

On page 27, Gawain says "And if my request is improper, I ask this great court not to blame me." The middle English word, blame, is closer to today's "censure", "criticize", or even "find fault with". Given the vernacular treatment of this translation, the reader is more likely to seize the first meanings that come to mind when reading. Blame does, indeed, hold the meaning that is used in the original, but it is far from the most common usage of the word.

Again on page 27, king Arthur say to Gawain, "Take care, cousin." The original word, cosyn, means kinsman, and was often used to denote a niece or nephew (and, indeed, Gawain, on the previous page, points out that Arthur is his uncle). So the use of cousin here is incorrect, since the relationship between the two men is not that of cousin, but clearly of uncle and nephew.

He also succumbs to the tyranny of the original word order, and the desire to leave no word untranslated. On page 27, he translates, "The blood gushed from the body," which has a "the" too many. English doesn't need an article before a non-count noun like "blood", though this article exists in the original text.

All in all, in spite of the minor translator's nits, this is a brilliant work. It reads smoothly and fluidly, and renders the energy and wonder of this tale. If only more medieval works were translated this well, readers would discover how much amazing literature there is from this period.

I'm giving it 5 stars in spite of my reservations; Merwin deserves it for achieving such clarity.


sir gawain and the green knight   March 14, 2003
 6 out of 10 found this review helpful

i rate this book higher based on its foreword which, as a lecture, would provide a semester's worth of knowledge and recommended reading. a must for fans of arthurian legend (or fans of tolkien, who was a "great scholar of the Arthurian cycle"), and for those interested in welsh history and literature, poetry, troubador lore, linguistics, or the middle ages.

the translation itself i'm not qualified to judge; the _new york review of books_ "hails [Merwin] as one of the finest of our poets [and] a skilled and sensitive translator." J.D. McClatchy cover-blurbs the translation as being written with "clarity, ingenuity, and force."

as for the plot, it's great stuff: courtly knight of the round table honorably and courageously accepts what appears to be a pact of certain death, honorably averts the importunate seductions of his host's wife, agonizingly tells a white fib because doing so is the only thing that may save his life, and . . . i leave the rest for the reader to discover.


Literature for the Ages   February 8, 2003
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

Merwin has risen to the challenge, and, unlike Gawain, he has prevailed triumphantly on the first stroke.

A new, exciting translation of the Arthurian legend, SIR GAWAIN & THE GREEN KNIGHT reads excitingly crisp and vibrant. A story with equal parts chivalry, temptation, redemption, and romance, Merwin's GAWAIN deserves to be read by a far wider audience or, even better, deserves a touring one-man roadshow presented theatrically. Easily explored in a single sitting, this clever tome should be required reading for any serious explorer of mythology, real or even the realms of pure fantasy.

Highest recommendation!