Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an Arthurian story, dated from the late 14th century. It's a chivalric romance, a genre that was hugely popular in the courts of Medieval Europe - stories filled with adventures and featuring a knight that goes on a quest.

In this book, Sir Gawain is a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. One day, a mysterious man known as the Green Knight appears, and dares any knight to hit him with his axe, with the knowledge that he will return the strike in precisely a year and a day. King Arthur is prepared to take this up, but Sir Gawain takes the challenge instead and chops off the Green Knight's head.

The Green Knight picks up his head and walks away, after reminding Sir Gawain that he will be back in a year and a day. Sir Gawain continues his life as a knight, acting with loyalty and chivalry until, with only a few days left before the Green Knight is to return, he finds himself tested to his limit whilst staying at the castle of Lord Bertilak de Hautdesert.

The author of the story is unknown, although it is posited that he was a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer. There have been many interpretations of the story, but at the heart of it, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a medieval romance, and one that has survived for many centuries.

It has been adapted several times into theatrical plays, operas, and for film and television - the latest being the movie, The Green Knight. This translation by Kenneth G. T. Webster and William Allan Neilson was first published in 1917.