Ywain and Gawain - Sir Percyvell of Gales - The Anturs of Arther

by Maldwyn Mills (Editor), Unknown, Malcolm Andrew (Editor)

This is the first time that these Middle English romances have been made widely available in one volume. All feature the knight Gawain and deal with the theme of chivalrous conduct. Varying in length, tone and emphasis, together they provide a fascinating cross-section of the genre.

Ywain and Gawain is the only Middle English romance that is certainly adapted from an original by Chrétian de Troyes. The action includes the adventure of the magic spring, the companionship of Ywain and a helpful lion, and the climactic single combat between Ywain and Gawain. Sir Percyvell of Gales is, by contrast, only intermittently close to Chrétian's romance of Perceval; with its younger, less sophisticated hero, it is often comic in tone. Much more serious is The Anturs of Arther, an alliterative poem from the North of England, that has links with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Morte Arthure. It contains only two adventures but in compensation creates an unusually detailed picture of the Arthurian world.

The texts are presented with marginal glosses and full explanatory notes. A selection of variants from other texts of The Anturs of Arther is also included.

Genres: Arthurian

210 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 1992

Reviews

[Gille Liath · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not the level of poetry of Chaucer or Gawain and the Green Knight - perhaps it makes you appreciate them more by comparison - but these are fun, fresh, simple tales of knights-errant, probably more representative of the sort of thing the typical medieval minstrel might have told. The language is not difficult compared to the Green Knight, and the trickiest words and phrases are glossed; but the original spelling is retained and is pretty unconventional even by medieval standards, so you would need some experience of Middle English to read it fluently.

[Jessica Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I 🩷 Middle English books

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is no Norton Critical Edition, but there is enough in the intro and commentary to aid the reader approaching these romances for the first, second, or even third time.

The figure of Gawain runs through all of the poems, so this is probably of most interest to those who want a little more information on the hero of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and the kinds of things other Middle English authors put him up to.

[Patrick]

Middle English medieval adventure story.