Sir Gawain and the Green Knight A New Verse Translation

In at the hall door comes a frightening figure, He must have been taller than anyone in the world: From the neck to the waist so huge and thick, And his loins and limbs so long and massive, That I would say he was half a giant on earth. At least I am sure he was the biggest of men. Yet he sat with a matchless grace in the saddle. His back and his chest and whole body were frightening And both his belt and belly were trim and small And all of his features were in proportion to the rest of him. But more than anything His color amazed them: A bold knight riding, The whole of him bright green. And all in green this knight and his garments With a close-fitting coat that clung to his side, A fine robe over it adorned on the inside With furs cut to one color, an elegant lining Trimmed brightly with white fur, and his hood also That was caught back from his long locks and lay on his shoulders; Neat, tight-tailored hose of that same green Clung fast to his calf, and shining spurs below Of bright gold, on silk bands enriched with stripes, And so the knight rides with slippers on his feet And all that he was wearing was indeed pure verdure But the crossbars of his belt and the shining stones set Resplendent here and there in his gleaming garments All around him and his saddle, in silk embroidery It would be too hard to tell half of the details That were there in fine stitches, with birds and butterflies In a high green radiance with gold running through it. The tassels of his horse's trappings and the handsome crupper, The studs on the enameled bit and all the other metal, And the stirrups that he stood in were of the same color, And his saddle bow also and the rest of the fastenings, It all kept glimmering and glinting with green stones. The horse that he was riding resplendent with the same hue as all the rest. A green horse, hard to handle, A strong steed, huge and massive, Tossing the embroidered bridle, The right horse for that knight to have. How splendid he looked, this knight in the green apparel, And his horse's hair was as lovely as his own. Fair waving locks tumbled around his shoulders, A beard big as a bush flowing over his breast, And the full length of the noble hair of his head Had been cut in a circle above his elbows So that his arms were half hidden under it As by the tunic that covers a king's neck. The mane of that mighty horse looked much like that, Its curls well combed and caught into many knots With gold cord wound around the bright green, For every strand of hair another of gold. His tail and his forelocks were enwound the same way, And both were bound with a band of bright green And precious stones adorning them to the tip of his tail, Then laced up tightly in a twirled knot. There many bright shining bells of fine gold were ringing. No knight rides a horse like that anywhere on earth. Never before had one been seen in that hall by anyone. Bright as lightning he shone, So they all said who saw him. It seemed that no man Could stand against him. Yet he wore no helmet and no chain mail either, Nor any breastplate, nor brassarts on his arms, He had no spear and no shield for thrusting and striking, But in his hand he held a branch of holly That is greenest of all when the groves are bare, And an ax in the other hand, huge and monstrous, A fearsome battle-ax to find words to tell of. The length of its head was at least a yard and a half, The point all hammered out of green steel and gold, The blade brightly burnished, with a broad edge, Shaped for shearing as well as sharp razors. The grim knight gripped the stout handle of the weapon. It was wrapped with iron to the shaft's end And all engraved wMerwin, W. S. is the author of 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight A New Verse Translation', published 2002 under ISBN 9780375414763 and ISBN 0375414762.