Borroff's translation of the Pearl poem makes this medieval work accessible to many audiences--to the student, to the scholar, to the average reader who wants to know more about the medieval world. The flavor of the middle English text is rich, like the original; Borroff's manipulation of the original text's concatenation brings the pleasure of this poem to the average reader who might otherwise find the original unapproachable.

The introductory material clarifies for readers new to medieval texts the strategies and the contexts of the poem. Armed with the introduction, the reader can further appreciate the genius of the anonymous Pearl poet and gain a sense of the place this poem has in the canon of English literature.

This book is a "must read" for those who want to know the medieval world better and who are not able to devote the time to read the text in its original language.

A king, a green giant, a temptress, a witch, and a knight. Seduction, drinking, hunting, and gore. Boring, scholarly, "classic"; I think not. The opening scene is h i l a r i o u s (Imagine congress in that situation!! Would Bill be up to the challenge?:-). If you hated the "literary classics" assigned to you in school, forget that this is one. My favorite parts were the ones with the lord's wife. Her hidden, and NOT so hidden, intentions make for great soap opera material. It's a fun read, and this translation is very well put together.

"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is considered one of the finest Arthurian romances in English. It belongs to the so-called Alliterative Revival: the organizing device of the line is alliteration, the beginning of several words with the same sounds ("foemen fled"). Unlike most Arthurian romances, which deal with the end of Arthur's life and his death, in "Sir Gawain," Arthur is still a youth, and the court is in its springtime. The main plot belongs to a type folklorists classify as the "Beheading Game," in which a supernatural challenger offers to let his head be cut off in exchange for a return blow. The poem is chock-full of games and exchanges.

Dr. Borroff studied under E. Talbot Donaldson, who translated "Beowulf" to prose during the same period at Yale. Her translation is a joy and great fun to read.

Gaiwan would be worth the purchase if only for the story line alone. However Marie Borroff's amazing translation adds that beauty and eloquence which only a master translator can produce. Borroff uses an alliterative meter which will get you tongue tied if you try and read it out loud. For example the first line is "Since the siege and the assault was ceased at Troy." She also gives us beautiful rhymes at the end of each stanza, like in lines 1236-1240: "My body is here at hand,/ Your each wish to fulfill;/ Your servant to command/ I am, and shall be still/." The story is full of symbolism, and confronts us with a tough philosophical question. You have to read the book to find out what that is however. The book also deals with the problems inherent in the institution of chivalry, and especially courtly love. Overall I thought the story was wonderful, the translation impeccable, and the underlying message profound.

This book contains a reprint of Borroff's now standard translation, in addition to translations of two other middle English poems from the Gawain ms. Borroff has not only rendered Gawain into very readable modern English, but has also retained the alliterative lines of the original. Aside from the merits of this edition as a translation, Sir Gawain is one of the finest poems written in the English language. There are several sharp departures from typical romances of this type, and in Gawain's test we are made to see the contradictory nature of the courtly ideal. Amazing in style, it is both a clever critique of chivalric values and an entertaining adventure.
Due to the difficulty of the remote dialect of the original, this lively and witty romance is difficult to read in middle English, even for those who have studied Chaucer. It is, however, not impossible. For those who are interested in the poem, I would recommend reading it in translation, then trying the Anderson-Cawley (Everyman) edition, which normalizes the runic letters preserved in the Tolkien-Gordon-Davis (Oxford UP) scholarly edition.

This is a great translation of one of the finest poems ever written in the English (well, middle English) language. The poem, in its original form, is very difficult to read, and Borroff's translation makes it not only easy but also very enjoyable to read.

This poem originally was very alliterative, and Borroff has preserved much of that. Sir Gawain is one of the greatest of the Arthurian legends, and this translation preserves much of the poems integrity. This is definitely a must have for any student of early English poetry or Arthurian legend.

The other works, Pearl and Patience, are believed to share the same author as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. These, too, are excellent poems. This would be a great addition to any collection.