Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

I was doing some Arthurian-based board gaming a while ago with some friends, and realized that most of my actual knowledge of the Arthur myth comes from tertiary sources, which is a little pathetic. So Iread this as part of a larger attempt to become more knowledgeable about the Arthur story.

Ironically, then, Arthur's hardly in this! He's there at the beginning, when Gawain makes his wager with the Green Knight during a Christmas celebration, but is nowhere to be seen when Gawain goes on his quest to confront the Green Knight, and faces trials and tribulations along the way to prove that he is a knight worthy of his station.

Overall, I'd say I guess I kind of liked this one? It was full of knights, adventure, and a bit of intrigue, but at the same time it didn't reall have a lot of depth to it and I can't say I connected to it in any meaningful way.

One thing I found especially interesting while reading this was in looking at where some of the storytelling priorities lay, and how different they were from modern sensibility. Gawain's decision to either betray his host or break his vow to the lady, for example, is given only a quick thought – because of course he's not going to break his word – while the hunting practices of British royalty earns several pages. I can't see something like that happening in a more modern piece.

I'd say this is a must-read for people who are really into Arthurian legend, but a pass for just about anyone else – it provdes great background to our understanding of Arthur, but doesn't really succeed as a compelling story in its own right.