Interesting article in Saturday's Guardian by Simon Armitage on his new translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. I've only ever read the old Tolkien version of the poem, and enjoyed it, but it's strange that there seems to have been so many recent translations. WS Merwin and Bernard O'Donoghue have definitely done it in recent years, and Armitage does make the point that the anonymity of the Gawain poet makes the piece particularly attractive to modern writers.
I think he's right that it has a lot of modern resonance, and the little bits I've heard have sounded excellent, so I'll be listening to Sir Ian McKellen's reading of it on Radio 4 this Thursday at 2.15pm, and putting it on my ever-increasing List Of Books To Buy When I've Got A Few Quid Spare.
To read the article click here
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