promised thee a blow and thou hast it hold thyself well paid! I release thee of all other claims. If I had been so minded I might perchance have given thee a rougher buffet. First I menaced thee with a feigned one, and hurt thee not for the covenant that we made in the first night, and which thou didst hold truly. All the gain didst thou give me as a true man should. The other feint I proffered 10 dwelling and pass the rest of this feast in thou wast born. And this girdle that is wrought with gold and green, like my raiment, do I give thee, Sir Gawain, that thou mayest think upon this chance when 5 thou goest forth among princes of renown, and keep this for a token of the adventure of the Green Chapel, as it chanced between chivalrous knights. And thou shalt come again with me to my thee for the morrow: my fair wife kissed thee, and thou didst give me her kisses - for both those days I gave thee two blows without scathe-true man, true return. But the third time thou didst 15 fail, and therefore hadst thou that blow. For 't is my weed thou wearest, that same woven girdle, my own wife wrought it, that do I wot for sooth. Now know I well thy kisses, and thy conversation, and 20 the wooing of my wife, for 't was mine own doing. I sent her to try thee, and in sooth I think thou art the most faultless knight that ever trod earth. As a pearl among white peas is of more worth than 25 they, so is Gawain, i' faith, by other knights. But thou didst lack a little, Sir Knight, and wast wanting in loyalty, yet that was for no evil work, nor for wooing neither, but because thou lovedst thy life 30 - therefore I blame thee the less.' 35 Then the other stood a great while, still sorely angered and vexed within himself; all the blood flew to his face, and he shrank for shame as the Green Knight spake; and the first words he said were, 'Cursed be ye, cowardice and covetousness, for in ye is the destruction of virtue.' Then he loosed the girdle, and gave it to the knight. 'Lo, take 40 there the falsity, may foul befall it! For fear of thy blow cowardice bade me make friends with covetousness and forsake the customs of largess and loyalty, which befit all knights. Now am I faulty and false and have been afeared: from 45 treachery and untruth come sorrow and care. I avow to thee, Sir Knight, that I have ill done; do then thy will. I shall be more wary hereafter.' gladness.' Then the lord laid hold of him, and said, 'I wot we shall soon make peace with my wife, who was thy bitter enemy.' sorrow 'Nay, forsooth,' said Sir Gawain, and seized his helmet and took it off swiftly, and thanked the knight: 'I have fared ill, may bliss betide thee, and may he who rules all things reward thee swiftly. Commend me to that courteous lady, thy fair wife, and to the other my honored ladies, who have beguiled their knight with skilful craft. But 't is no marvel if one be made a fool and brought to sorrow by women's wiles, for so was Adam beguiled by one, and Solomon by many, and Samson all too soon, for Delilah dealt him his doom; and David thereafter was wedded with Bathsheba, which brought him much if one might love a woman and believe her not, 't were great gain! And since all they were beguiled by women, methinks 't is the less blame to me that I was misled! But as for thy girdle, that will I take with good will, not for gain of the gold, nor for samite, nor silk, nor the costly pendants, neither for weal nor for worship, but in sign of my frailty. I shall look upon it when I ride in renown and remind myself of the fault and faintness of the flesh; and so when pride uplifts me for prowess of arms, the sight of this lace shall humble my heart. But one thing would I pray, if it displease thee not since thou art lord of yonder land wherein I have dwelt, tell me what thy rightful name may be, and I will ask no more." That will I truly,' quoth the other. ‘Bernlak de Hautdesert am I called in this 50 land. Morgain le Fay dwelleth in mine house, and through knowledge of clerkly craft hath she taken many. For long time was she the mistress of Merlin, who knew well all you knights of the court. Morgain the goddess is she called therefore, and there is none so haughty but she can bring him low. She sent me in this Then the other laughed and said gaily, 'I wot I am whole of the hurt I had, and thou hast made such free confession of thy misdeeds, and hast so borne the penance of mine axe edge, that I hold thee 55 absolved from that sin, and purged as clean as if thou hadst never sinned since sought to embrace him. They asked him how he had fared, and he told them all that had chanced to him—the adventure of the chapel, the fashion of the knight, 5 the love of the lady - at last of the lace. He showed them the wound in the neck which he won for his disloyalty at the hand of the knight; the blood flew to his face for shame as he told the tale. guise to yon fair hall to test the truth of the renown that is spread abroad of the valor of the Round Table. She taught me this marvel to betray your wits, to vex Guinevere and fright her to death by the man who spake with his head in his hand at the high table. That is she who is at home, that ancient lady, she is even thine aunt, Arthur's half-sister, the daughter of the Duchess of Tintagel, who after- 10 ward married King Uther. Therefore I bid thee, knight, come to thine aunt, and make merry in thine house; my folk love thee, and I wish thee as well as any man on earth, by my faith, for thy true deal- 15 token of my covenant in which I was ing.' But Sir Gawain said nay, he would in no wise do so; so they embraced and kissed, and commended each other to the Prince of Paradise, and parted right there, 20 on the cold ground. Gawain on his steed rode swiftly to the king's hall, and the Green Knight got him whithersoever he would. 'Lo, lady,' he quoth, and handled the lace, this is the bond of the blame that I bear in my neck, this is the harm and the loss I have suffered, the cowardice and covetousness in which I was caught, the taken. And I must needs wear it so long as I live, for none may hide his harm, but undone it may not be, for if it hath clung to thee once, it may never be severed.' Then the king comforted the knight, and the court laughed loudly at the tale, and all made accord that the lords and the ladies who belonged to the Round Table, Sir Gawain, who had thus won grace 25 each hero among them, should wear of his life, rode through wild ways on Gringalet; oft he lodged in a house, and oft without, and many adventures did he have and came off victor full often, as at this time I cannot relate in tale. The 30 hurt that he had in his neck was healed, he bare the shining girdle as a baldric bound by his side, and made fast with a knot 'neath his left arm, in token that he was taken in a fault. - and thus he came 35 in safety again to the court. Then joy awakened in that dwelling when the king knew that the good Sir Gawain was come, for he deemed it gain. King Arthur kissed the knight, and the 40 queen also, and many valiant knights bound about him a baldric of bright green for the sake of Sir Gawain. And to this was agreed all the honor of the Round Table, and he who ware it was honored the more thereafter, as it is testified in the book of romance. That in Arthur's days this adventure befell, the book of Brutus bears witness. For since that bold knight came hither first, and the siege and the assault were ceased at Troy, I wis Many a venture herebefore Hath fallen such as this: May He that bare the crown of thorn Amen, 77. late y-come from his viage, lately come from his journey. 79. Squyer, esquire, one who attended a knight. 80. lovyer, lover. lusty, joyful, gay. bacheler, a young candidate for knighthood. 81. lokkes crulle, locks curled. 83. evene lengthe, good stature. 84. delivere, active. 85. chivachye, military expedition. 89. Flaundres, Flanders, an ancient country of Europe, extending along the North Sea from the Strait of Dover to the mouth of the Schelde. Artoys, Picardye, Artois, Picardy, ancient provinces of northern France. 87. space, length of time. 88. lady, genitive singular, without 's. 95. coude, knew how. endyte, relate, compose. 98. sleep, slept. 99. lowly, modest. servisable, helpful. 100. carf, carved. 101. yeman, yeoman: a servant of the next degree above a groom. namo, no more. 102. him liste ryde, it pleased him to ride. 104. A sheef of pecok arwes, a sheaf of arrows fitted with peacocks' feathers. 106. takel, implements; here arrows. 109. not-heed, hair closely cut. 111. bracer, a guard for the coat-sleeve, used by archers to avoid the friction of the string against the cloth. 112. bokeler, buckler; a small shield. 114. harneised, equipped. 115. Cristofre, a figure of St. Christopher, used as a brooch (Wright).' 116. bawdrik, baldric, belt. 117. forster, forester. 119. coy, quiet, modest 194. grys, costly grey fur. 199. anoint, anointed. 200. in good point, in good condition. Cf. French en bon point. 201. stepe, prominent. 202. stemed, shone. Leed, caldron. 203. botes souple, boots soft. 205. for-pyned goost, tormented ghost. 207. palfrey, riding-horse. 208. frere, friar. wantown, brisk, lively. 209. limitour, a begging friar to whom was assigned a certain district, within which he might solicit alms. ful solempne, very important. 210. ordres foure. The four orders of mendicant friars were: (1) the Dominicans, or Black Friars; (2) the Franciscans, or Grey Friars; (3) the Carmelites, or White Friars; (4) the Augustin, or Austin Friars. These orders arose in the early part of the thirteenth century. can, knows. 211. daliaunce and fair language, gossip and flattery. 216. frankeleyns, wealthy farmers. over-al, every 283. sothe, truly. 284. noot, know not. 285. Clerk, scholar. 286. y-go, gone. 288. nas, was not. 289. holwe, hollow. soberly, adj. sad, solemn. 290. overest courtepy, uppermost short cloak. 291. benefice, a church office endowed with a revenue. 292. office, secular office. 293. him have. .. have, it was dearer to him to 295. Aristotle, Greek philosopher, 384-322 B. C. 296. fithele, fiddle. sautrye, psaltery; an instrument like a zither, having a sounding-box under the strings. 297-8. philosophre, used in the double sense of philosopher and alchemist. It was commonly be lieved that alchemists could produce gold. 299. hente, seize, get. 302. Of hem ... scoleye, of those who gave him (money) with which to go to school. 303. cure, care. 304. O, one. beggestere, better than a leper 305. in nity. 244. as by his facultee, considering his ability. 246. honest, becoming. avaunce, profit. 247. poraille, poor people, rabble. 248. riche, rich people. vitaille, victuals. 249-250. And over-al servyse, And every |