Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Now wyl I of hor seruise say yow no more,For vch wyõe may wel wit no wont †at †er were.An o†er noyse ful newe neõed biliue,ˇat πe lude myõt haf leue liflode to cach;For vneπe watz †e noyce not a whyle sesed,And †e fyrst cource in †e court kyndely serued,ˇer hales in at †e halle dor an aghlich mayster,On †e most on †e molde on mesure hyghe;Fro †e swyre to †e swange so sware and so †ik,And his lyndes and his lymes so longe and so grete,Half etayn in erde I hope that he were,Bot mon most I algate mynn hym to bene,And †at †e myriest in his muckel πat myõt ride;For of bak and of brest al were his bodi sturne,Both his wombe and his wast were worthily smale,And alle his fetures folõande, in forme †at he

hade, ful clene; For wonder of his hwe men hade, Set in his semblaunt sene; He ferde as freke were fade, And oueral enker-grene.

Now of the service I'll supply no further details,But well you might wager that there was no want there.Then another noise, all new, drew suddenly nighThat now might allow noble Arthur to gather some nurture.For scarcely had the music ceased for a single secondAnd the first course been courteously doled around to the court,When there rushed through the door an extremely awesome rider,One of the greatest on earth, in measure enormous,From his neck to his natest looking nearly square and thick,While his loins and his limbs were long and very huge.Half a giant from the ground up I'd guess him to be,But still wholly human I'd have to declare him-The grandest master in girth who ever galloped!For the back and the breast of his body were very broad,Though his stomach and his waistline were supremely slim;And his facial features were like his figure - very neat and clean. Yet one truly wondered at the hue Of the countenance when seen; for he acted like a thing bewitched and was, head to toe, ink-green.

SGGK, ll. 130-150 (Wilhelm, p. 405)

Strange Words in SGGK

blonk, croked, gryndel-ston, harled, hendelayk, knockled, myd-over-under, myst-hakel, quethe, ronkled, schunt, stel-bawe, traunt, thwarle, wlonk, wruxled

Old Norse words in English: anger, skirt, ugly, window, sky

Cotton Nero A.x, opening page