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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- Narrated by: Bill Wallis
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
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Publisher's summary
"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" narrates in crystalline verse the strange tale of a green knight who rudely interrupts the Round Table festivities one Yuletide, casting a pall of unease over the company and challenging one of their number to a wager. The virtuous Gawain accepts and then decapitates the intruder with his own axe. Gushing blood, the knight reclaims his head, orders Gawain to seek him out a year hence, and departs. Next Yuletide, Gawain dutifully sets forth. His quest for the Green Knight involves a winter journey, a seduction scene in a dream-like castle, a dire challenge answered, and a drama of enigmatic reward disguised as psychic undoing.
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The most influential work of the entire Spanish literary canon and a founding work of modern Western literature, Don Quixote is also one of the greatest works ever written. Hugely entertaining but also moving at times, this episodic novel is built on the fantasy life of one Alonso Quixano, who lives with his niece and housekeeper in La Mancha. Quixano, obsessed by tales of knight errantry, renames himself ‘Don Quixote’ and with his faithful servant Sancho Panza, goes on a series of quests.
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More than funny
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The Decameron is one of the greatest literary works of the Middle Ages. Ten young people have fled the terrible effects of the Black Death in Florence and, in an idyllic setting, tell a series of brilliant stories, by turns humorous, bawdy, tragic and provocative. This celebration of physical and sexual vitality is Boccaccio's answer to the sublime other-worldliness of Dante's Divine Comedy.
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Not Up to the Usual Naxos Standard
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The Mabinogion, the earliest literary jewel of Wales, is a collection of ancient tales and legends compiled around the 12th and 13th century deriving from storytelling and the songs of bards handed down over the ages. It is a remarkable document in many ways. From an historical perspective, it is the earliest prose literature of Britain. But it is in its drama that many surprises await, not least the central role of King Arthur, his wife, Gwenhwyvar, and his court at Caerlleon upon Usk.
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A Wonder Whose Origin is Unknown
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I am a man more sinned against than sinning.
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A true classic
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Medea
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Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the actions of Medea, a former princess of the "barbarian" kingdom of Colchis, and the wife of Jason; she finds her position in the Greek world threatened as Jason leaves her for a Greek princess of Corinth. Medea takes vengeance on Jason by murdering Jason's new wife as well as her own children, after which she escapes to Athens to start a new life.
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Great Narrator makes this story work
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The Arabian Nights
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Full of mischief, valor, ribaldry, and romance, The Arabian Nights has enthralled readers for centuries. These are the tales that saved the life of Scheherazade, whose husband, the king, executed each of his wives after a single night of marriage. Beginning an enchanting story each evening, Scheherazade always withheld the ending: A thousand and one nights later, her life was spared forever.
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Not unabridged Burton--this is Lang
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The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling
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Author Peter Ackroyd has won the Somerset Maugham Award, the Whitbread Novel of the Year, and the Guardian Fiction Prize, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Based on Geoffrey Chaucer’s immortal work, this retelling of The Canterbury Tales follows a party of travelers as they tell stories amongst themselves about love and chivalry, saints and legends, travel and adventure. Through allegory, satire, and humor, the tales help pass the time during their journey.
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WOW
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The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights
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King Arthur was a legendary British leader of the late fifth and early sixth century who, according to the medieval histories and romances, led the defense of the Romano-Celtic British against the Saxon invaders in the early sixth century. This book gives an account of the life of this great legend of all times.
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This was painful!
- By T. Rod on 09-05-14
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The Talisman
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The Talisman revolves around the Third Crusader's camp in the Holy Land whereby there exists a truce between the Christians and the Muslims. The camp, which is led by King Richard I of England (the Lion-heart) who is grievously ill, is being torn apart by tensions between rival leaders.
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a simple story but a joy to listen to
- By Adele Lemmon on 08-23-19
By: Sir Walter Scott
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Not Unabridged
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For five centuries, Martin Luther has been lionized as an outspoken and fearless icon of change who ended the Middle Ages and heralded the beginning of the modern world. In Rebel in the Ranks, Brad Gregory, renowned professor of European history at Notre Dame, recasts this long-accepted portrait. Luther did not intend to start a revolution that would divide the Catholic Church and forever change Western civilization. Yet his actions would profoundly shape our world in ways he could never have imagined.
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Something to think about
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If you want to understand the daily life and psychology of the late Middle Ages, Ronald Ecker’s classic translation of The Canterbury Tales provides one of the very best means of doing so. Within its audio is to be found a broad range of society - high and low, male and female, rich and poor - who express their innermost beliefs and extravagant fantasies in a series of stories they tell as they make their way to Canterbury Cathedral.
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The book was better
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What listeners say about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Mary
- 04-30-08
great original, translation, and reader
I loved this in Middle English, in grad school, and it was a huge treat to encounter a skilled reader, a very good new translation AND the original as well, competently read.
The story is really good, and the poetry remains to a fair extent in the translation. The reader is outstanding.
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28 people found this helpful
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- Judy
- 11-26-16
Breathtaking
This medieval tale of gallantry and honour is brought to glorious life by narrator, Bill Wallis.
The hint of supernatural forces at play in the narrative is heightened by the gripping vocal interpretations that Wallis brings to the reading.
The rich language and alliterative composition remain a thing of joy these hundreds of years later.
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- QO
- 10-21-21
Great
No way this can rate under 5 stars. Whoever would do so would be a Grinch! Excellent altogether, and the untranslated version comes after. That was unexpected.
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- W Perry Hall
- 03-03-15
Old Fable in a Superb, Refreshing New Translation
I didn't fully appreciate this when I read it 25 years ago, at least as I can recall. This new translation is refreshing and easily comprehensible without watering down the tale's mysticism or sacrificing its bite.
Very good performance by the narrator.
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7 people found this helpful
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- John Bridges
- 12-26-18
One of the greatest of all winter tales
Listening to this perfect performance of Armitage's great translation of this classic has become part of my annual winter traditions. The poem was meant to be read aloud, and its alliterative language is lively and musical to hear. Its perfect for hearing in Christmas season, especially in the week leading into the new year, when the meat of the story takes place. Bill Wallis has a rich and resonant voice, and is well suited to narrating both the modern translation and the Middle English original.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jean Clarenson
- 04-08-21
Half in Modern English, half in Old English
The first half is the poem read in modern-day vernacular, and the second half is read in old English. I actually skipped the last half because I wanted to move on to something else, but it is worth listening to if you can understand and appreciate the language.
It’s a beautiful, colorful (pun intended), comedic, and fantastical story and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Overall
- T. Oakley
- 04-02-11
Arthurian Romance
The poem was easy to understand, much like The Lady of Shalott, or The Highwayman. And any one that loves a good Arthurian tale will surely love this. Another added bonus was the translator Simon Armitage's introduction. And at the end of the story Bill Wallis, who by the way does a fantastic job, re-reads the poem but this time in Middle English, wow it was a real treat to hear it the way it sounded 600 years ago.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Mary
- 09-28-13
Timeless
Would you consider the audio edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to be better than the print version?
This medieval Englsh poem was intended to be listened to - not read. This version allows a modern audience to respond to it in perhaps a similar way to those listening in or around the year 1400.
Who was your favorite character and why?
One can picture Sir Gawain easily - not only physically in the perfection of his body and clothes, but also as a young knight eager to behave as he knows he should. His reaction when confronted with his failings is movingly described.
What does Bill Wallis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Narration by Bill Wallis would give depth and drama to the back of a cereal packet.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The moment when the identity of the Green Knight is revealed.
Any additional comments?
I wondered if I would be able to concentrate on this, sharing as I'm afraid I do the lack of concentration of many other modern listeners to anything that might be difficult or out of the ordinary. I needn't have worried. I only stopped listening when real life intruded, and then was eager to get back to it.Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has been translated into a masterly modern alliterative version by Simon Armitage - and Bill Wallis was the perfect narrator of this timeless, moving, magical story. Then there is the bonus of hearing the text as it probably sounded in its original form - musical to listen to even when one only understands part of each stanza.
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- Lazaro C. Ojeda
- 05-06-12
Great Listen
I loved listening to this audiobook. The story of this valiant knight kept me interested, and the narrator was excellent. Great listen!
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- Michiko
- 01-21-18
Great!
The first three hours are in modern English, and the last three are in Old English. The narrator manages to use a distinctive voice for each character in both versions. Good, fun story, and it was easy to appreciate the lovely poetry even though I'm not a big poetry fan.
I wasn't originally planning to listen to the Old English, but once I got started it was fun to see which lines were recognizable as English and which ones weren't. I got so much more out of the audio version of this book than I would have if I had bought the print edition. There's no way I would have read half a book of Old English, so having someone pronouncing all of the words really added to my enjoyment of the text.
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