Preview
  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

  • By: J. R. R. Tolkien
  • Narrated by: Terry Jones
  • Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (727 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

By: J. R. R. Tolkien
Narrated by: Terry Jones
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.32

Buy for $20.32

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

A collection of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour.
©1975 J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust; (p)1997 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, London, UK
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"The introduction to Gawain is a little masterpiece." (Times Higher Educational Supplement)
"This magnificent Arthurian tale of love, sex, honour, social tact, personal integrity and folk-magic is one of the greatest and most approachable narrative poems in the language. Tolkien's version makes it come triumphantly alive, a moving and consoling elegy." (Birmingham Post)

Featured Article: Galadriel—A Lord of the Rings Character Guide


Galadriel is one of the most significant characters both in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy and the wide history of Middle-earth more generally. If you've listened to The Lord of the Rings or seen any of the film adaptations, then you're likely well aware of who Galadriel is. But what, exactly, makes her so important? What is her history? This character guide is here to answer all of your questions about the powerful Elf Galadriel, the Lady of Lórien.

Continue Your Journey Through Middle earth

Continue Your Journey
Through Middle-earth

What listeners say about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    435
  • 4 Stars
    181
  • 3 Stars
    88
  • 2 Stars
    13
  • 1 Stars
    10
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    432
  • 4 Stars
    129
  • 3 Stars
    36
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    6
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    369
  • 4 Stars
    139
  • 3 Stars
    75
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    7

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Contains bonus stories

The title of this audiobook would have you believe that it's entire contents are Sir Gowain and the Green Knight. Sir Gowain's story is here but there are also the Tolkien translations of two other medieval English works: Pearl and Sir Orpheo. Pearl is a poem that acts as a vessel for medieval Catholic theology, but also contains a rather colorful description of Heaven as a tiered city (not unlike Minas Tirith, but made out of different types of stone). Sir Orpheo is a medieval anglicization of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. I found both additional works to be enjoyable, if unexpected.

Also, Terry Jones, of course, does a great job reading these works and their introductions.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Don't worry Arthur. I've got this. (Gawain)

What made the experience of listening to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the most enjoyable?

It was great listening to something of such an ancient date. I may have never listened to this before, but then I saw J.R.R. Tolkien and thought I could give it a try. It's a good story.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?

The first appearance of the Green Knight.

What does Terry Jones bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I cannot say.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did not. It's a great short story. I don't remember how old it is, but what a great way to get people interested in ancient stories by having a great and well known Author rewrite it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good performance.

The narrator did a good job of putting emotion into the verses. It was a little hard to follow, but I really enjoyed all three stories.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Epic British Poetry

excellent narration. great listen for lovers of ancient epic poetry, with inciteful explanations by a great scholar.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

pretty cool Tolkien poems

I never heard many of these other tolkien works. I'm glad to hear them as they show his skill as a writer and a poet

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great reader

Not sure why some reviews are so unhappy with thr narrator, because he is an excellent reader (and pretty well known at that). This was a delight, introductions from Tolkien were really interesting and I got so much more out of hearing this than I did when I read on the page...poetry should be heard, and Tolkien did such a wonderful job of translating while being true to the sound and feel of medieval poetry. To the complaints on the chapter divisions, it's clearly a book on CD quickly changed over to digital, and the choice is probably between this and having no digital version at all, so I'll take it quite happily.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An absolute delight!

I read Gawain in college in a different translation. I found revisiting the tale through Tolkien’s translation to be incredibly enjoyable. Pearl and Orfeo are two works that were previously unknown to me, and I am so glad they were included in this compilation. A real treasure! The alliterative verse is music to the ears. The performance of the reading of these three masterpieces is excellent!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Easy to Enjoy

I liked the narrator, the story, and Tolkien’s translation and commentary. I found the narrator’s way of speech endearing, not annoying like some are saying. All these folks writing 1 star reviews saying its boring or slow need to go watch a marvel movie or something with explosions every 10 seconds. This is obviously not their kind of content.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable and Recommended

Wonderful narration and I really enjoyed the academic explanation of the three works. Highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

It’s Tolkien

It’s Tolkien AND Terry Jones, of Monty Python game. Of course it is good. Nay, tis glorious. Tis a marvel. Tis a vision.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!