And ženne he wayted hym aboute, and wylde hit hym žot,
And see no syngne of resette bisydez nowhere,
Bot hye bonkkez and brent vpon bože halue,
And rue knokled knarrez with knorned stonez;
Že skwez of že scowtes skayned hym žot.
Ženne he houed, and wythhylde his hors at žat tyde,
And ofte chaunged his cher že chapel to seche:
He se non suche in no syde, and selly hym žot,
Saue, a lyttel on a launde, a lawe as hit were;
A bal ber bi a bonke že brymme bysyde,
Bi a for of a flode žat ferked žare;
Že borne blubred žerinne as hit boyled hade.
Že knyt kachez his caple, and com to že lawe,
Litez doun luflyly, and at a lynde tachez
Že rayne and his riche with a roe braunche.
Ženne he boez to že bere, aboute hit he walkez,
Debatande with hymself quat hit be myt.
Hit hade a hole on že ende and on ayžer syde,
And ouergrowen with gresse in glodes aywhere,
And al watz hol inwith, nobot an olde caue,
Or a creuisse of an olde cragge, he couže hit not deme
with spelle.
'We! Lorde,' quož že gentyle knyt,
'Whežer žis be že grene chapelle?
Here myt aboute mydnyt
Že dele his matynnes telle!
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
lines 2160-2178 in my edition, ed: WRJ Barron
text copied from http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/gawaintx.htm
I have been enjoying this thread so much that I want to contribute. Thanks
to everyone who already has.
I cant say I understand Gawain fully - I am not even sure exactly how it
should sound, but I have been re-reading the text over the last few months,
and I love it. I chose this passage because it describes a place known as
Ludd's Church - which is near to Stoke-On-Trent. It is truly a magical
place - a deep cleft in the hillside, beside a river. Old trees, water and
stones thick with moss. Even when it is busy with walkers and children
exploring in the summer, and scouts from the nearby camp, fording the river
with ropes, it still retains some of its mystery. In the winter it is a
place that makes your skin tingle!
The students I teach in Stoke still call a steep hillside a 'bonk', and they
say, as the Gawain poet does 'thowt'. I always tell them about the
Staffordshire poet and the mighty role their accent and dialect has in the
history of the language.
Liz
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