I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. This is a great read of a truly classic fairy tale. I really enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to all readers.

The tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written by an unknown author in the fourteenth century, and is one of the most famous Arthurian stories. This book contains an unabridged reproduction of the first version done in Modern English, a prose version by literary scholar Jessie L. Weston. Some things to keep in mind reading this edition: by "Modern English," they mean it's not written in the original Middle English, which is pretty unrecognizable to us now. The prose is still pretty flowery and purple, but think of it as an opportunity to learn some fun archaic words! Seriously, I did much googling. Also, there are some hunting scenes that get a bit descriptive, and that's after Weston cut a fair chunk of description out (as mentioned in the notes following the text- the guy that wrote this all those years ago really loved describing things in great detail), so be warned about that. Do read the introduction and after notes, they're interesting and helpful. As a skipper/skimmer of these things a lot of the time, here I'll actually recommend reading them.
The story itself is quite the crazy adventure, with Gawain finding himself the victim of the beheading game trope and the exchange of winnings trope, popular stuff back in the Middle Ages. It all starts during the New Year festivities at Camelot, when a big green knight crashes the party, looking to test the bravery of Arthur's knights. G.K. says he'll give his super awesome battle axe to any knight who will come strike him a blow with it, but then in a year and a day, that knight must come get the same injury done to himself by the G.K.. No one steps forward at first, but then Gawain finally agrees to do it. He grabs the axe and cuts the G.K.'s head off, thinking that would finish the deal, but G.K. just picks up his head and leaves after giving Gawain directions to find him and a "See you next year!" Much adventuring, feasting, and descriptions follow- what will happen when Gawain shows up to fulfill his troth?
While one usually reads this more for its literary significance more than its entertainment value, it is a fun story. It's an old school Chivalric Romance, filled with adventure, action, so much feasting, lots of tropes and symbolism of the time, and of course chivalry, all wrapped around a quest to proves one's valor. A perfect way to spend an afternoon!

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A classic tale in the Arthurian Legend that I've been interested in reading for a while. This 1909 version is told in "modernized" prose (though still using many archaic words and phrases, especially when the characters are speaking) rather than the Middle English verse of the original. I appreciated that the tale was broken up into titled sections, which made for easier reading and understanding. I would've liked some illustrations.

This was a first for me: the first time I've read one of the famous medieval tales. I find it a silly thing to review this book based on how much I enjoyed the story, because I think it's not about that. This is an ancient classic tale: gotta love it! And I did.
As I'm not a student of Middle English literature nor an expert on it I cannot and should not judge this translation. I'm not equiped for that and I leave that to the lucky ones that have studied hard on this topic.

I thoroughly enjoyed both the tale itself and and all the good stuff in the introduction and notes section. I learned a lot from the extra info there and I wished there was more of that good stuff in the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

What a really interesting story! This short Arthurian romance covers themes of duty, honor, truth, morality, and does it all with a strong feeling of horror and eeriness. It is great to have stories like this and Beowulf to understand how our cultural forbearers thought, told stories, and entertained themselves.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a classic Arthurian tale, certainly one of the best known of all of them. This facsimile reprint and re-release by Dover of the 1909 edition is due out 22nd June 2021. It's 112 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is a readable and accessible translation in prose for readers who are interested in reading it for the story rather than studying the actual middle English alliterative poems in translation (in which case I recommend the Tolkein translation as an accessible alternative). This is a faithful reproduction done to Dover's high standards and is enhanced by line drawn knotwork illustrations and chapter headers and footers. This edition includes the chapter notes and introduction by the translator, Jessie L. Weston. The original text has been reproduced with misspellings and inconsistencies intact for authenticity.

Five stars. Worthwhile. Five perennial stars for Dover, long may they reign. This review is for the reformatted and re-released edition by Dover, not for the story itself (which is also a ripping yarn and scary/creepy/wild in its own right).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

A gorgeous tale, which I had forgotten, since it was years ago when I first read the story of Gawain and the Green Knight, but I simply had to get it as an ebook, and I was not disappointed, it was as lush, descriptive and colourful as I remembered it. A timeless classic, and even if the reader has read it before, as I have done, worth getting. I am wholeheartedly recommending it to all those who enjoy a good story, and even more so if you have not read it before. You are in for a treat.

I loved it! I'm a huge fan of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight-- in its original Middle English, the one present in the Norton Anthology, and J.R,R, Tolkien's. I think it's an amazing and worthy undertaking to put the work to prose in a way that's easy to understand for modern readers and retains characteristic archaisms. When I'm reading complex Middle English, often times I do this sort of translation in my head and that's great for studying, but it's also awesome not having to do that. I'm currently working on my own version of this for Beowulf and I wish more medieval works were given this sort of chance.

I would recommend this retelling to lovers of literary study, Arthurian fans, and people who are just looking for a good and easy read.

Thank you Netgalley and Dover for this arc. All opinions in this review are my own.