The works of the Gawain poet: Pearl, Cleanness, Patience, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

A new volume of the works of the Gawain poet, destined to become the definitive edition for students and scholars.

This volume brings together four works of the unknown fourteenth-century poet famous for the Arthurian romanceSir Gawain and the Green Knight, in their original Middle English. In one of the great tales of medieval literature, Gawain, the noblest knight of King Arthur's court, must keep a deadly bargain with a monstrous knight and resist the advances of his host's beautiful wife. The dream vision ofPearldepicts a bereaved father whose lost child leads him to glimpse heaven. And in moral poems based on stories from the Bible,Cleannesswarns against sins of the flesh and of desecration, whilePatienceencourages readers to endure suffering as God's will.

Little is known about the so-called 'Gawain poet', who wrote during the late fourteenth century. It is believed that he came from south-east Cheshire, an important cultural and economic centre at the time, and he was clearly well-read in Latin, French and English. Although he is not named as the author ofSir Gawain and the Green Knight,Pearl,Patience,Cleanness, the four works have been attributed to him based on a careful comparison of their language, date and themes.

Myra Stokes was formerly Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at Bristol University. Her books includeJustice and Mercy in Piers PlowmanandThe Language of Jane Austen.

Ad Putter teaches at the English Department and the Centre for Medieval Studies of the University of Bristol, where is Professor of Medieval English Literature. His monographs includeSir Gawain and the Green Knight and French Arthurian RomanceandAn Introduction to the Gawain Poet, and he is also co-editor ofThe Cambridge Companion to the Arthurian Legend.