Stanzas 20-21 (ll. 444-491): Gawain and Arthur Wonder What Just Happened Flashcards
“dresses”
as in
“Toward the derrest on the dese he dresses the face,” (l. 445)
“directs”
“loked ful brode”
as in
“And hit lyft up the iye-lyddes and loked ful brode” (l. 446)
“opened its eyes wide”
“meled”
as in
“And meled thus much with his mouth as ye may now here:” (l. 447)
“spoke”
“grayth”
as in
“Look, Gawan, thou be grayth to go as thou hettes,” (l. 448)
“willing”
“hettes”
as in
“Look, Gawan, thou be grayth to go as thou hettes,” (l. 448)
“has promised”
“And layte also lelly til thou me, lede, fynde
As thou has hyght in this halle, herande these knightes.” (ll. 449-50)
“and seek till you find me, sir, as faithfully as you have promised in this hall, [in the] hearing [of] these knights.”
(Key words: “layte” means “seek”; “lelly” means “faithfully”; “hyght” means “promised”; “herande” means “[in the] hearing [of]”. Word order is odd so be careful of this bit.)
“chose”
as in
“To the Grene Chapel thou chose, I charge thee, to fette” (l. 451)
“go”
(Note: is imperative.)
“fette”
as in
“To the Grene Chapel thou chose, I charge thee, to fette” (l. 451)
“receive”
(Lit. “fetch”)
“disserved thou habbes
To be yederly yolden on New Yeres morne.” (ll. 452b-53)
” you deserve to be promptly repaid on New Year’s morning.”
“Forthy me for to fynde if thou fraystes fayles thou never.” (l. 455)
“Therefore, if you try to find me, you’ll never fail.”
(Note: “fraystes” once again means “seek”; so here “if you seek to find me”, which is translated into more modern prose as above.)
“Therefore com, or recreaunt be called thee behoves.” (l. 456)
“Therefore come, or it [will] be fitting that you are called a coward.”
(Note: “recreaunt” means “coward”. Word order is strange here.)
“With a runische rout the raynes he turnes,” (l. 457)
“With a rough jerk [of] the reins he turns”
“Haled out at the halle dor, his hed in his hande,
That the fire of the flynt flewe fro fole hoves.” (ll. 458-59)
“Went straight out the hall door, his head in his hand, [so swiftly] that sparks from the horse’s hooves flew from the hard stone.”
“kyth he becom”
as in
“To what kyth he becom knewe non there,” (l. 460)
“land he goes to”
“Never more then thay wyste from whethen he was sonnen.” (l. 461)
Any more than they knew where he had come from [before].”
“breved”
as in
“Yet breved was hit ful bare” (l. 465)
“spoken of”
“ful bare”
as in
“Yet breved was hit ful bare” (l. 465)
“manifestly”
“Thagh Arthur the hende kyng at hert hade wonder,” (l. 467)
“Though Arthur, the courteous king, had amazement in his heart,”
“He let no semblaunt be sene”
as in
“He let no semblaunt be sene, bot sayde ful highe” (l. 468)
“He let no sign of it be seen”
(C.f. to the description of the Green Knight earlier)
“ful highe”
as in
“He let no semblaunt be sene, bot sayde ful highe” (l. 468)
“very loudly”
(Lit. “on very high”; a modern rendition would simply be “loudly”.)
“Wel becomes such craft upon Cristmasse–” (l. 471)
“Such [an] event is suitable on Christmas—”
“Laykyng of enterludes,”
as in
“Laykyng of enterludes, to laghe and to synge,” (l. 472)
“the playing of spectacles [such as this]”
“selly”
as in
“For I have sene a selly, I may not forsake.” (l. 475)
“wonder”
“forsake”
as in
“For I have sene a selly, I may not forsake.” (l. 475)
“deny”
“gaynly”
as in
“He glent upon Sir Gawan and gaynly he sayde:” (l. 476)
“fittingly”
“that has inogh hewen.’–”
as in
“‘Now, sir, heng up thyn axe, that has inogh hewen.’–” (l. 477)
“that has chopped enough.–”
“And hit was done above the dese on doser to henge” (l. 478)
“And it was put on clothe to hang above the high table”
(“done”, meaning “put”, conjugates to “on doser”.)
“for mervayl”
as in
“There all men for mervayl myght on hit loke” (l. 479)
“as a marvel”
“And by true tytle theeof to telle the wonder.” (l. 480)
“and, by its true validation, tell [tales] of the wonder.”
“bowed to a borde”
as in
“Then thay bowed to a borde, these burnes togeder–” (l. 481)
“came to a table”
(C.f. “bowed” to earlier in the poem.)
“kene”
as in
“The kyng and the good knight–and kene men hem served” (l. 482)
“skilful”
“Of all dayntyes double, as derrest myght falle.” (l. 483)
“double portions of all of the delicacies, as might properly befit [the occasion].”
“With wele walt thay that day, til worthed an ende
In londe.” (ll. 485-86)
“they spent the day in happiness, until (there) came about an end in the land.”
(Key words: “wele” means “happiness”; “walt” means “spent”.)
“Now thenk wel, Sir Gawayn,
For wothe that thou ne wonde
This aunter for to frayn
That thou has tan on honde.” (ll. 487-91)
“Now, think hard, Sir Gawain, [so] that you don’t draw back from danger and see this adventure, that you have taken in [your] hands, through.”
(Key words: “wothe” means “danger”; “wonde” means “draw back”; “aunter” means “adventure”; “frayn” means “see through”; “tan” is a contraction of “taken”.)
