The first publication of a previously unknown narrative poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the extraordinary story of the final days of England's legendary hero, King Arthur.

This translation narrates in crystalline verse the strange tale of a green knight who rudely interrupts the Round Table festivities one Yuletide, casting a pall of unease over the company and challenging one of their number to a wager. The virtuous Gawain accepts, and decapitates the intruder with his own axe. Gushing blood, the knight reclaims his head, orders Gawain to seek him out a year hence, and departs. Next Yuletide Gawain dutifully sets forth....

"An annotated edition of the late-medieval epic poem about a mysterious green-skinned knight who puts forth a threatening challenge at King Arthur's court, which Sir Gawain attempts to meet; presented in side-by-side Middle and modern English."--

A collection of three medieval English poems translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and edited by his son, Christopher Tolkien.