The Structure of Sir Gawain: Bob and Wheel
 A term invented in the nineteenth century to describe this type of poetic structure
 After a strophe of unrhymed alliterative lines (in number from from 12 to 37) in Gawain,
the poem shifts into a set of rhymed lines
 The “bob”
o First line, very short
o Two or three syllables, stress on the last
 The “wheel”
o The remainder – a short-lined rhymed quatrain (4 lines)
 The rhyme scheme is ABABA
A
B
A
B
A
Now am I fawlty and falce and ferde haf ben ever
Of trecherye and untrawthe: bothe bityde sorwe
and care!
I biknowe yow, knyght, here stylle,
Al fawlty is my fare;
Letez me overtake your wylle
And efte I schal be ware.
Bob
}
Wheel
Armitage’s translation of above:
As I feared, I am found to be flawed and false,
through treachery and untruth I have totally failed,” said
Gawain.
“Such terrible mistakes,
and I shall bear the blame.
But tell me what it takes
to clear my clouded name.”
This structure often serves as either a summation or ironic statement about the stanza which
preceded it: it’s often viewed as a buttoning-up of the stanza.
Observe that Sir Gawain is a work in translation and all that that implies, including breaks and
interruptions in the rhyme scheme.
Definition of an Epic:
A long narrative poem on a serious subject chronicling heroic deeds and important events.
Famous Epics:
Homer: The Iliad, The Odyssey
Dante: The Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradisio)
Milton: Paradise Lost
Beowulf
So, how is Gawain pronounced?
Throughout the original, the author seems to use two pronunciations and three different
spellings:
Thus þer stondes in stale þe stif kyng hisseluen,
Talkkande bifore þe hyЗe table of trifles ful hende.
There gode Gawan watz grayþed Gwenore bisyde,
And Agrauayn a la dure mayn on þat oþer syde sittes,
Boþe þe kynges sistersunes and ful siker kniЗtes;
And later on…
For to glade Sir Gawayn with gomnez in halle
þat nyЗt,
Til þat hit watz tyme
Þe lord comaundet lyЗt;
Sir Gawen his leue con nyme
And to his bed hym diЗt.
So, according to the author of the original work, it can be either, although trying to pin
down a proper pronunciation of a medieval name is no easy task. Personally, I think that the
Celtic interpretation of the character (as we see in SGGK) should likely be pronounced (GOWwinn) while the Gawain from Romantic literature (Le Morte d’Arthur, for example) should be
(guh-WAYNE). But don’t think my opinion on this matter is final.
Middle English Excerpt from
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Þis kyng lay at Camylot vpon Krystmasse
With mony luflych lorde, ledez of Þe best,
Rekenly of Þe Rounde Table alle Þo rich breÞer,
With rych reuel oryЗt and rechles merÞes.
Þer tournayed tulkes by tymez ful mony,
Justed ful jolilé Þise gentyle kniЗtes,
SyÞen kayred to Þe court caroles to make.
For Þer Þe fest watz ilyche ful fiften dayes,
With alle Þe mete and Þe mirÞe Þat men couÞe avyse;
Such glaum ande gle glorious to here,
Dere dyn vpon day, daunsyng on nyЗtes,
Al watz hap vpon heЗe in hallez and chambrez
With lordez and ladies, as leuest him ÞoЗt.
With all Þe wele of Þe worlde Þay woned Þer samen,
Þe most kyd knyЗtez vnder Krystes seluen,
And Þe louelokkest ladies Þat euer lif haden,
And he Þe comlokest kyng Þat Þe court haldes;
For al watz Þis fayre folk in her first age,
on sille,
Þe hapnest vnder heuen,
Kyng hyЗest mon of wylle;
Hit were now gret nye to neuen
So hardy a here on hille.
Some issues to consider regarding works in translation:
 The translator’s personal interpretations are different from one to the other, with
differing focuses and views
o Main interpreters of Sir Gawain: Raffel, Borroff, Tolkien, Armitage
 Colloquialisms and figures of speech can be unintelligible across the centuries and
cultures
 Thus, one translation isn’t an absolute interpretation
Translation One - Marie Borroff
This king lay at Camelot at Christmastide;
Many good knights and gay his guests were there,
Arrayed of the Round Table rightful brothers,
With feasting and fellowship and carefree mirth.
There true men contended in tournaments many,
Joined there in jousting these gentle knights,
Then came to the court for carol-dancing,
For the feast was in force full fifteen days,
With all the meat and the mirth that men could devise,
Such gaiety and glee, glorious to hear,
Brave din by day, dancing by night.
High were their hearts in halls and chambers,
These lords and these ladies, for life was sweet.
In peerless pleasures passed they their days,
The most noble knights known under Christ,
And the loveliest ladies that lived on earth ever,
And he the comeliest king, that that court holds,
For all this fair folk in their first age
were still.
Happiest of mortal kind,
King noblest famed of will;
You would now go far to find
So hardy a host on hill.
Translation Two - Burton Raffel
At Christmas the king held court at Camelot,
Surrounded by gracious lords, worthy
Knights of the Round Table, brothers in arms,
Reveling in that rich pleasure. Noble
Knights day after day rode
In tourneys, jousted gallant and well,
Then galloped to court, and sang, and danced –
For Camelot’s Christmas was fifteen
Days, as full of food and laughter
As feasting could be made, loud and happy
And glorious to listen to, noisy days,
Dancing nights, lords and ladies
Rejoicing in their rooms, and in Arthur’s castle,
Coming together in the height of delight,
The most famous warriors of Christ our King,
And the loveliest ladies in the world, and Arthur
The noblest of rulers, reigning in his court.
It was springtime in Camelot, in the Christmas snow,
In that castle
Most blessed on earth,
With the best of vassals
And a king of such worth
That no time will surpass him.
Translation Three – Simon Armitage
It was Christmas at Camelot – King Arthur's court,
where the great and the good of the land had gathered,
all the righteous lords of the ranks of the Round Table
quite properly carousing and revelling in pleasure.
Time after time, in tournaments of joust,
they had lunged at each other with levelled lances
then returned to the castle to carry on their carolling,
for the feasting lasted a full fortnight and one day,
with more food and drink than a fellow could dream of.
The hubbub of their humour was heavenly to hear:
pleasant dialogue by day and dancing after dusk,
so the house and its hall were lit with happiness
and lords and ladies were luminous with joy.
Such a coming together of the gracious and the glad:
the most chivalrous and courteous knights known in
Christendom;
the most wonderful women to have walked in this world;
the handsomest king to be crowned at court.
Fine folk with their futures before them, there in
that hall.
Their highly honoured king
was happiest of all:
no nobler knights had come
within a castle's wall.
Translation Four – J.R.R. Tolkien
This king lay at Camelot at Christmas-tide
with many a lovely lord, lieges most noble,
indeed of the Table Round all those tried brethren,
amid merriment unmatched and mirth without care.
There tourneyed many a time the trusty knights,
and jousted full joyously these gentle lords;
then to the court they came at carols to play.
For there the feast was unfailing full fifteen days,
with all meats and all mirth that men could devise,
such gladness and gaiety as was glorious to hear,
din of voices by day, and dancing by night;
all happiness in the highest of halls and in bowers
had the lords and the ladies, such as they loved most
dearly.
With all the bliss of this world they abode together,
the knights most renowned after the name of Christ,
and the ladies most lovely that ever life enjoyed,
and he, king most courteous, who that court possessed.
For all that folk so fair did in their first estate
abide,
Under heaven the first in fame,
their king most high in pride;
it would now be hard to name
a troop in war so tried.