Magical and human, 05 Jan 2006
Middle English is a diverse collection of different dialects and styles, when it comes to literature. At the same time that Chaucer was writing in the southeast of England, with good command of French and Italian poetic sensibilities, there was a strong tradition in the north and west country of alliterative poetry, the kind that owed as much to the Old English forms of verse and use of language as to the new influences post-Norman Conquest-wise. Among the products of this time and place, the anonymously composed 'Sir Gawain and Green Knight' is one of the most outstanding.

This poem has all the hallmarks of being a work of many influences - it has the heroic aspects that one might expect from Old English epics such as Beowulf; it has a decided romantic streak reminiscent of French and Norman influences; it has virtue and church/Christian overlaying influences that come from Latin and ecclesial sources; it has magical and mystical ideas that are most likely Celtic in origin. Perhaps more like a tapestry, the various strands of influence are woven together into a glorious pattern that stands as a towerig achievement of the synthesis of language that Middle English achieved between its Germanic and Latinate streams.

Gawain's story is a very popular one. The most virtuous of the Round Table knights, his bravery and his resourcefulness at seeking the Green Knight, the annual challenger at the court of Arthur, is legendary. Gawain's small fault (and indeed, Gawain was portrayed as a virtuous human, but human nonetheless) warrants a very small penalty, but he is deemed upon reporting back to Camelot that he has brought honour upon the whole fellowship of knights. There is something magical about the Green Knight, however, and this can be seen as metaphor for the way in which temptation seems to have a magical power over humanity.

Don't buy this edition, 11 Nov 2004
This edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has possibly the worst critical apparatus that I have ever seen in any supposedly scholarly text - it is quite simple: do not buy this edition if you want more than a condescending, sloppy, infuriating quasi-translation of one of the greatest poems that this language has ever produced. Where to start? Well, to begin with, J.J.Anderson has seen fit to omit any form of glossary - a fairly important addition you might think to a poem that is full of archaic and obscure language; the marginal glosses are simply too few and far between to be anything more than a minor annoyance. Infact, make that a major annoyance seeing as Anderson seems content to ignore some of the more challenging words in favour of glossing those words which are more or less obvious from their context and pronunciation. But, not to worry - Anderson has come up with a brilliant solution to the 'complexities' of the poem. Simple. Just translate it by stealth in a series of footnotes written in size 6 font to emphasise how unassuming and humble our exalted editor actually is. But really - come on - who actually wants to read the poem in its original form and understand the subtleties and nuances of what it has to say when we have 'scholars' such as J.J.Anderson to improve on the text and bring it up to standard for this discerning age? If your want to experience and enjoy this poem in its original form - and, believe me, it will be worth the effort - invest in a better edition; preferably one edited by someone who actually respects the text - and his readers.

'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' (Everyman edition), 03 Jan 2002
The story of this poem is pretty weird: Arthur's knights are eating their Christmas dinner when a hefty green man (why is he green? I've no idea!) walks in and challenges one of the knights to a duel. The poem follows Gawain, the knight who takes up the challenge, as he travels, in classic Arthurian fashion, through a wood, where he gets lost. A castle appears, Gawain goes in, and the kind host suggests offers him a bed for the knight: the bed in which his (the host's) daughter sleeps. We later learn that this host is the green man, disguised, and his offer is designed to test Gawain. Though Gawain is tempted, he keeps to his side of the bed, and travels on to meet the green man for a beheading game, unaware that he has already passed the test.

The poem is a combination of two mediaeval stories: the beheading challenge, and the temptation story (an good example of the latter, with a misogynistic twist at the end, can be found in 'Three Arthurian Romances', also in Everyman paperback). The poet (we don't know his name) has combined them in a sophisticated way: so that Gawain triumphs not through his bravery, but his morality. (This is itself a twist, because Gawain was usually depicted as a womaniser!)

There are a number of translations of this poem into modern English, but, needless to say, a lot is lost in translation. (The poet for example, has invented or mastered a form that mixes alliterative verse -- using repeated consonants -- with rhyming verse.) The Everyman edition gives the poem in the original, but has helpful glosses of all the strange words that crop up in this strange poem. (It also includes two other poems which might have been written by the same poet.)

Medieval poetry at it's best, 01 Jun 2001
Having studied a lot of medieval writing at university I was pleased to find something as fresh as Gawain and the Green Knight. There are so many levels to read this book on. You can look into all the allusions and the imagery, or you can read for pure enjoyment of the action in the story. The narrative is clear and even though it is written in an old style of English it does not take long to get into that way of thinking - it is not difficult to understand. I would recommend this to all lovers of good fiction, and tales of knights of old!

Magical and human, 05 Jan 2006
Middle English is a diverse collection of different dialects and styles, when it comes to literature. At the same time that Chaucer was writing in the southeast of England, with good command of French and Italian poetic sensibilities, there was a strong tradition in the north and west country of alliterative poetry, the kind that owed as much to the Old English forms of verse and use of language as to the new influences post-Norman Conquest-wise. Among the products of this time and place, the anonymously composed 'Sir Gawain and Green Knight' is one of the most outstanding.

This poem has all the hallmarks of being a work of many influences - it has the heroic aspects that one might expect from Old English epics such as Beowulf; it has a decided romantic streak reminiscent of French and Norman influences; it has virtue and church/Christian overlaying influences that come from Latin and ecclesial sources; it has magical and mystical ideas that are most likely Celtic in origin. Perhaps more like a tapestry, the various strands of influence are woven together into a glorious pattern that stands as a towerig achievement of the synthesis of language that Middle English achieved between its Germanic and Latinate streams.

Gawain's story is a very popular one. The most virtuous of the Round Table knights, his bravery and his resourcefulness at seeking the Green Knight, the annual challenger at the court of Arthur, is legendary. Gawain's small fault (and indeed, Gawain was portrayed as a virtuous human, but human nonetheless) warrants a very small penalty, but he is deemed upon reporting back to Camelot that he has brought honour upon the whole fellowship of knights. There is something magical about the Green Knight, however, and this can be seen as metaphor for the way in which temptation seems to have a magical power over humanity.

Don't buy this edition, 11 Nov 2004
This edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has possibly the worst critical apparatus that I have ever seen in any supposedly scholarly text - it is quite simple: do not buy this edition if you want more than a condescending, sloppy, infuriating quasi-translation of one of the greatest poems that this language has ever produced. Where to start? Well, to begin with, J.J.Anderson has seen fit to omit any form of glossary - a fairly important addition you might think to a poem that is full of archaic and obscure language; the marginal glosses are simply too few and far between to be anything more than a minor annoyance. Infact, make that a major annoyance seeing as Anderson seems content to ignore some of the more challenging words in favour of glossing those words which are more or less obvious from their context and pronunciation. But, not to worry - Anderson has come up with a brilliant solution to the 'complexities' of the poem. Simple. Just translate it by stealth in a series of footnotes written in size 6 font to emphasise how unassuming and humble our exalted editor actually is. But really - come on - who actually wants to read the poem in its original form and understand the subtleties and nuances of what it has to say when we have 'scholars' such as J.J.Anderson to improve on the text and bring it up to standard for this discerning age? If your want to experience and enjoy this poem in its original form - and, believe me, it will be worth the effort - invest in a better edition; preferably one edited by someone who actually respects the text - and his readers.

'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' (Everyman edition), 03 Jan 2002
The story of this poem is pretty weird: Arthur's knights are eating their Christmas dinner when a hefty green man (why is he green? I've no idea!) walks in and challenges one of the knights to a duel. The poem follows Gawain, the knight who takes up the challenge, as he travels, in classic Arthurian fashion, through a wood, where he gets lost. A castle appears, Gawain goes in, and the kind host suggests offers him a bed for the knight: the bed in which his (the host's) daughter sleeps. We later learn that this host is the green man, disguised, and his offer is designed to test Gawain. Though Gawain is tempted, he keeps to his side of the bed, and travels on to meet the green man for a beheading game, unaware that he has already passed the test.

The poem is a combination of two mediaeval stories: the beheading challenge, and the temptation story (an good example of the latter, with a misogynistic twist at the end, can be found in 'Three Arthurian Romances', also in Everyman paperback). The poet (we don't know his name) has combined them in a sophisticated way: so that Gawain triumphs not through his bravery, but his morality. (This is itself a twist, because Gawain was usually depicted as a womaniser!)

There are a number of translations of this poem into modern English, but, needless to say, a lot is lost in translation. (The poet for example, has invented or mastered a form that mixes alliterative verse -- using repeated consonants -- with rhyming verse.) The Everyman edition gives the poem in the original, but has helpful glosses of all the strange words that crop up in this strange poem. (It also includes two other poems which might have been written by the same poet.)

Medieval poetry at it's best, 01 Jun 2001
Having studied a lot of medieval writing at university I was pleased to find something as fresh as Gawain and the Green Knight. There are so many levels to read this book on. You can look into all the allusions and the imagery, or you can read for pure enjoyment of the action in the story. The narrative is clear and even though it is written in an old style of English it does not take long to get into that way of thinking - it is not difficult to understand. I would recommend this to all lovers of good fiction, and tales of knights of old!

Don't Read More Than 1 A Week, 08 Mar 2007
I was recommended by my boss [A Welshman] to read these tales as preparation for taking tourists to experience Wales and Welsh culture. I can't say it helped. After reading several of these tales at a sitting, I got bored. They may be the pinnacle of Welsh folklore and this edition may be the best translation of them - I couldn't say. But, as stories, they are repetitive and thoroughly predictable. Every castle is "the finest ever was seen", every maiden "the fairest in the land". I know this constant hyperbole is what folk tales tend to major on but that doesn't make for an interesting read. These stories are best read one at a time, probably out loud to smallish children, at the rate of one a week. I wouldn't mind betting that's how the originals were treated. Oh - and I'm half Welsh m'self. Barry John, Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams - now these are true Welsh heroes...

The Mabinogion (Jones and Jones translation), 04 Apr 2006
In my opinion this far and away the best version of these classic Welsh myths. The language is slightly archaic but much truer to the original texts from which it is translated.

This edition is infinately superior to the Charlotte Guest version Bowdlerised as it is for her victorian audiences and laced with mistranslations. Gantz's translation is good but loses something in it's attempt to update the language used.

Probably still the best modern translation of the Mabinogi, 02 Mar 2004
"The Mabinogion" remain the greatest, the grandest and the most moving of all Medieval Welsh fabular prose, and Jones and Jones' English translation, even though it is over half a century old now, has yet to be rivalled.

Taking admittedly difficult and often corrupted manuscript text, they have succeeded in making a comprehensive and vibrant edition of all eleven tales, with copious notes which range to satisfy not only the scholar but the casual reader. A map and pronunciation guide complete the mix.

From the "Four Branches", those stories of gods and would-be-gods in the mists of the past, wooing and slaying, deceiving and conquering, are brilliantly and stirringly represented by the translators, and the full tragedy of Branwen's fate, or of Rhiannon's penance, the wretched savagery of Efnissien, the boldness of Bran and the guile of Gwydion are here given as much loftiness and power as in the original Welsh.

The four "native" tales, which feature Arthur to varying degrees of prominence, are dwarfed by the beast within their number, "Culhwch and Olwen", a rollicking sprawl of a broad comedy (with its moments of pathos), which is admirably executed by Jones and Jones, evenm if they occasionally lose sense of the author's dry humour.

The "Three Romances" are tales of derring-do by the warriors of Arthur's retinue, where jousting, magic and fair damsels are the aim of the day. Strikingly different to the "Four Branches", these tales are more patently 'medieval', and will appeal greatly to the admirers of Malory or Chretien, and of the Arthur stories which have inspired many a Round Table spinoff. Forget the imitators. These are the originals.

The translators' usage of the familiar sexond person pronoun "thee" and "thou", whilst meant to represent the equivalent in the Welsh, can become rather obstrusive: they are fine and elegant in the more dramatic passages, but get in the way in what should be the snappy, light-hearted dialogue. Also, whilst there is care taken at times to insert speakers' names when it is unclear, this is inconsistent, and the Welsh author's characteristic use of 'said he' rather than 'said X' should have been amended for ease of reading; more eye-friendly paragraphing would also not have gone amiss.

But these are minor quibbles in what is still the most attractive and powerful English translation of the Mabinogion. "He that leads shall be a bridge," spoke Bran the Blessed, and this edition is the modern reader's bridge to an under-read Medieval classic. Do read it.

Magical and human, 05 Jan 2006
Middle English is a diverse collection of different dialects and styles, when it comes to literature. At the same time that Chaucer was writing in the southeast of England, with good command of French and Italian poetic sensibilities, there was a strong tradition in the north and west country of alliterative poetry, the kind that owed as much to the Old English forms of verse and use of language as to the new influences post-Norman Conquest-wise. Among the products of this time and place, the anonymously composed 'Sir Gawain and Green Knight' is one of the most outstanding.

This poem has all the hallmarks of being a work of many influences - it has the heroic aspects that one might expect from Old English epics such as Beowulf; it has a decided romantic streak reminiscent of French and Norman influences; it has virtue and church/Christian overlaying influences that come from Latin and ecclesial sources; it has magical and mystical ideas that are most likely Celtic in origin. Perhaps more like a tapestry, the various strands of influence are woven together into a glorious pattern that stands as a towerig achievement of the synthesis of language that Middle English achieved between its Germanic and Latinate streams.

Gawain's story is a very popular one. The most virtuous of the Round Table knights, his bravery and his resourcefulness at seeking the Green Knight, the annual challenger at the court of Arthur, is legendary. Gawain's small fault (and indeed, Gawain was portrayed as a virtuous human, but human nonetheless) warrants a very small penalty, but he is deemed upon reporting back to Camelot that he has brought honour upon the whole fellowship of knights. There is something magical about the Green Knight, however, and this can be seen as metaphor for the way in which temptation seems to have a magical power over humanity.

Don't buy this edition, 11 Nov 2004
This edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has possibly the worst critical apparatus that I have ever seen in any supposedly scholarly text - it is quite simple: do not buy this edition if you want more than a condescending, sloppy, infuriating quasi-translation of one of the greatest poems that this language has ever produced. Where to start? Well, to begin with, J.J.Anderson has seen fit to omit any form of glossary - a fairly important addition you might think to a poem that is full of archaic and obscure language; the marginal glosses are simply too few and far between to be anything more than a minor annoyance. Infact, make that a major annoyance seeing as Anderson seems content to ignore some of the more challenging words in favour of glossing those words which are more or less obvious from their context and pronunciation. But, not to worry - Anderson has come up with a brilliant solution to the 'complexities' of the poem. Simple. Just translate it by stealth in a series of footnotes written in size 6 font to emphasise how unassuming and humble our exalted editor actually is. But really - come on - who actually wants to read the poem in its original form and understand the subtleties and nuances of what it has to say when we have 'scholars' such as J.J.Anderson to improve on the text and bring it up to standard for this discerning age? If your want to experience and enjoy this poem in its original form - and, believe me, it will be worth the effort - invest in a better edition; preferably one edited by someone who actually respects the text - and his readers.

'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' (Everyman edition), 03 Jan 2002
The story of this poem is pretty weird: Arthur's knights are eating their Christmas dinner when a hefty green man (why is he green? I've no idea!) walks in and challenges one of the knights to a duel. The poem follows Gawain, the knight who takes up the challenge, as he travels, in classic Arthurian fashion, through a wood, where he gets lost. A castle appears, Gawain goes in, and the kind host suggests offers him a bed for the knight: the bed in which his (the host's) daughter sleeps. We later learn that this host is the green man, disguised, and his offer is designed to test Gawain. Though Gawain is tempted, he keeps to his side of the bed, and travels on to meet the green man for a beheading game, unaware that he has already passed the test.

The poem is a combination of two mediaeval stories: the beheading challenge, and the temptation story (an good example of the latter, with a misogynistic twist at the end, can be found in 'Three Arthurian Romances', also in Everyman paperback). The poet (we don't know his name) has combined them in a sophisticated way: so that Gawain triumphs not through his bravery, but his morality. (This is itself a twist, because Gawain was usually depicted as a womaniser!)

There are a number of translations of this poem into modern English, but, needless to say, a lot is lost in translation. (The poet for example, has invented or mastered a form that mixes alliterative verse -- using repeated consonants -- with rhyming verse.) The Everyman edition gives the poem in the original, but has helpful glosses of all the strange words that crop up in this strange poem. (It also includes two other poems which might have been written by the same poet.)

Medieval poetry at it's best, 01 Jun 2001
Having studied a lot of medieval writing at university I was pleased to find something as fresh as Gawain and the Green Knight. There are so many levels to read this book on. You can look into all the allusions and the imagery, or you can read for pure enjoyment of the action in the story. The narrative is clear and even though it is written in an old style of English it does not take long to get into that way of thinking - it is not difficult to understand. I would recommend this to all lovers of good fiction, and tales of knights of old!

Don't Read More Than 1 A Week, 08 Mar 2007
I was recommended by my boss [A Welshman] to read these tales as preparation for taking tourists to experience Wales and Welsh culture. I can't say it helped. After reading several of these tales at a sitting, I got bored. They may be the pinnacle of Welsh folklore and this edition may be the best translation of them - I couldn't say. But, as stories, they are repetitive and thoroughly predictable. Every castle is "the finest ever was seen", every maiden "the fairest in the land". I know this constant hyperbole is what folk tales tend to major on but that doesn't make for an interesting read. These stories are best read one at a time, probably out loud to smallish children, at the rate of one a week. I wouldn't mind betting that's how the originals were treated. Oh - and I'm half Welsh m'self. Barry John, Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams - now these are true Welsh heroes...

The Mabinogion (Jones and Jones translation), 04 Apr 2006
In my opinion this far and away the best version of these classic Welsh myths. The language is slightly archaic but much truer to the original texts from which it is translated.

This edition is infinately superior to the Charlotte Guest version Bowdlerised as it is for her victorian audiences and laced with mistranslations. Gantz's translation is good but loses something in it's attempt to update the language used.

Probably still the best modern translation of the Mabinogi, 02 Mar 2004
"The Mabinogion" remain the greatest, the grandest and the most moving of all Medieval Welsh fabular prose, and Jones and Jones' English translation, even though it is over half a century old now, has yet to be rivalled.

Taking admittedly difficult and often corrupted manuscript text, they have succeeded in making a comprehensive and vibrant edition of all eleven tales, with copious notes which range to satisfy not only the scholar but the casual reader. A map and pronunciation guide complete the mix.

From the "Four Branches", those stories of gods and would-be-gods in the mists of the past, wooing and slaying, deceiving and conquering, are brilliantly and stirringly represented by the translators, and the full tragedy of Branwen's fate, or of Rhiannon's penance, the wretched savagery of Efnissien, the boldness of Bran and the guile of Gwydion are here given as much loftiness and power as in the original Welsh.

The four "native" tales, which feature Arthur to varying degrees of prominence, are dwarfed by the beast within their number, "Culhwch and Olwen", a rollicking sprawl of a broad comedy (with its moments of pathos), which is admirably executed by Jones and Jones, evenm if they occasionally lose sense of the author's dry humour.

The "Three Romances" are tales of derring-do by the warriors of Arthur's retinue, where jousting, magic and fair damsels are the aim of the day. Strikingly different to the "Four Branches", these tales are more patently 'medieval', and will appeal greatly to the admirers of Malory or Chretien, and of the Arthur stories which have inspired many a Round Table spinoff. Forget the imitators. These are the originals.

The translators' usage of the familiar sexond person pronoun "thee" and "thou", whilst meant to represent the equivalent in the Welsh, can become rather obstrusive: they are fine and elegant in the more dramatic passages, but get in the way in what should be the snappy, light-hearted dialogue. Also, whilst there is care taken at times to insert speakers' names when it is unclear, this is inconsistent, and the Welsh author's characteristic use of 'said he' rather than 'said X' should have been amended for ease of reading; more eye-friendly paragraphing would also not have gone amiss.

But these are minor quibbles in what is still the most attractive and powerful English translation of the Mabinogion. "He that leads shall be a bridge," spoke Bran the Blessed, and this edition is the modern reader's bridge to an under-read Medieval classic. Do read it.

Looking closely at the villages we take for granted, 15 Oct 2008
The English village is the stuff of cliché, embedded deeply in our ideas of how the countryside functions. It can come as a surprise, to anyone whose school introduction to medieval history was centred on the feudal system, the manor and the three-field system, to realise that alternative models are possible and, in large areas of England (and even more so in the other parts of the United Kingdom), are the norm. Once one is made aware of this greater variety and complexity, however, the immediate next question is why villages should be the normal pattern of settlement in some areas, and where they come from: how do they form in the first place, and when?

This volume is the report of a several-years' study into a group of parishes in Whittlewood, on the Buckinghamshire / Northamptonshire border, examining how villages formed and evolved, drawing on documentary and archeological sources. It is an interesting area to study for two reasons: firstly, of course, it is in the south Midland area in which the classic nucleated village dominates and might, perhaps, be paradigmatic. Secondly, however, it is in an area in which some villages are interestingly multi-centred: a Buckinghamshire village may often be made up of several "ends", small sub-villages that adjoin one another (the title, of course, puns on these). The possibility is raised that these may be nucleated villages that somehow stopped developing. Crucial to the study is the discussion of whether villages developed by outward expansion or inward coalescence: whether small nucleated settlements grew larger and spun off scattered farms in the surrounding area (in particular at the time of enclosure) or whether a settlement pattern of scattered farms saw some of those outlying settlements abandoned as settlement "clumped" around a few of these potential nuclei (for reasons of trade, sociability, co-operation and so forth). The options are examined in detail as they relate to real conditions on the ground, as exemplified by field-walking (pottery fragments scattered in remote locations indicating now-vanished settlements) and documentary research in manorial records and the like. Reassuringly, no neat and reductive model is proposed - "a bit of both, varying from place to place" is the eventual outcome. So there is no magic bullet, no one-size-fits-all solution at the end of the volume; there is, however, a fascinating look at how this crucial element of the landscape may develop, at how evidence can be used to shed light on it, and a chance to get one's teeth into the detailed texture of the English landscape. Well worth the read, in particular with the relevant OS map at one's side.

Magical and human, 05 Jan 2006
Middle English is a diverse collection of different dialects and styles, when it comes to literature. At the same time that Chaucer was writing in the southeast of England, with good command of French and Italian poetic sensibilities, there was a strong tradition in the north and west country of alliterative poetry, the kind that owed as much to the Old English forms of verse and use of language as to the new influences post-Norman Conquest-wise. Among the products of this time and place, the anonymously composed 'Sir Gawain and Green Knight' is one of the most outstanding.

This poem has all the hallmarks of being a work of many influences - it has the heroic aspects that one might expect from Old English epics such as Beowulf; it has a decided romantic streak reminiscent of French and Norman influences; it has virtue and church/Christian overlaying influences that come from Latin and ecclesial sources; it has magical and mystical ideas that are most likely Celtic in origin. Perhaps more like a tapestry, the various strands of influence are woven together into a glorious pattern that stands as a towerig achievement of the synthesis of language that Middle English achieved between its Germanic and Latinate streams.

Gawain's story is a very popular one. The most virtuous of the Round Table knights, his bravery and his resourcefulness at seeking the Green Knight, the annual challenger at the court of Arthur, is legendary. Gawain's small fault (and indeed, Gawain was portrayed as a virtuous human, but human nonetheless) warrants a very small penalty, but he is deemed upon reporting back to Camelot that he has brought honour upon the whole fellowship of knights. There is something magical about the Green Knight, however, and this can be seen as metaphor for the way in which temptation seems to have a magical power over humanity.

Don't buy this edition, 11 Nov 2004
This edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has possibly the worst critical apparatus that I have ever seen in any supposedly scholarly text - it is quite simple: do not buy this edition if you want more than a condescending, sloppy, infuriating quasi-translation of one of the greatest poems that this language has ever produced. Where to start? Well, to begin with, J.J.Anderson has seen fit to omit any form of glossary - a fairly important addition you might think to a poem that is full of archaic and obscure language; the marginal glosses are simply too few and far between to be anything more than a minor annoyance. Infact, make that a major annoyance seeing as Anderson seems content to ignore some of the more challenging words in favour of glossing those words which are more or less obvious from their context and pronunciation. But, not to worry - Anderson has come up with a brilliant solution to the 'complexities' of the poem. Simple. Just translate it by stealth in a series of footnotes written in size 6 font to emphasise how unassuming and humble our exalted editor actually is. But really - come on - who actually wants to read the poem in its original form and understand the subtleties and nuances of what it has to say when we have 'scholars' such as J.J.Anderson to improve on the text and bring it up to standard for this discerning age? If your want to experience and enjoy this poem in its original form - and, believe me, it will be worth the effort - invest in a better edition; preferably one edited by someone who actually respects the text - and his readers.

'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' (Everyman edition), 03 Jan 2002
The story of this poem is pretty weird: Arthur's knights are eating their Christmas dinner when a hefty green man (why is he green? I've no idea!) walks in and challenges one of the knights to a duel. The poem follows Gawain, the knight who takes up the challenge, as he travels, in classic Arthurian fashion, through a wood, where he gets lost. A castle appears, Gawain goes in, and the kind host suggests offers him a bed for the knight: the bed in which his (the host's) daughter sleeps. We later learn that this host is the green man, disguised, and his offer is designed to test Gawain. Though Gawain is tempted, he keeps to his side of the bed, and travels on to meet the green man for a beheading game, unaware that he has already passed the test.

The poem is a combination of two mediaeval stories: the beheading challenge, and the temptation story (an good example of the latter, with a misogynistic twist at the end, can be found in 'Three Arthurian Romances', also in Everyman paperback). The poet (we don't know his name) has combined them in a sophisticated way: so that Gawain triumphs not through his bravery, but his morality. (This is itself a twist, because Gawain was usually depicted as a womaniser!)

There are a number of translations of this poem into modern English, but, needless to say, a lot is lost in translation. (The poet for example, has invented or mastered a form that mixes alliterative verse -- using repeated consonants -- with rhyming verse.) The Everyman edition gives the poem in the original, but has helpful glosses of all the strange words that crop up in this strange poem. (It also includes two other poems which might have been written by the same poet.)

Medieval poetry at it's best, 01 Jun 2001
Having studied a lot of medieval writing at university I was pleased to find something as fresh as Gawain and the Green Knight. There are so many levels to read this book on. You can look into all the allusions and the imagery, or you can read for pure enjoyment of the action in the story. The narrative is clear and even though it is written in an old style of English it does not take long to get into that way of thinking - it is not difficult to understand. I would recommend this to all lovers of good fiction, and tales of knights of old!

Don't Read More Than 1 A Week, 08 Mar 2007
I was recommended by my boss [A Welshman] to read these tales as preparation for taking tourists to experience Wales and Welsh culture. I can't say it helped. After reading several of these tales at a sitting, I got bored. They may be the pinnacle of Welsh folklore and this edition may be the best translation of them - I couldn't say. But, as stories, they are repetitive and thoroughly predictable. Every castle is "the finest ever was seen", every maiden "the fairest in the land". I know this constant hyperbole is what folk tales tend to major on but that doesn't make for an interesting read. These stories are best read one at a time, probably out loud to smallish children, at the rate of one a week. I wouldn't mind betting that's how the originals were treated. Oh - and I'm half Welsh m'self. Barry John, Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams - now these are true Welsh heroes...

The Mabinogion (Jones and Jones translation), 04 Apr 2006
In my opinion this far and away the best version of these classic Welsh myths. The language is slightly archaic but much truer to the original texts from which it is translated.

This edition is infinately superior to the Charlotte Guest version Bowdlerised as it is for her victorian audiences and laced with mistranslations. Gantz's translation is good but loses something in it's attempt to update the language used.

Probably still the best modern translation of the Mabinogi, 02 Mar 2004
"The Mabinogion" remain the greatest, the grandest and the most moving of all Medieval Welsh fabular prose, and Jones and Jones' English translation, even though it is over half a century old now, has yet to be rivalled.

Taking admittedly difficult and often corrupted manuscript text, they have succeeded in making a comprehensive and vibrant edition of all eleven tales, with copious notes which range to satisfy not only the scholar but the casual reader. A map and pronunciation guide complete the mix.

From the "Four Branches", those stories of gods and would-be-gods in the mists of the past, wooing and slaying, deceiving and conquering, are brilliantly and stirringly represented by the translators, and the full tragedy of Branwen's fate, or of Rhiannon's penance, the wretched savagery of Efnissien, the boldness of Bran and the guile of Gwydion are here given as much loftiness and power as in the original Welsh.

The four "native" tales, which feature Arthur to varying degrees of prominence, are dwarfed by the beast within their number, "Culhwch and Olwen", a rollicking sprawl of a broad comedy (with its moments of pathos), which is admirably executed by Jones and Jones, evenm if they occasionally lose sense of the author's dry humour.

The "Three Romances" are tales of derring-do by the warriors of Arthur's retinue, where jousting, magic and fair damsels are the aim of the day. Strikingly different to the "Four Branches", these tales are more patently 'medieval', and will appeal greatly to the admirers of Malory or Chretien, and of the Arthur stories which have inspired many a Round Table spinoff. Forget the imitators. These are the originals.

The translators' usage of the familiar sexond person pronoun "thee" and "thou", whilst meant to represent the equivalent in the Welsh, can become rather obstrusive: they are fine and elegant in the more dramatic passages, but get in the way in what should be the snappy, light-hearted dialogue. Also, whilst there is care taken at times to insert speakers' names when it is unclear, this is inconsistent, and the Welsh author's characteristic use of 'said he' rather than 'said X' should have been amended for ease of reading; more eye-friendly paragraphing would also not have gone amiss.

But these are minor quibbles in what is still the most attractive and powerful English translation of the Mabinogion. "He that leads shall be a bridge," spoke Bran the Blessed, and this edition is the modern reader's bridge to an under-read Medieval classic. Do read it.

Looking closely at the villages we take for granted, 15 Oct 2008
The English village is the stuff of cliché, embedded deeply in our ideas of how the countryside functions. It can come as a surprise, to anyone whose school introduction to medieval history was centred on the feudal system, the manor and the three-field system, to realise that alternative models are possible and, in large areas of England (and even more so in the other parts of the United Kingdom), are the norm. Once one is made aware of this greater variety and complexity, however, the immediate next question is why villages should be the normal pattern of settlement in some areas, and where they come from: how do they form in the first place, and when?

This volume is the report of a several-years' study into a group of parishes in Whittlewood, on the Buckinghamshire / Northamptonshire border, examining how villages formed and evolved, drawing on documentary and archeological sources. It is an interesting area to study for two reasons: firstly, of course, it is in the south Midland area in which the classic nucleated village dominates and might, perhaps, be paradigmatic. Secondly, however, it is in an area in which some villages are interestingly multi-centred: a Buckinghamshire village may often be made up of several "ends", small sub-villages that adjoin one another (the title, of course, puns on these). The possibility is raised that these may be nucleated villages that somehow stopped developing. Crucial to the study is the discussion of whether villages developed by outward expansion or inward coalescence: whether small nucleated settlements grew larger and spun off scattered farms in the surrounding area (in particular at the time of enclosure) or whether a settlement pattern of scattered farms saw some of those outlying settlements abandoned as settlement "clumped" around a few of these potential nuclei (for reasons of trade, sociability, co-operation and so forth). The options are examined in detail as they relate to real conditions on the ground, as exemplified by field-walking (pottery fragments scattered in remote locations indicating now-vanished settlements) and documentary research in manorial records and the like. Reassuringly, no neat and reductive model is proposed - "a bit of both, varying from place to place" is the eventual outcome. So there is no magic bullet, no one-size-fits-all solution at the end of the volume; there is, however, a fascinating look at how this crucial element of the landscape may develop, at how evidence can be used to shed light on it, and a chance to get one's teeth into the detailed texture of the English landscape. Well worth the read, in particular with the relevant OS map at one's side.

Something for all...., 19 Dec 2008
A general read that will appeal to students and the general reader interested in medieval towns. The thematic structre makes this a pick up and put down book and each chapter is broken down into smaller sections covering a particular topic. Nice set of photos with a reasonable colour set and the plans are also clear and useful

Magical and human, 05 Jan 2006
Middle English is a diverse collection of different dialects and styles, when it comes to literature. At the same time that Chaucer was writing in the southeast of England, with good command of French and Italian poetic sensibilities, there was a strong tradition in the north and west country of alliterative poetry, the kind that owed as much to the Old English forms of verse and use of language as to the new influences post-Norman Conquest-wise. Among the products of this time and place, the anonymously composed 'Sir Gawain and Green Knight' is one of the most outstanding.

This poem has all the hallmarks of being a work of many influences - it has the heroic aspects that one might expect from Old English epics such as Beowulf; it has a decided romantic streak reminiscent of French and Norman influences; it has virtue and church/Christian overlaying influences that come from Latin and ecclesial sources; it has magical and mystical ideas that are most likely Celtic in origin. Perhaps more like a tapestry, the various strands of influence are woven together into a glorious pattern that stands as a towerig achievement of the synthesis of language that Middle English achieved between its Germanic and Latinate streams.

Gawain's story is a very popular one. The most virtuous of the Round Table knights, his bravery and his resourcefulness at seeking the Green Knight, the annual challenger at the court of Arthur, is legendary. Gawain's small fault (and indeed, Gawain was portrayed as a virtuous human, but human nonetheless) warrants a very small penalty, but he is deemed upon reporting back to Camelot that he has brought honour upon the whole fellowship of knights. There is something magical about the Green Knight, however, and this can be seen as metaphor for the way in which temptation seems to have a magical power over humanity.

Don't buy this edition, 11 Nov 2004
This edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has possibly the worst critical apparatus that I have ever seen in any supposedly scholarly text - it is quite simple: do not buy this edition if you want more than a condescending, sloppy, infuriating quasi-translation of one of the greatest poems that this language has ever produced. Where to start? Well, to begin with, J.J.Anderson has seen fit to omit any form of glossary - a fairly important addition you might think to a poem that is full of archaic and obscure language; the marginal glosses are simply too few and far between to be anything more than a minor annoyance. Infact, make that a major annoyance seeing as Anderson seems content to ignore some of the more challenging words in favour of glossing those words which are more or less obvious from their context and pronunciation. But, not to worry - Anderson has come up with a brilliant solution to the 'complexities' of the poem. Simple. Just translate it by stealth in a series of footnotes written in size 6 font to emphasise how unassuming and humble our exalted editor actually is. But really - come on - who actually wants to read the poem in its original form and understand the subtleties and nuances of what it has to say when we have 'scholars' such as J.J.Anderson to improve on the text and bring it up to standard for this discerning age? If your want to experience and enjoy this poem in its original form - and, believe me, it will be worth the effort - invest in a better edition; preferably one edited by someone who actually respects the text - and his readers.

'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' (Everyman edition), 03 Jan 2002
The story of this poem is pretty weird: Arthur's knights are eating their Christmas dinner when a hefty green man (why is he green? I've no idea!) walks in and challenges one of the knights to a duel. The poem follows Gawain, the knight who takes up the challenge, as he travels, in classic Arthurian fashion, through a wood, where he gets lost. A castle appears, Gawain goes in, and the kind host suggests offers him a bed for the knight: the bed in which his (the host's) daughter sleeps. We later learn that this host is the green man, disguised, and his offer is designed to test Gawain. Though Gawain is tempted, he keeps to his side of the bed, and travels on to meet the green man for a beheading game, unaware that he has already passed the test.

The poem is a combination of two mediaeval stories: the beheading challenge, and the temptation story (an good example of the latter, with a misogynistic twist at the end, can be found in 'Three Arthurian Romances', also in Everyman paperback). The poet (we don't know his name) has combined them in a sophisticated way: so that Gawain triumphs not through his bravery, but his morality. (This is itself a twist, because Gawain was usually depicted as a womaniser!)

There are a number of translations of this poem into modern English, but, needless to say, a lot is lost in translation. (The poet for example, has invented or mastered a form that mixes alliterative verse -- using repeated consonants -- with rhyming verse.) The Everyman edition gives the poem in the original, but has helpful glosses of all the strange words that crop up in this strange poem. (It also includes two other poems which might have been written by the same poet.)

Medieval poetry at it's best, 01 Jun 2001
Having studied a lot of medieval writing at university I was pleased to find something as fresh as Gawain and the Green Knight. There are so many levels to read this book on. You can look into all the allusions and the imagery, or you can read for pure enjoyment of the action in the story. The narrative is clear and even though it is written in an old style of English it does not take long to get into that way of thinking - it is not difficult to understand. I would recommend this to all lovers of good fiction, and tales of knights of old!

Don't Read More Than 1 A Week, 08 Mar 2007
I was recommended by my boss [A Welshman] to read these tales as preparation for taking tourists to experience Wales and Welsh culture. I can't say it helped. After reading several of these tales at a sitting, I got bored. They may be the pinnacle of Welsh folklore and this edition may be the best translation of them - I couldn't say. But, as stories, they are repetitive and thoroughly predictable. Every castle is "the finest ever was seen", every maiden "the fairest in the land". I know this constant hyperbole is what folk tales tend to major on but that doesn't make for an interesting read. These stories are best read one at a time, probably out loud to smallish children, at the rate of one a week. I wouldn't mind betting that's how the originals were treated. Oh - and I'm half Welsh m'self. Barry John, Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams - now these are true Welsh heroes...

The Mabinogion (Jones and Jones translation), 04 Apr 2006
In my opinion this far and away the best version of these classic Welsh myths. The language is slightly archaic but much truer to the original texts from which it is translated.

This edition is infinately superior to the Charlotte Guest version Bowdlerised as it is for her victorian audiences and laced with mistranslations. Gantz's translation is good but loses something in it's attempt to update the language used.

Probably still the best modern translation of the Mabinogi, 02 Mar 2004
"The Mabinogion" remain the greatest, the grandest and the most moving of all Medieval Welsh fabular prose, and Jones and Jones' English translation, even though it is over half a century old now, has yet to be rivalled.

Taking admittedly difficult and often corrupted manuscript text, they have succeeded in making a comprehensive and vibrant edition of all eleven tales, with copious notes which range to satisfy not only the scholar but the casual reader. A map and pronunciation guide complete the mix.

From the "Four Branches", those stories of gods and would-be-gods in the mists of the past, wooing and slaying, deceiving and conquering, are brilliantly and stirringly represented by the translators, and the full tragedy of Branwen's fate, or of Rhiannon's penance, the wretched savagery of Efnissien, the boldness of Bran and the guile of Gwydion are here given as much loftiness and power as in the original Welsh.

The four "native" tales, which feature Arthur to varying degrees of prominence, are dwarfed by the beast within their number, "Culhwch and Olwen", a rollicking sprawl of a broad comedy (with its moments of pathos), which is admirably executed by Jones and Jones, evenm if they occasionally lose sense of the author's dry humour.

The "Three Romances" are tales of derring-do by the warriors of Arthur's retinue, where jousting, magic and fair damsels are the aim of the day. Strikingly different to the "Four Branches", these tales are more patently 'medieval', and will appeal greatly to the admirers of Malory or Chretien, and of the Arthur stories which have inspired many a Round Table spinoff. Forget the imitators. These are the originals.

The translators' usage of the familiar sexond person pronoun "thee" and "thou", whilst meant to represent the equivalent in the Welsh, can become rather obstrusive: they are fine and elegant in the more dramatic passages, but get in the way in what should be the snappy, light-hearted dialogue. Also, whilst there is care taken at times to insert speakers' names when it is unclear, this is inconsistent, and the Welsh author's characteristic use of 'said he' rather than 'said X' should have been amended for ease of reading; more eye-friendly paragraphing would also not have gone amiss.

But these are minor quibbles in what is still the most attractive and powerful English translation of the Mabinogion. "He that leads shall be a bridge," spoke Bran the Blessed, and this edition is the modern reader's bridge to an under-read Medieval classic. Do read it.

Looking closely at the villages we take for granted, 15 Oct 2008
The English village is the stuff of cliché, embedded deeply in our ideas of how the countryside functions. It can come as a surprise, to anyone whose school introduction to medieval history was centred on the feudal system, the manor and the three-field system, to realise that alternative models are possible and, in large areas of England (and even more so in the other parts of the United Kingdom), are the norm. Once one is made aware of this greater variety and complexity, however, the immediate next question is why villages should be the normal pattern of settlement in some areas, and where they come from: how do they form in the first place, and when?

This volume is the report of a several-years' study into a group of parishes in Whittlewood, on the Buckinghamshire / Northamptonshire border, examining how villages formed and evolved, drawing on documentary and archeological sources. It is an interesting area to study for two reasons: firstly, of course, it is in the south Midland area in which the classic nucleated village dominates and might, perhaps, be paradigmatic. Secondly, however, it is in an area in which some villages are interestingly multi-centred: a Buckinghamshire village may often be made up of several "ends", small sub-villages that adjoin one another (the title, of course, puns on these). The possibility is raised that these may be nucleated villages that somehow stopped developing. Crucial to the study is the discussion of whether villages developed by outward expansion or inward coalescence: whether small nucleated settlements grew larger and spun off scattered farms in the surrounding area (in particular at the time of enclosure) or whether a settlement pattern of scattered farms saw some of those outlying settlements abandoned as settlement "clumped" around a few of these potential nuclei (for reasons of trade, sociability, co-operation and so forth). The options are examined in detail as they relate to real conditions on the ground, as exemplified by field-walking (pottery fragments scattered in remote locations indicating now-vanished settlements) and documentary research in manorial records and the like. Reassuringly, no neat and reductive model is proposed - "a bit of both, varying from place to place" is the eventual outcome. So there is no magic bullet, no one-size-fits-all solution at the end of the volume; there is, however, a fascinating look at how this crucial element of the landscape may develop, at how evidence can be used to shed light on it, and a chance to get one's teeth into the detailed texture of the English landscape. Well worth the read, in particular with the relevant OS map at one's side.

Something for all...., 19 Dec 2008
A general read that will appeal to students and the general reader interested in medieval towns. The thematic structre makes this a pick up and put down book and each chapter is broken down into smaller sections covering a particular topic. Nice set of photos with a reasonable colour set and the plans are also clear and useful

A clear and concise book on this subject, 30 Jul 2001
This book provides the reader with a good understanding of wall paintings in Britain. The subject is an increasing one, as more and more churches/houses discover original paintings underneath their whitewash. For those who thought they had all been destroyed, it is a revelation to discover that many beautiful examples still exist.

Magical and human, 05 Jan 2006
Middle English is a diverse collection of different dialects and styles, when it comes to literature. At the same time that Chaucer was writing in the southeast of England, with good command of French and Italian poetic sensibilities, there was a strong tradition in the north and west country of alliterative poetry, the kind that owed as much to the Old English forms of verse and use of language as to the new influences post-Norman Conquest-wise. Among the products of this time and place, the anonymously composed 'Sir Gawain and Green Knight' is one of the most outstanding.

This poem has all the hallmarks of being a work of many influences - it has the heroic aspects that one might expect from Old English epics such as Beowulf; it has a decided romantic streak reminiscent of French and Norman influences; it has virtue and church/Christian overlaying influences that come from Latin and ecclesial sources; it has magical and mystical ideas that are most likely Celtic in origin. Perhaps more like a tapestry, the various strands of influence are woven together into a glorious pattern that stands as a towerig achievement of the synthesis of language that Middle English achieved between its Germanic and Latinate streams.

Gawain's story is a very popular one. The most virtuous of the Round Table knights, his bravery and his resourcefulness at seeking the Green Knight, the annual challenger at the court of Arthur, is legendary. Gawain's small fault (and indeed, Gawain was portrayed as a virtuous human, but human nonetheless) warrants a very small penalty, but he is deemed upon reporting back to Camelot that he has brought honour upon the whole fellowship of knights. There is something magical about the Green Knight, however, and this can be seen as metaphor for the way in which temptation seems to have a magical power over humanity.

Don't buy this edition, 11 Nov 2004
This edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has possibly the worst critical apparatus that I have ever seen in any supposedly scholarly text - it is quite simple: do not buy this edition if you want more than a condescending, sloppy, infuriating quasi-translation of one of the greatest poems that this language has ever produced. Where to start? Well, to begin with, J.J.Anderson has seen fit to omit any form of glossary - a fairly important addition you might think to a poem that is full of archaic and obscure language; the marginal glosses are simply too few and far between to be anything more than a minor annoyance. Infact, make that a major annoyance seeing as Anderson seems content to ignore some of the more challenging words in favour of glossing those words which are more or less obvious from their context and pronunciation. But, not to worry - Anderson has come up with a brilliant solution to the 'complexities' of the poem. Simple. Just translate it by stealth in a series of footnotes written in size 6 font to emphasise how unassuming and humble our exalted editor actually is. But really - come on - who actually wants to read the poem in its original form and understand the subtleties and nuances of what it has to say when we have 'scholars' such as J.J.Anderson to improve on the text and bring it up to standard for this discerning age? If your want to experience and enjoy this poem in its original form - and, believe me, it will be worth the effort - invest in a better edition; preferably one edited by someone who actually respects the text - and his readers.

'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' (Everyman edition), 03 Jan 2002
The story of this poem is pretty weird: Arthur's knights are eating their Christmas dinner when a hefty green man (why is he green? I've no idea!) walks in and challenges one of the knights to a duel. The poem follows Gawain, the knight who takes up the challenge, as he travels, in classic Arthurian fashion, through a wood, where he gets lost. A castle appears, Gawain goes in, and the kind host suggests offers him a bed for the knight: the bed in which his (the host's) daughter sleeps. We later learn that this host is the green man, disguised, and his offer is designed to test Gawain. Though Gawain is tempted, he keeps to his side of the bed, and travels on to meet the green man for a beheading game, unaware that he has already passed the test.

The poem is a combination of two mediaeval stories: the beheading challenge, and the temptation story (an good example of the latter, with a misogynistic twist at the end, can be found in 'Three Arthurian Romances', also in Everyman paperback). The poet (we don't know his name) has combined them in a sophisticated way: so that Gawain triumphs not through his bravery, but his morality. (This is itself a twist, because Gawain was usually depicted as a womaniser!)

There are a number of translations of this poem into modern English, but, needless to say, a lot is lost in translation. (The poet for example, has invented or mastered a form that mixes alliterative verse -- using repeated consonants -- with rhyming verse.) The Everyman edition gives the poem in the original, but has helpful glosses of all the strange words that crop up in this strange poem. (It also includes two other poems which might have been written by the same poet.)

Medieval poetry at it's best, 01 Jun 2001
Having studied a lot of medieval writing at university I was pleased to find something as fresh as Gawain and the Green Knight. There are so many levels to read this book on. You can look into all the allusions and the imagery, or you can read for pure enjoyment of the action in the story. The narrative is clear and even though it is written in an old style of English it does not take long to get into that way of thinking - it is not difficult to understand. I would recommend this to all lovers of good fiction, and tales of knights of old!

Don't Read More Than 1 A Week, 08 Mar 2007
I was recommended by my boss [A Welshman] to read these tales as preparation for taking tourists to experience Wales and Welsh culture. I can't say it helped. After reading several of these tales at a sitting, I got bored. They may be the pinnacle of Welsh folklore and this edition may be the best translation of them - I couldn't say. But, as stories, they are repetitive and thoroughly predictable. Every castle is "the finest ever was seen", every maiden "the fairest in the land". I know this constant hyperbole is what folk tales tend to major on but that doesn't make for an interesting read. These stories are best read one at a time, probably out loud to smallish children, at the rate of one a week. I wouldn't mind betting that's how the originals were treated. Oh - and I'm half Welsh m'self. Barry John, Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams - now these are true Welsh heroes...

The Mabinogion (Jones and Jones translation), 04 Apr 2006
In my opinion this far and away the best version of these classic Welsh myths. The language is slightly archaic but much truer to the original texts from which it is translated.

This edition is infinately superior to the Charlotte Guest version Bowdlerised as it is for her victorian audiences and laced with mistranslations. Gantz's translation is good but loses something in it's attempt to update the language used.

Probably still the best modern translation of the Mabinogi, 02 Mar 2004
"The Mabinogion" remain the greatest, the grandest and the most moving of all Medieval Welsh fabular prose, and Jones and Jones' English translation, even though it is over half a century old now, has yet to be rivalled.

Taking admittedly difficult and often corrupted manuscript text, they have succeeded in making a comprehensive and vibrant edition of all eleven tales, with copious notes which range to satisfy not only the scholar but the casual reader. A map and pronunciation guide complete the mix.

From the "Four Branches", those stories of gods and would-be-gods in the mists of the past, wooing and slaying, deceiving and conquering, are brilliantly and stirringly represented by the translators, and the full tragedy of Branwen's fate, or of Rhiannon's penance, the wretched savagery of Efnissien, the boldness of Bran and the guile of Gwydion are here given as much loftiness and power as in the original Welsh.

The four "native" tales, which feature Arthur to varying degrees of prominence, are dwarfed by the beast within their number, "Culhwch and Olwen", a rollicking sprawl of a broad comedy (with its moments of pathos), which is admirably executed by Jones and Jones, evenm if they occasionally lose sense of the author's dry humour.

The "Three Romances" are tales of derring-do by the warriors of Arthur's retinue, where jousting, magic and fair damsels are the aim of the day. Strikingly different to the "Four Branches", these tales are more patently 'medieval', and will appeal greatly to the admirers of Malory or Chretien, and of the Arthur stories which have inspired many a Round Table spinoff. Forget the imitators. These are the originals.

The translators' usage of the familiar sexond person pronoun "thee" and "thou", whilst meant to represent the equivalent in the Welsh, can become rather obstrusive: they are fine and elegant in the more dramatic passages, but get in the way in what should be the snappy, light-hearted dialogue. Also, whilst there is care taken at times to insert speakers' names when it is unclear, this is inconsistent, and the Welsh author's characteristic use of 'said he' rather than 'said X' should have been amended for ease of reading; more eye-friendly paragraphing would also not have gone amiss.

But these are minor quibbles in what is still the most attractive and powerful English translation of the Mabinogion. "He that leads shall be a bridge," spoke Bran the Blessed, and this edition is the modern reader's bridge to an under-read Medieval classic. Do read it.

Looking closely at the villages we take for granted, 15 Oct 2008
The English village is the stuff of cliché, embedded deeply in our ideas of how the countryside functions. It can come as a surprise, to anyone whose school introduction to medieval history was centred on the feudal system, the manor and the three-field system, to realise that alternative models are possible and, in large areas of England (and even more so in the other parts of the United Kingdom), are the norm. Once one is made aware of this greater variety and complexity, however, the immediate next question is why villages should be the normal pattern of settlement in some areas, and where they come from: how do they form in the first place, and when?

This volume is the report of a several-years' study into a group of parishes in Whittlewood, on the Buckinghamshire / Northamptonshire border, examining how villages formed and evolved, drawing on documentary and archeological sources. It is an interesting area to study for two reasons: firstly, of course, it is in the south Midland area in which the classic nucleated village dominates and might, perhaps, be paradigmatic. Secondly, however, it is in an area in which some villages are interestingly multi-centred: a Buckinghamshire village may often be made up of several "ends", small sub-villages that adjoin one another (the title, of course, puns on these). The possibility is raised that these may be nucleated villages that somehow stopped developing. Crucial to the study is the discussion of whether villages developed by outward expansion or inward coalescence: whether small nucleated settlements grew larger and spun off scattered farms in the surrounding area (in particular at the time of enclosure) or whether a settlement pattern of scattered farms saw some of those outlying settlements abandoned as settlement "clumped" around a few of these potential nuclei (for reasons of trade, sociability, co-operation and so forth). The options are examined in detail as they relate to real conditions on the ground, as exemplified by field-walking (pottery fragments scattered in remote locations indicating now-vanished settlements) and documentary research in manorial records and the like. Reassuringly, no neat and reductive model is proposed - "a bit of both, varying from place to place" is the eventual outcome. So there is no magic bullet, no one-size-fits-all solution at the end of the volume; there is, however, a fascinating look at how this crucial element of the landscape may develop, at how evidence can be used to shed light on it, and a chance to get one's teeth into the detailed texture of the English landscape. Well worth the read, in particular with the relevant OS map at one's side.

Something for all...., 19 Dec 2008
A general read that will appeal to students and the general reader interested in medieval towns. The thematic structre makes this a pick up and put down book and each chapter is broken down into smaller sections covering a particular topic. Nice set of photos with a reasonable colour set and the plans are also clear and useful

A clear and concise book on this subject, 30 Jul 2001
This book provides the reader with a good understanding of wall paintings in Britain. The subject is an increasing one, as more and more churches/houses discover original paintings underneath their whitewash. For those who thought they had all been destroyed, it is a revelation to discover that many beautiful examples still exist.

The last word on Medieval Archaeology?, 08 May 2003
It's hard to find a book on archaeology that will retain your interest for more than a few pages, but at last a book has arrived that will keep you mesmerised! Gerrard weaves an astonishingly original view of the subject, laced with marvellous nuggets of information which help chart the growth of interest in the medieval period. In the past, authors have placed far too much store in a conservative academic narrative, but here Gerrard explodes the old traditions and forces us to accept what is undoubtedly the new order of things. This work is ground-breaking and if you're an archaeologist interested in the subject, it'll change your life. Call me crazy, but this has to be the last word on medieval archaeology.

Essential for Medieval Archaeologists and Historians, 26 Feb 2003
Medieval archaeology has for too long been the poor relation in Archaeology, with most of the running being undertaken for many years by historians. However, there is growing interest and knowledge in this vital period and it is evident that the application of archaeological techniques can provide vital insights into medieval life in areas where no traditional historical source can compete. This well written book summarises the development of the interest in medieval archaeology as well as the most recent research and challenges for the future. An easy read with something for the casually interested although evidently written for a knowledgeable readership, I would strongly recommend this to all interested in the medieval period.

Magical and human, 05 Jan 2006
Middle English is a diverse collection of different dialects and styles, when it comes to literature. At the same time that Chaucer was writing in the southeast of England, with good command of French and Italian poetic sensibilities, there was a strong tradition in the north and west country of alliterative poetry, the kind that owed as much to the Old English forms of verse and use of language as to the new influences post-Norman Conquest-wise. Among the products of this time and place, the anonymously composed 'Sir Gawain and Green Knight' is one of the most outstanding.

This poem has all the hallmarks of being a work of many influences - it has the heroic aspects that one might expect from Old English epics such as Beowulf; it has a decided romantic streak reminiscent of French and Norman influences; it has virtue and church/Christian overlaying influences that come from Latin and ecclesial sources; it has magical and mystical ideas that are most likely Celtic in origin. Perhaps more like a tapestry, the various strands of influence are woven together into a glorious pattern that stands as a towerig achievement of the synthesis of language that Middle English achieved between its Germanic and Latinate streams.

Gawain's story is a very popular one. The most virtuous of the Round Table knights, his bravery and his resourcefulness at seeking the Green Knight, the annual challenger at the court of Arthur, is legendary. Gawain's small fault (and indeed, Gawain was portrayed as a virtuous human, but human nonetheless) warrants a very small penalty, but he is deemed upon reporting back to Camelot that he has brought honour upon the whole fellowship of knights. There is something magical about the Green Knight, however, and this can be seen as metaphor for the way in which temptation seems to have a magical power over humanity.

Don't buy this edition, 11 Nov 2004
This edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has possibly the worst critical apparatus that I have ever seen in any supposedly scholarly text - it is quite simple: do not buy this edition if you want more than a condescending, sloppy, infuriating quasi-translation of one of the greatest poems that this language has ever produced. Where to start? Well, to begin with, J.J.Anderson has seen fit to omit any form of glossary - a fairly important addition you might think to a poem that is full of archaic and obscure language; the marginal glosses are simply too few and far between to be anything more than a minor annoyance. Infact, make that a major annoyance seeing as Anderson seems content to ignore some of the more challenging words in favour of glossing those words which are more or less obvious from their context and pronunciation. But, not to worry - Anderson has come up with a brilliant solution to the 'complexities' of the poem. Simple. Just translate it by stealth in a series of footnotes written in size 6 font to emphasise how unassuming and humble our exalted editor actually is. But really - come on - who actually wants to read the poem in its original form and understand the subtleties and nuances of what it has to say when we have 'scholars' such as J.J.Anderson to improve on the text and bring it up to standard for this discerning age? If your want to experience and enjoy this poem in its original form - and, believe me, it will be worth the effort - invest in a better edition; preferably one edited by someone who actually respects the text - and his readers.

'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' (Everyman edition), 03 Jan 2002
The story of this poem is pretty weird: Arthur's knights are eating their Christmas dinner when a hefty green man (why is he green? I've no idea!) walks in and challenges one of the knights to a duel. The poem follows Gawain, the knight who takes up the challenge, as he travels, in classic Arthurian fashion, through a wood, where he gets lost. A castle appears, Gawain goes in, and the kind host suggests offers him a bed for the knight: the bed in which his (the host's) daughter sleeps. We later learn that this host is the green man, disguised, and his offer is designed to test Gawain. Though Gawain is tempted, he keeps to his side of the bed, and travels on to meet the green man for a beheading game, unaware that he has already passed the test.

The poem is a combination of two mediaeval stories: the beheading challenge, and the temptation story (an good example of the latter, with a misogynistic twist at the end, can be found in 'Three Arthurian Romances', also in Everyman paperback). The poet (we don't know his name) has combined them in a sophisticated way: so that Gawain triumphs not through his bravery, but his morality. (This is itself a twist, because Gawain was usually depicted as a womaniser!)

There are a number of translations of this poem into modern English, but, needless to say, a lot is lost in translation. (The poet for example, has invented or mastered a form that mixes alliterative verse -- using repeated consonants -- with rhyming verse.) The Everyman edition gives the poem in the original, but has helpful glosses of all the strange words that crop up in this strange poem. (It also includes two other poems which might have been written by the same poet.)

Medieval poetry at it's best, 01 Jun 2001
Having studied a lot of medieval writing at university I was pleased to find something as fresh as Gawain and the Green Knight. There are so many levels to read this book on. You can look into all the allusions and the imagery, or you can read for pure enjoyment of the action in the story. The narrative is clear and even though it is written in an old style of English it does not take long to get into that way of thinking - it is not difficult to understand. I would recommend this to all lovers of good fiction, and tales of knights of old!

Don't Read More Than 1 A Week, 08 Mar 2007
I was recommended by my boss [A Welshman] to read these tales as preparation for taking tourists to experience Wales and Welsh culture. I can't say it helped. After reading several of these tales at a sitting, I got bored. They may be the pinnacle of Welsh folklore and this edition may be the best translation of them - I couldn't say. But, as stories, they are repetitive and thoroughly predictable. Every castle is "the finest ever was seen", every maiden "the fairest in the land". I know this constant hyperbole is what folk tales tend to major on but that doesn't make for an interesting read. These stories are best read one at a time, probably out loud to smallish children, at the rate of one a week. I wouldn't mind betting that's how the originals were treated. Oh - and I'm half Welsh m'self. Barry John, Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams - now these are true Welsh heroes...

The Mabinogion (Jones and Jones translation), 04 Apr 2006
In my opinion this far and away the best version of these classic Welsh myths. The language is slightly archaic but much truer to the original texts from which it is translated.

This edition is infinately superior to the Charlotte Guest version Bowdlerised as it is for her victorian audiences and laced with mistranslations. Gantz's translation is good but loses something in it's attempt to update the language used.

Probably still the best modern translation of the Mabinogi, 02 Mar 2004
"The Mabinogion" remain the greatest, the grandest and the most moving of all Medieval Welsh fabular prose, and Jones and Jones' English translation, even though it is over half a century old now, has yet to be rivalled.

Taking admittedly difficult and often corrupted manuscript text, they have succeede