Dear pledgers, fellow travellers, poets, artists, mediaevalists and lovers of literature, I wanted to thank all of you so far who have helped this edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight reach pledging of 40% after just three weeks. I am honoured by the reception to my work and by the many positive comments I have received.
40% is a great landmark; the equivalent of funding this translation up to much of Fitt 2 of the poem (Part 2). So I thought it would be appropriate to celebrate this by sharing with you an early linocut of Sir Gawain that I produced when first starting out as a printmaker several years ago.
In the poem, as Gawain prepares to travel across Britain in search of his nemesis, he stands upon a rich tapestry of tulips and other decorations and is dressed in armour in the latest style. The description given of the armour by the Gawain poet is the most signficant indication in the work of the period in which it was written, the tail-end of the fourteenth century.
The image shows Gawain fully dressed and prepared for his journey ahead. For Gawain, this involved crossing the land of Logres in search of the Green Chapel. For the book, Gawain now readies himself on the next stage of his journey to enable this mediaeval illuminated manuscript for the modern age to be published.
Sir Gawain and I thank you deeply for your support so far on his journey.
Michael Smith