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Literature Text
Stay true to your word
In the code of chivalry
Ride to meet your fate
E
A
P
I
N
Game of the green knight
At New Year in Green Chapel
Waits beheader's axe
I
L
D
S
E
And peaks of mountains
In search of it you will pass
Nobody will write
O
V
E
L
L
About your journey
Never will you tell, for at
Dawn you will pay your
E
B
To the challenger...
Howering above your neck
Eternal sleep, life's
N
D
I
N
Girdle as token:
Righteous knight is still human
Even you can try
Evade death for honour's price
Now you bear a scar on your
E
C
King welcomes you back
No shame can the ruler find
In deeds of his knight
N
S
P
I
R
I
N
Gallantry and pure
Heart: now all will wear green sash -
Token of honour
In the code of chivalry
Ride to meet your fate
E
A
P
I
N
Game of the green knight
At New Year in Green Chapel
Waits beheader's axe
I
L
D
S
E
And peaks of mountains
In search of it you will pass
Nobody will write
O
V
E
L
L
About your journey
Never will you tell, for at
Dawn you will pay your
E
B
To the challenger...
Howering above your neck
Eternal sleep, life's
N
D
I
N
Girdle as token:
Righteous knight is still human
Even you can try
Evade death for honour's price
Now you bear a scar on your
E
C
King welcomes you back
No shame can the ruler find
In deeds of his knight
N
S
P
I
R
I
N
Gallantry and pure
Heart: now all will wear green sash -
Token of honour
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19th poem for 
An acrostic haiku for the #formfindsfunction's contest [link]
I like this medieval arthurian legend very much, and wanted to write an acrostic haiku for it even though "green" has only 5 letters and I couldn't find a word starting with W and ending with A
So "green" is a tanka instead of haiku and "wild sea" has to do for W-A...
The story begins in Camelot on New Year's Day as King Arthur's court is exchanging gifts and waiting for the feasting to start. The king delays matters by asking first to see or hear of an exciting adventure. At this a gigantic figure entirely green in appearance and riding a green horse - the 'Green Knight' - rides unexpectedly into the hall. He wears no armour, but bears an axe in one hand and a holly bough in the other. Refusing to fight anyone there on the grounds they are all too weak to take him on, he insists he has come only for a friendly 'Christmas game'. The game is for someone in the court to strike him once with his axe, on condition that the Green Knight may return the blow one year and one day later.[3] The splendid axe will belong to whoever takes him on. At first Arthur himself is prepared to accept the challenge, as it appears no other knight will dare to speak up: but then Sir Gawain, youngest of Arthur's knights and his nephew, quickly interposes and begs for the honour instead. Taking the Green Knight's axe he formally agrees to his terms, and as the giant bends and bares his neck before him, neatly beheads him in one stroke. As the head rolls on the ground however the Green Knight neither falls nor falters. Instead he reaches out, picks up his severed head and remounts. Then he holds up the bleeding, ghastly head towards Queen Guinevere, and its writhing lips remind Gawain the two must meet again at the Green Chapel in a year and a day (New Year's Day the next year), for the return blow. Then he rides away. Joking together, Gawain and Arthur admire the axe, hang it up as a trophy and encourage Guinevere to treat the whole matter lightly.
As the date approaches however Sir Gawain sets off to find the Green Chapel and complete his bargain with the Green Knight. After many adventures and battles (alluded to but not described) Gawain, on the brink of starvation from his long journey, is relieved to come across a splendid castle. Asking shelter, he meets Bertilak de Hautdesert, the lord of the castle, and his beautiful wife; both are pleased to have such a renowned guest. Also present is an old and ugly lady, unnamed, but treated by all with great honour. Gawain greets her and Bertilak's lovely young wife with equal courtesy. He tells them of his New Year's appointment at the Green Chapel and says that he must continue his search as he only has a few days remaining. Bertilak laughs and explains that the Green Chapel is less than two miles away and proposes that Gawain rest at the castle till then. Relieved and grateful, Gawain agrees.
Before going hunting the next day, Bertilak proposes a playful bargain: he will give Gawain whatever he catches, on condition that Gawain give him whatever he might gain during the day. Gawain accepts. After Bertilak leaves, the lady of the castle, Lady Bertilak, visits Gawain's bedroom to seduce him. Despite her best efforts, however, and his unwillingness to offend her, he yields nothing but a single kiss. When Bertilak returns and gives Gawain the deer he has killed, his guest responds by returning the lady's kiss to Bertilak, without divulging its source. The next day the lady comes again, Gawain again courteously foils her advances, and there is a similar exchange of a hunted boar for two kisses. She comes once more on the third morning, this time offering Gawain a gold ring as a keepsake. He gently but steadfastly refuses this, so she next pleads that he at least take her belt or girdle of green and gold silk: this latter, the lady assures him, is charmed and will keep him from all physical harm. Tempted, Gawain accepts it from her. They also exchange three kisses. That evening, Bertilak returns with a fox, which he exchanges with Gawain for the three kisses – but Gawain keeps the girdle.
The next day Gawain leaves for the Green Chapel with the girdle wound twice round his waist. He finds the Green Knight ready for him there, sharpening an axe, and as arranged, Gawain stands with neck bared to receive his blow. At the first swing Gawain flinches slightly and the Green Knight belittles him for it. Ashamed of himself, at the Green Knight's next swing Gawain does not flinch; but again the full force of the blow is withheld. The knight explains he was testing Gawain's nerve. Angrily Gawain tells him to deliver his blow at once, and so the knight does, but only striking softly and causing a flesh wound on Gawain's neck. Having completed the conditions of the game Gawain is now free to defend himself from further harm, and at once seizes his sword, helmet and shield to fight. But the Green Knight, laughing, then reveals himself to be the lord of the castle, Bertilak de Hautdesert, transformed by magic. He explains that the entire adventure was a malicious trick of the sorceress Morgan le Fay, Arthur's mischievous sister, intended to test Arthur's knights and terrify Guinevere. Morgan was the 'elderly lady' Gawain saw at the castle. Gawain is at first bitterly ashamed to have been detected behaving in what he now sees as a deceitful and cowardly way, but the Green Knight laughs at his scruples. The two part on cordial terms and Gawain returns to Camelot, now wearing the girdle in shame as a token of his failure to keep his promise with Bertilak and to fully follow the rules of the game. The Knights of the Round Table, having heard his story, absolve him of blame and it is decreed that henceforth all will wear a green sash in recognition of Gawain's adventure.
(From [link] )
An acrostic haiku for the #formfindsfunction's contest [link]
I like this medieval arthurian legend very much, and wanted to write an acrostic haiku for it even though "green" has only 5 letters and I couldn't find a word starting with W and ending with A
So "green" is a tanka instead of haiku and "wild sea" has to do for W-A... The Defense of Gawain (Fragment 1) He brushed his wavy hair from his pale face
Just like his horse was shaking off the flies
While following behind. Their limping pace
Was slow, although the city rang with cries
Surprised from friends who thought that he was dead--
But still his head slumped down, and still his eyes
And clammy cheeks were flushed with streaking red,
Though they were running, dashing to his side.
And then his young brother, half-laughing, said,
"Oh god, I thought--you know we thought you died?
That awful task--you left, you rode away--
And then did not come back. Oh, how I cried!
I thought you died. On last year's new-year's day
A year since you ha
The story begins in Camelot on New Year's Day as King Arthur's court is exchanging gifts and waiting for the feasting to start. The king delays matters by asking first to see or hear of an exciting adventure. At this a gigantic figure entirely green in appearance and riding a green horse - the 'Green Knight' - rides unexpectedly into the hall. He wears no armour, but bears an axe in one hand and a holly bough in the other. Refusing to fight anyone there on the grounds they are all too weak to take him on, he insists he has come only for a friendly 'Christmas game'. The game is for someone in the court to strike him once with his axe, on condition that the Green Knight may return the blow one year and one day later.[3] The splendid axe will belong to whoever takes him on. At first Arthur himself is prepared to accept the challenge, as it appears no other knight will dare to speak up: but then Sir Gawain, youngest of Arthur's knights and his nephew, quickly interposes and begs for the honour instead. Taking the Green Knight's axe he formally agrees to his terms, and as the giant bends and bares his neck before him, neatly beheads him in one stroke. As the head rolls on the ground however the Green Knight neither falls nor falters. Instead he reaches out, picks up his severed head and remounts. Then he holds up the bleeding, ghastly head towards Queen Guinevere, and its writhing lips remind Gawain the two must meet again at the Green Chapel in a year and a day (New Year's Day the next year), for the return blow. Then he rides away. Joking together, Gawain and Arthur admire the axe, hang it up as a trophy and encourage Guinevere to treat the whole matter lightly.
As the date approaches however Sir Gawain sets off to find the Green Chapel and complete his bargain with the Green Knight. After many adventures and battles (alluded to but not described) Gawain, on the brink of starvation from his long journey, is relieved to come across a splendid castle. Asking shelter, he meets Bertilak de Hautdesert, the lord of the castle, and his beautiful wife; both are pleased to have such a renowned guest. Also present is an old and ugly lady, unnamed, but treated by all with great honour. Gawain greets her and Bertilak's lovely young wife with equal courtesy. He tells them of his New Year's appointment at the Green Chapel and says that he must continue his search as he only has a few days remaining. Bertilak laughs and explains that the Green Chapel is less than two miles away and proposes that Gawain rest at the castle till then. Relieved and grateful, Gawain agrees.
Before going hunting the next day, Bertilak proposes a playful bargain: he will give Gawain whatever he catches, on condition that Gawain give him whatever he might gain during the day. Gawain accepts. After Bertilak leaves, the lady of the castle, Lady Bertilak, visits Gawain's bedroom to seduce him. Despite her best efforts, however, and his unwillingness to offend her, he yields nothing but a single kiss. When Bertilak returns and gives Gawain the deer he has killed, his guest responds by returning the lady's kiss to Bertilak, without divulging its source. The next day the lady comes again, Gawain again courteously foils her advances, and there is a similar exchange of a hunted boar for two kisses. She comes once more on the third morning, this time offering Gawain a gold ring as a keepsake. He gently but steadfastly refuses this, so she next pleads that he at least take her belt or girdle of green and gold silk: this latter, the lady assures him, is charmed and will keep him from all physical harm. Tempted, Gawain accepts it from her. They also exchange three kisses. That evening, Bertilak returns with a fox, which he exchanges with Gawain for the three kisses – but Gawain keeps the girdle.
The next day Gawain leaves for the Green Chapel with the girdle wound twice round his waist. He finds the Green Knight ready for him there, sharpening an axe, and as arranged, Gawain stands with neck bared to receive his blow. At the first swing Gawain flinches slightly and the Green Knight belittles him for it. Ashamed of himself, at the Green Knight's next swing Gawain does not flinch; but again the full force of the blow is withheld. The knight explains he was testing Gawain's nerve. Angrily Gawain tells him to deliver his blow at once, and so the knight does, but only striking softly and causing a flesh wound on Gawain's neck. Having completed the conditions of the game Gawain is now free to defend himself from further harm, and at once seizes his sword, helmet and shield to fight. But the Green Knight, laughing, then reveals himself to be the lord of the castle, Bertilak de Hautdesert, transformed by magic. He explains that the entire adventure was a malicious trick of the sorceress Morgan le Fay, Arthur's mischievous sister, intended to test Arthur's knights and terrify Guinevere. Morgan was the 'elderly lady' Gawain saw at the castle. Gawain is at first bitterly ashamed to have been detected behaving in what he now sees as a deceitful and cowardly way, but the Green Knight laughs at his scruples. The two part on cordial terms and Gawain returns to Camelot, now wearing the girdle in shame as a token of his failure to keep his promise with Bertilak and to fully follow the rules of the game. The Knights of the Round Table, having heard his story, absolve him of blame and it is decreed that henceforth all will wear a green sash in recognition of Gawain's adventure.
(From [link] )
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