More reviews, this time on the publication of the paperback edition and audio CD:
'Simon Armitage's superb new translation of the poem dispels the difficulties of the Middle English while preserving the strange magic of this Arthurian tale. The restrictions of the medieval alliterative line liberate Armitage's imagination as he delights in the traces of northern dialect found in the original ... the poems finally seems as ''veritably verdant'' as it must have been 600 years ago.' Daily Telegraph
'Armitage rises to the challenge of translating this mysterious tale of chivalry, supernatural forces and seduction ... he uses strikingly modern language to convey the machismo, wit and alliteration of the original.' Sunday Times
'Here now, thanks to Simon Armitage, we have a translation that not only can we read for pleasure, but which also takes you back closer to something of the thrill and the wonder the poem would have had in the days when it was composed. It might even be the best translation of any poem I've ever seen ... he [Armitage] was put on the planet to translate this poem ... you notice immediately that Armitage has not only kept the beat and the alliterative punch of the original, he has given his translation the pulse of living langauge; this isn't a mechanically reanimated poem, it's got a heartbeat and a circulation all of its own.' Guardian - paperback choice of the week
'Simon Armitage has set himself the daunting task of translating this gem of Middle English romance in such a way that it retains its characteristic alliteration and scansion; without compromising its liveliness and thematic complexities, he succeeds. With deceptively simple lyricism and energy the poem sings from the page.' Observer
'Armitage has created a translation of beauty and of a particularly sonic joy - it begs to be read (or even sung) aloud.' Sunday Business Post
'Crisp, fun and true to its original alliterative rhythm.' Sunday Herald
Nicholas Lezard on Simon Armitage's superb translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Saturday March 8, 2008
The Guardian
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Translated by Simon Armitage
(Faber, £7.99)
A couple of years ago, I recommended in this column a new translation, for Penguin Classics, of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Bernard O'Donoghue. That edition - with the original on facing pages - would have been fine for students; and, as for the translation, it was, with one or two quibbles, "perfectly good enough".
So forgive me for returning to the poem, but here now, thanks to Simon Armitage, we have a translation that not only can you actually read for pleasure, but which also takes you back closer to something of the thrill and wonder the poem would have had in the days when it was composed. It might even be the best translation of any poem I've ever seen.
In the acknowledgments at the end of the book, Armitage describes the coincidences that led him to entertain the "superstitious (and preposterous) conviction that I was put on the planet for no other reason than to translate this poem". We can be doubly glad that he had such a conviction. For a start, this kind of self-belief is essential to clear out the cobwebs in poets when engaged in such work - it gives their hunches an added layer of confidence. And second, in this case it isn't a preposterous conviction at all. He's right: he was put on the planet to translate this poem.
You notice it from the very first lines. "Once the siege and assault of Troy had ceased, / with the city a smoke-heap of cinders and ash ..." (Original: "Sithen the sege and thee assaut watz sesed at Troye, / the bore brittened and brent to brondes and askez ...") You notice immediately that Armitage has not only kept the beat and the alliterative punch of the original, he has given his translation the pulse of living language: this isn't a mechanically reanimated poem, it's got a heartbeat and a circulation all of its own. Or rather, not just of its own: of its original, too. Even the bob-and-wheel sections - the two-syllable line followed by a quatrain which closes off each stanza - which can cause some translators so much trouble, he handles with almost effortless ease. It can give rise, at times, to the sense that only the very best translations give rise to: that he's actually written the poem himself.
He has been helped by the fact that the original is not as far from modern English as, say, anything in French or German. It is a little harder than Chaucer, but the northwestern dialect is not too removed from Armitage's own experience and sentiment. They might not be from the same part of the north but, as Armitage puts it, "coaxing Gawain and his poem back into the Pennines was always part of the plan". (We notice this occasionally, as when he rhymes "axe" with "ask" - and he's quite right to do so.)
There are no notes, and no facing texts of Middle English: this isn't for the student, unless that student is interested in how first-rate translation works. It's for someone who wants to read a great narrative poem, one that contains mystery, sex (well, sort of), comedy and astonishing evocations of the natural world. In case there's anyone out there who doesn't know the story, or how it starts, I shall leave you to discover that surprise for yourself; I wouldn't want to spoil it.
I resisted, for some time, the desire to check this against the original. I thought it best to experience it as any ordinary reader might. In the end, I succumbed to such meagre scholastic urges as I have and started running translation past source. Well, as Armitage says in his introduction, liberties have been taken - but he can take as many liberties as he likes. All the ones I have seen conform almost wholly to the spirit of the work. There are even little in-jokes, such as when he uses the word "freak" - "freke" being one of the words the Gawain poet uses as a synonym for "man". But the line Armitage's version comes from doesn't even use the word "freke" - it's "lede". Armitage uses "freak" to fit in with the alliterative scheme of his line; but I bet he privately enjoyed using it.
My only complaint about this edition is that it didn't come out around Christmas, because that's when all the action happens. And that's not really much of a complaint, is it?