Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
In Our Time13 Des 2018

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

In a programme first broadcast in 2018, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the jewels of medieval English poetry. It was written c1400 by an unknown poet and then was left hidden in private collections until the C19th when it emerged. It tells the story of a giant green knight who disrupts Christmas at Camelot, daring Gawain to cut off his head with an axe if he can do the same to Gawain the following year. Much to the surprise of Arthur's court, who were kicking the green head around, the decapitated body reaches for his head and rides off, leaving Gawain to face his promise and his apparently inevitable death the following Christmas.

The illustration above is ©British Library Board Cotton MS Nero A.x, article 3, ff.94v95

With

Laura Ashe Professor of English Literature at Worcester College, University of Oxford

Ad Putter Professor of Medieval English Literature at the University of Bristol

And

Simon Armitage Poet and Professor of Poetry at the Universities of Leeds and Oxford

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Episoder(1078)

Roman Britain

Roman Britain

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Romans in Britain. About 2000 years ago, Tacitus noted that “the climate is wretched”, Herodian said, “the atmosphere in the country is always gloomy”, Dio said “th...

1 Mai 200328min

Youth

Youth

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the idea of youth. In 1898 Joseph Conrad wrote, “I remember my youth and the feeling that will never come back any more – the feeling that I could last for ever, outlas...

17 Apr 200341min

Proust

Proust

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work Marcel Proust whose novel À La Recherche du Temps Perdu, or In Search of Lost Time, has been called the definitive modern novel. His stylistic innova...

10 Apr 200341min

The Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil War

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Spanish Civil War which was a defining war of the twentieth century. It was a brutal conflict that polarised Spain, pitting the Left against the Right, the anti-cle...

3 Apr 200341min

The Life of Stars

The Life of Stars

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life cycle of stars. In his poem Bright Star John Keats wrote, "Bright Star, would I were steadfast as thou art". For Keats the stars were symbols of eternity- they...

27 Mar 200328min

Originality

Originality

Melvyn Bragg and guests explore the creative force of originality. How far is it to do with origins, how far with the combination of the discoveries of others, which were themselves based on the thoug...

20 Mar 200341min

Redemption

Redemption

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss redemption. In St Paul's letter to the Galatians, he wrote: "Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery". This conceptio...

13 Mar 200328min

Meteorology

Meteorology

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss meteorology. The Book of Genesis resounds with a terrible act of vengeance, carried out by an angry God seeking to punish his people. And the mechanism with which this ...

6 Mar 200328min

Populært innen Historie

rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
henrettelsespodden
rss-historiske-romanser
rss-benadet
historier-som-endret-norge
rss-katastrofe
rss-nadelose-nordmenn-gestapo
aftenposten-historie
sektledere
historier-som-endret-verden
med-egne-oyne
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
historiepodden
rss-frontkjemperne
rss-gamle-greier
taakeprat
sannhet-eller-konspirasjon
vare-historier
undersattene
nordnorsk-historie