All Categories
Uncategorized
Explore questions in the Uncategorized category that you can ask Spark.E!
"He meets the master in the middle of the room,greets him graciously, with Gawain saying:"I shall first fulfil our formal agreementwhich we fixed in words when the drink flowed freely."He clasps him tight and kisses him three timeswith as much emotion as a man could muster."By the Almighty," said the master, "you must have had luckto profit such a prize—if the price was right.""Oh fiddlesticks to the fee," said the other fellow."As long as I have given the goods which I gained.""By Mary," said the master, "mine's a miserable match.I've hunted for hours with nothing to my namebut this foul-stinking fox—fling its fur to the devil—so poor in comparison with your priceless prizes,these presents you impart, three kisses perfectand true.""Enough!" the knight entreats,"I thank you through and through."The standing lord then speaksof how the fox fur flew!"That's why I began to think about composing some good stories And translating from Latin to Romance;But that was not to bring me fame:Too many others have done it. Then I thought of the lais I'd heard.I did not doubt, indeed I knew well, That those who first began themAnd sent them forthComposed them in order to preserverAdventures they had heard. I have heard many told;And I don't want to neglect or forget them. To put them into word and rhymeI've often stayed awake,"And with meals and mirth and minstrelsythey made as much amusement as any mortal could,and among those merry men and laughing ladiesGawain and his host got giddy together;only lunatics and drunkards could have looked more delirious."The custom among the ancients - As Priscian testifies - Was to speak quite obscurely In the books they wrote, So that those who were to come afterAnd study themMight gloss the letterAnd supply its significance from their own wisdomPhilosophers knew this, They understood among themselvesThat the more time they spent, The more subtle their minds would becomeAnd the better they would know how to keep themFrom whatever was to be avoided. He who would guard himself from vice Should study and understandAnd begin a weighty workBy which he might keep vice at a distance,"I'm spoiling for no scrap, I swear. Besides,the bodies on these benches are just bum-fluffed bairns.If I'd ridden to your castle rigged out for a ruckthese lightweight adolescents wouldn't last a minute.But it's Yuletide - a time of youthfulness, yes?So at Christmas in this court I lay down a challenge:if a person here present, within these premises,is big or bold or red-blooded enoughto strike me one stroke and be struck in return,I shall give him as a gift this gigantic cleaverand the axe shall be his to handle how he likes.I'll kneel, bare my neck and take the first knock.So who has the gall? The gumption? The guts?Who'll spring from his seat and snatch this weapon?I offer the axe - who'll have it as his own?I'll afford one free hit from which I won't flinch,and promise that twelve months will pass in peace, then claim the duty I deserve in one year and one day. Does no one have the nerve to wager in this way?""And now he sends back my silk," the lady responded,"so simple in itself, or so it appears,so little and unlikely, worth nothing, or less.But the knight who knew of the power knitted in itwould pay a high price to possess it, probably.For the body which is bound within this green belt,as long as it is buckled robustly about him,will be safe against those who seek to strike him,""No," said good Gawain, "by my life-giving God,I won't gripe or begrudge the grimness to come,so keep to one stroke and I'll stand stock-still,won't whisper a word of unwillingness, or onecomplaint."He bowed to take the bladeand bared his neck and nape,but, loath to look afraid,he feigned a fearless state.Once he had divided up his kingdom, Brutus decided to build a capital. In pursuit of this plan, he visited every part of the land in search of a suitable spot. He came at length to the River Thames, walked up and down its banks and so chose a site suited to his purpose. There then he built his city and called it Troia Nova. It was known by this name for long ages after, but finally by a corruption of the word it came to be called Trinovantum.Suddenly the green knight summons up his strength,hoists the axe high over Gawain's head,lifts it aloft with every fiber of his lifeand begins to bring home a bone-splitting blow.Had he seen it through as thoroughly as threatenedthe man beneath him would have met with his maker.But glimpsing the axe at the edge of his eyebringing death earthwards as it arced through the air,and sensing its sharpness, Gawain shrank at the shoulders.The swinging axman swerved from his stroke,and reproached the young prince with piercing words:"Call yourself good Sir Gawain?" he goaded,"who faced down every foe in the field of battlebut now flinches with fear at the foretaste of harm.Never have I known such a namby-pamby knight.Did I budge or even blink when you aimed the axe,or carp or quibble in King Arthur's castle,or flap when my head went flying to my feet?"In your honor, noble King,who are so brave and courteous,repository of all joysin whose heart all goodness takes root,I undertook to assemble these laisto compose and recount them in rhyme.In my heart I thought and determined,sire, that I would present them to you.If it pleases you to receive them,you will give me great joy;I shall be happy forever.Do not think me presumptuousif I dare present them to you.Now hear how they begin."Then I'll treat you to the truth," the other told him,"Here in my homelands they call me Bertilak de Hautdesert.And in my manor lives the mighty Morgan le Fay,so adept and adroit in the dark arts,who learned magic from Merlin—the master of mystery—for in earlier times she was intimately entwinedwith that knowledgeable man, as all you knights knowback home.Yes, 'Morgan the Goddess'—I will announce her name.There is no noblenessshe cannot take and tame." "She guided me in this guise to your great hallto put pride on trial, and to test with this trickwhat distinction and trust the Round Table deserves.She imagined this mischief would muddle your mindsand that grieving Guinevere would go to her graveat the sight of a specter making ghostly speecheswith his head in his hands before the high table.So that ancient woman who inhabits my homeis also your aunt—Arthur's half sister,the daughter of the duchess of Tintagel; the duchesswho through Uther, was mother to Arthur, your king."then I'll quit these covers and pull on my clothes,and our words will flow more freely back and forth.""Not so, beautiful sir," the sweet lady said."Bide in your bed—my own plan is better.I'll tuck in your covers corner to corner,then playfully parley with the man I have pinned.Because I know your name—the knight Sir Gawain,famed through the realm whichever road he rides,whose princely honor is highly praisedamongst lords and ladies and everyone alive.And right here you lie. And we are left all alone,with my husband and his huntsmen away in the hillsand the servants snoring and my maids asleepand the door to this bedroom barred with a bolt.I have in my house an honored guestso I'll take my time; I'll be talking to him fora while.You're free to have my all,do with me what you will.I'll come just as you calland swear to serve you well.""Furthermore," said the master, "let's make a pact.Here's a wager: what I win in the woods will be yours,And what you gain while I'm gone you will give to me.Young sire, let's swap, and strike a bond [sware with trawthe],Let a bargain be a bargain, for worse or for better.""By God,' said Gawain, "I agree to the terms,And I find it pleasing that you favor such fun."After the Trojan War, Aeneas fled from the ruined city with his son Ascaniusand came by boat to Italy...At the end of Aeneas's days, Ascanius waselevated to royal power and founded the city of Alba on the banks of theTiber. He fathered a son whose name was Silvius. The latter had a secret loveaffair with a niece of Lavinia's whom he married and got with child. When hisfather Ascanius learned about this he ordered his wise men to find out the sexof the child that the girl had conceived. When the wise men had made sure ofthe truth, they said that she would bear a son who would be the death of hisfather and mother. After traveling through many lands as an exile, he wouldnevertheless attain to the highest honor. Their prophecies did not turn out tobe mistaken. For when her time had come, the woman bore a boy and died inchildbirth. The boy was handed over to the midwife and named Brutus. Atlast, after fifteen years had gone by, the boy went hunting with his father andkilled him with a misdirected bowshot. For as the servants were driving somestags into their path, Brutus, believing that he was aiming at them, hit hisfather below the breast. On account of this death, his relativSir Gawain and the Green Knight, AnonymousThen they showed him the shining scarlet shieldwith its pentangle painted in pure gold.He seized it by its strap and slung it round his neck;he looked well in what he wore, and was worthy of it.And why the pentangle was appropriate to that princeI intend to say, though it will stall our story.It is a symbol that Solomon once set in placeand is taken to this day as a token of fidelity,for the form of the figure is a five-pointed starand each line overlaps and links with the lastso is ever eternal, and when spoken of in Englandis known by the name of the endless knot.So it suits this soldier in his spotless armor,fully faithful in five ways five times over.For Gawain was as good as the purest gold—devoid of vices but virtuous, loyaland kind,so bore that badge on bothhis shawl and shield alike.A prince who talked the truth:known as the noblest knight.Another lay to you I'll tell, Of the adventure that befellA noble vassal whom they callIn the Breton tongue Lanval. Arthur, the brave and courtly king, At Carlisle was sojourningBecause the Scots and Picts alliedWere ravaging the countryside;Of Lorgres they had crossed the borderWhere often they caused great disorder. He had come there with his hostThat spring to hold the Pentecost. He lavished ample patronageOn all his noble baronage -That is the knights of the Round Table(In all the world none are so able)Lands and wives he gave outrightTo all his servants save one knight:That was Lanval; him he forgot. His men disliked him, too; the lotWere envious of his handsomeness, His strength, his courage, his largesse.There were a few who friendship feigned,But would by no means have complainedHad Lanval met some evil fate.He was a prince of great estate, But all his personal propertyHe gave away for amity, And he got nothing from the king, Nor would he ask for anything.Now Lanval is much preoccupied,Gloomy, seeing the darker side. My lords, please do not think it rare:A foreigner is filled with careAnd sadness in a distant land,Finding no help at any hand.The king agreed he would abide By what they lawfully decide.Among them there was no dissent;Lanval was pronounced innocent.The damoiselle set off again, Though the kind asked her to remain. Outside there stood a marble rockWith steps to make a mounting block, From which armed men would get astrideWhen they from court set out to ride. Lanval climbed up on it beforeThe damoiselle rode out the door.Swiftly he sprang the horse to straddleAnd sat behind her on the saddle.To Avalon they came away, Which Breton storytellers sayAn island is, most ravishing, There Lanval has gone, vanishing,No man has heard more of his fate;I've nothing further to relate.First he was deemed flawless in his five senses;and secondly his five fingers were never at fault;and thirdly his faith was founded in the five woundsChrist received on the cross, as the creed recalls.And fourthly, if that soldier struggled in skirmishone thought pulled him through above all other things:the fortitude he found in the five joyswhich Mary had conceived in her son, our Savior.For precisely that reason the princely riderhad the shape of her image inside his shield,so by catching her eye his courage would not crack.The fifth set of five which I heard the knight followedincluded friendship and fraternity with fellow men,purity and politeness that impressed at all times,and pity, which surpassed all pointedness. Five thingswhich meant more to Gawain than to most other men.So these five sets of five were fixed in this knight,each linked to the last through the endless line,a five-pointed form which never failed,never stronger to one side or slack at the other,but unbroken in its being from beginning to endhowever its trail is tracked and traced.So the star on the spangling shield he sportedshone royally, in gold, on a ruby red background,the pure pentanglHe gave fair answer on his part. "Lady," he said, "if this should be Your wish (and such joy meant for me),To have me for your paramour, There's no command, you may be sure, Wise or foolish, that you will,Which I don't promise to fulfill.I'll follow only your behest, For you I'll give up all the rest."When the lady heard him sayThat he would love her in this way, She bestowed on him her heartAnd her body, every part. Now Lanval is on easy street!Whatever his needs are she will meet: As a gift to him she grantedHe should get whatever he wanted-Money as fast as he can spend it, No matter how much, she will send it.Roused and risen he was ready for mass.The meal of the morning was made and served,then he loitered with the ladies the length of the daywhile the lord of the land ranged left and rightin pursuit of that pig which stampeded through the uplands,""breaking his best hounds with its back-snapping bitewhen it stood embattled . . . then bowmen would strike,goading it to gallop into open groundwhere the air was alive with the huntsman's arrows."
Explore Features
Discover the full suite of AI-powered study tools.
Study Plan
Build a personalized study schedule powered by AI.
Record Lecture
Capture and generate enhanced notes from your lectures.
Notes
Automatically generate comprehensive notes from any course material.
Calendar
Plan personalized study sessions with AI-assisted scheduling
Tutor Me
Get comprehensive step-by-step explanations on any topic.
Spark.E Call
Have a live voice conversation with your AI tutor.
Spark.E Visuals
Analyze diagrams, charts, and images with AI-powered explanations.
Audio Recap
Generate podcast-style audio summaries of your study materials.
Explainer Video
Turn any topic into an AI-generated educational video.
Flashcards
Create smart flashcard decks from your study materials with one click.
QuizFetch
Auto-generated quizzes from your uploaded content.
Arcade
Learn through interactive study games.
Exam-Specific Questions
Practice with real exam formats and questions.
Practice Tests
Simulate full-length exams from your material.
Essay Grader
Receive personalized feedback and grading on your essays.
Plugins
Shape the way Spark.E teaches you.
Mini Apps
Explore interactive study apps or build your own.