The Language of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Conor Meehan

You are creating a new language and need to come up with new words for the following words and concepts  Someone with a childlike disposition  A magical occurrence  The sound of a blow making contact  The outside fortification to a building  People who go hunting  Something unlucky  The sound of someone moving quickly  Someone’s faults or errors

The Background  At a New Year’s feast in King Arthur’s court, The Green Knight issues a challenge to go blow for blow with his ax  A young man, not even a knight, named Gawain accepts  Gawain takes the first swing and chops off the Green Knights head  The Green Knight reattaches his head and tells Gawain to fin him in one year so he can return the blow.

The Background  Gawain goes on a long quest and faces many tests and temptations.  When Gawain gets to the Green Knight’s green chapel, the Green Knight takes 3 swings but only makes contact on one, leaving only a small cut  The Green Knights logic was that Gawain had proved he was a good knight by showing up and turning down temptations on the way.

 He watz so joly of his joyfness, and somquat childgered  His youth made him so merry with the moods of a boy

 þenn Arþour bifore þe hi3 dece þat auenture byholdez  Then Arthur before the high dais beheld this wonder

 Such a dunt as þou hatz dalt – disserued þou habbez  Such a dint as thou hast dealt – indeed thou hast earned

 A better barbican þat burne blusched vpon neuer  That knight a better barbican had never seen built

 Þenne þise cacheres þat couþe cowpled hor houndez  Then the leaders of the hounds leashed them in couples

 Þis is a chaple of meschaunce, þat chekke hit bytyde  This is a chapel of mischance, the church most accused

 Quoþ Gawayn, ‘I schunt onez’  ‘I blenched once,’Gawain said

 Þou art confessed so clene, beknowen of þy mysses  Thou hast confessed the so clean and acknowledged thine errors