Which medieval poem did J.R.R. Tolkien translate and publish with E.V. Gordon’s scholarship?

J.R.R. Tolkien translated Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, working with E.V. Gordon’s scholarly edition of the poem.

The Middle English poem tells how Sir Gawain accepts a mysterious Green Knight’s challenge at King Arthur’s court. Gawain must receive a blow from the Green Knight and then seek the same blow a year later. The poem combines chivalric testing, temptation, supernatural danger, and Christian moral themes.

Tolkien and Gordon published a major scholarly edition in 1925. Tolkien later translated the poem into modern English, and the translation appeared posthumously in 1975 alongside his versions of Pearl and Sir Orfeo.

The Pearl is an especially easy mix-up because Tolkien also translated it and because both poems are important Middle English works. Tolkien’s scholarship on medieval literature influenced his understanding of language, heroic narrative, and the relationship between myth and morality.