Bannau Brycheiniog is pronounced: ban-eye bruck-ein-iog. It’s derived form the plural of “ban”, meaning “peak”, and “Brycheiniog” referring to the old kingdom of King Brychan. Its English translation means “The Peaks of Brychan’s Kingdom”.

Brecon Beacons name change explained: How to pronounce the National Park’s new Welsh name Bannau Brycheiniog

But not everyone likes it:

Business chiefs call for Brecon Beacons' English name to be reinstated over tourism fears | Daily Mail Online

Brecon Beacons National Park: Tories criticise renaming as 'symbolic' attempt to look 'trendy' | UK News | Sky News

Why associate a rapist with Brecon Beacons? | cambrian-news.co.uk

Unfortunately, this has become part of the so-called 'culture wars':

The new name, which took effect yesterday, has been imposed without consulting any of the thousands of local residents (or 4 million annual visitors) who so enjoy this breath-takingly beautiful landscape. It is purely the brainchild of an unholy alliance of virtue-signalling politicians and civil servants who appear to be prepared to spend taxpayers' money on the most lame of initiatives, as long as they can be passed off as contributing in some way to the sunlit uplands of 'net zero'.

HARRY MOUNT: Renaming the Brecon Beacons is a victory for woke philistines | Daily Mail Online

There’s nothing that imperialists hate more than Welsh people (or Irish people, or Scottish people) doing Welsh (Irish/Scottish) things in their own country. Throw in concern about the environment and you basically have what amounts to a genius marketing strategy, and right before the coronation of the former “Prince of Wales” as King. Note my use of quotation marks, because the last true Prince of Wales – that’s literally his name – Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, died in 1282. These sorts of union-flag-waving English jamborees can make even the mildest Welsh person feel a bit queasy...

Bannau Brycheiniog: is this Welsh national park where Tory culture warriors will meet their Waterloo? | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett | The Guardian

As covered by the EL Gazette:

Just when we thought it was safe to go back down the pub, the language wars have again broken out. This time it is the mighty ire of the English directed against a Welsh National Park...
The most common complaint is that it is “anti-English”. “The Welsh just want to have a laugh at us because we can’t pronounce it,” spluttered one commentator. Certainly the Welsh might enjoy the spectacle, just as English people collapse in giggles every time we hear an American trying to pronounce the word Worcestershire.

Putting out the flames of culture wars | E L Gazette

Sunday, 23 April 2023

st george's day and english nationalism

We have seen a resurgence in English nationalism - and interest in England's patron saint:

One of the usual objections raised to considerations of English nationalism – and there are many – is that it doesn’t really exist and therefore shouldn’t be considered. However, understanding nationalism in general can help shed light on English nationalism in particular. One important element is the shift from nationhood to nationalism. A sense of belonging to a particular nation need not be politicised (nationhood), but it can become so if it is linked to a feeling of grievance, and has committed political actors to promote solutions to the perceived problem (nationalism). On St George's Day: English nationalism between Brexit and Covid-19 - UK in a changing Europe

Interestingly, St George is not just an English saint:

People across the world are celebrating Saint George, who has become a symbol of English nationalism in the UK - which is ironic, given that he wasn't even English... The irony of those clamouring for #Brexit festooning their homes with flags of a saint who was Greek or possibly Palestinian, with a Syrian mum, who grew up in Turkey and almost certainly had never even heard of England, let alone had anything to do with it. 5 reasons why St George would have hated the current state of England | indy100

But 'England and St George' have become very mixed up:

Ignore the scaremongering, the only people who have ever ‘cancelled’ St George are English Protestants

Nationalist mythology is what we make of it – but culture warriors could start by learning our own history

By Kate Maltby April 6, 2023

King Edward VI, a priggish 13-year-old who enjoyed putting down the adult men around him, was not a fan of Saint George the dragon slayer. For Edward of England, his nation’s patron saint was a bit of an embarrassment: a relic of the Catholic superstition that the hardline Protestants who had controlled his education had raised him to purge from his new kingdom. Why, he reportedly demanded of an elder courtier, did we honour a warrior who couldn’t even fight at close-quarters with his enemy? If English images of St George always showed him decorously poking the dragon with an absurdly long spear, “what was he doing with his sword the whole time?” ...

So if it were up to Edward VI, we now wouldn’t be celebrating St George’s Day at all. Just as Oliver Cromwell’s Parliament tried to ban Christmas. But political fashions change, and shortly after his premature death, Edward’s ultra-Catholic half-sister, Mary I, brought back St George and his full associations with England’s highest honour, the Garter.

I thought of Edward VI when I read the latest confected row about St George’s Day and our frothing contemporary culture wars. The Telegraph has claimed that Magdalen College, Oxford has jettisoned St George to honour Muslim sensitivities. The story alleged that this venerable Oxford college – which should be a bastion of all things Christian – has cancelled an “annual” dinner in honour of St George so that on 23 April, its hall can instead celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the feast marking the end of Ramadan. The problem is, like most stories designed to complain about minorities taking up space, it isn’t as presented. Magdalen’s records show no tradition of an annual feast of St George – among revolving experiments with various themed dinners, it has held a dinner for St George’s Day only five times in the past 100 years.

The real implication of the Telegraph’s story, of course, is that here in England a celebration of St George’s Day should take priority over any minority festival. It would do better to make that case honestly, rather than relying on tortuous misrepresentation. Beneath the framing of this story, with its suggestion of a Muslim population forcing out a Christian warrior, lies the rhetoric of a “clash of civilisations”. This is a call to arms against creeping invasion, drawing on symbolism as ancient as the earliest Islamic-Christian conflict in Europe.

Come 23 April, and Twitter will again be awash with self-righteous types pointing out that “St George was Turkish”, and “appropriated” by England. To which – firstly, he’s mythical; secondly, the legacy of a mediaeval Christendom in which English Christians felt shared identity with a figure from the Middle East is one which should perhaps convince “anti-racists” on the left to treat our medieval heritage with more nuance. Perhaps the West hasn’t always been as wickedly racist as they claim? (For centuries, in-group/out-group dynamics in Europe were religious rather than race-based.)

But the only people who have ever “cancelled” St George are English Protestants. Nationalist mythology is what we make of it – but culture warriors could start by learning our own history.

Ignore the scaremongering, the only people who have ever 'cancelled' St George are English Protestants

Finally:

No One Cares About St George's Day Because No One Cares About England

National pride is dying out. Here's why.

DISCLAIMER: This article was written by a Welsh person.

England is a sad little country. Sure, it's made some remarkable contributions to pop culture in its time, and the landscape is occasionally capable of moistening the eyes of even the most emotionally-repressed dad. But by and large, it's crap. There seems to be very little understanding among its people of the extent to which it is seen by its neighbouring kingdoms as the Gary Barlow of the group – the one with the most inflated ego, yet the least justification for it.

For a long time now, England has been suffering from a mass Napoleon complex: an entire country jacked up on invading half the countries on Earth was rightly forced to return them, and has been attempting to overcompensate for its perceived shortcomings ever since by, quite simply, being a massive bellend.

Why No One Cares About St George's Day

Saturday, 22 April 2023

king arthur in britain and brittany

King Arthur is a British icon:

Jay Doubleyou: english icons

National symbols of England - Wikipedia

Well, yes, he was definitely British:

Jay Doubleyou: king arthur's britain

Jay Doubleyou: Tintagel

And he came from central England:

Discover King Arthur and Guinevere’s romantic homeland | VisitEngland

Take a King Arthur Trail in Shropshire | VisitEngland

Or possibly from the south-west of England:

King Arthur, Cornwall

10 Arthurian Sites | King Arthur Trail | Cornwall Guide

Cornwall’s Magical Secret of King Arthur | Cornish Secrets

Tintagel Castle | English Heritage

Mmm... perhaps not...

Jay Doubleyou: english traditions which aren't english...

He came from north-west France:

Brocéliande: The Brittany forest is France's answer to Glastonbury, with myths and magic shops

Brocéliande Forest | Brittany tourism

Les Nouveaux Chevaliers de la Table Ronde (Néant-sur-Yvel) | Destination Brocéliande in Brittany

With some scenes here:

Making Of "Les Chevaliers de la Table Ronde" | Coulisses | Puy du Fou - YouTube

And here:

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Modern Trailer - YouTube

Thursday, 7 July 2022

special spiritual places in britain

Britain is full of stone circles from the Bronze Age and before:

Pagan Britain: The UK's Ancient Sacred Sites - Horizon Guides

Why exactly were they built?

Bronze Age Dartmoor - The Life of Marghwen - YouTube

There are lots of Roman remains too.

Did the Romans invade Britain because they wanted to destroy the Druidic religion, the focus of Celtic religious and cultural resistance?

The extermination of the druids, as well as the great number of other soothsayers and herbalists, cannot be separated from the larger process of Romanization, in which older facets of Celtic culture were gradually abandoned to integrate the new peoples into the Greco-Roman sphere.

Why did the Romans slaughter the Druids? - Quora

By destroying both the geographic heart of Druidismin Britain, the Romans caputered core system and eventually Keltism.

Why did the Romans suppress Druids? - Quora

They eventually wiped out the Druids on the island of Anglesey:

The Roman attack on the British Druids on Ynys Môn

But they also imposed themselves on other parts of Britain, including in modern-day Devon:

Nemetostatio (Roman Fort & Marching Camps) in North Tawton, United Kingdom (Google Maps)

The Roman fort is believed to have had the name Nemetostatio, meaning "The road-station of the sacred groves", and may have been located on the site of an ancient druidic sanctuary. It covered an area of roughly 600 ft (185m) east-west by 390 ft (120m), and was located adjoining the Roman road between Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) and Okehampton.

North Tawton - Wikipedia

Nemetostatio - 'The Outpost of the Sacred Grove(s)'
The place-name seems to be an amalgamation of the Celtic word Nemeton 'sacred grove' and the Latin word Stationis 'road-station, outpost'.
It would appear that the Romans built the Nanstallon fort close-by or perhaps directly upon the site of an ancient druidic sanctuary, and hoped by their presence to suppress the native Celtic religion, together with its reputed practice of human sacrifice.

Jay Doubleyou: Something from the air…

Christian churches were often built on former religious sites:

A Tiny Church Sits On Britain's Oldest Site of Continuous Worship | Smart News| Smithsonian Magazine

One in particular being Old Sarum, just above Salisbury:

History of Old Sarum | English Heritage

Old Sarum: A Layer-Cake of History

... for many Stonehenge is a cornucopia of earth energy and has a whole network of ley lines running through which connect it to the plethora of ancient wonders that surround it in Wiltshire and beyond. For example, one such ley line connects Stonehenge, Old Sarum, Salisbury Cathedral and Clearbury Ring. Although the churches were not built at the same time, the ley lines suggest, some would say, that intense earth energies were always present in these positions – causing later societies to build their monuments there.

Stonehenge Ley Lines and Earth Energies – Why Does it Attract ‘New Agers’? | Stonehenge Stone Circle News and Information

Old Sarum lies on one of the earliest recognised examples of leylines as determined by Sir N. Lockyer. It is connected to both Salisbury and Stonehenge, both sacred places on the Wiltshire landscape.

Old Sarum, England

Sir Norman Lockyer - (1836-1920) - Lockyer made the first 'professional' observation of geometry in the lay-out of the ancient landscape. He realised that a geometric connection existed between Stonehenge, Grovely (Grove-ley) castle and Old Sarum. The three form an equilateral triangle with sides 6 miles long. (See Above)

Lockyer pioneered the field of archaeo-astronomy, and spent some a time in Egypt, where he investigated the alignments and orientations of many ancient structures. He was able to combine his astronomical knowledge with observations at certain temples, and produce dates that he confirmed through examples of temples with re-aligned axis. His researches led him to conclude dates of 4,000 BC for early dynastic structures (3).

Geometric alignments

Norman Lockyer Observatory

Returning to Dartmoor, there are very special places - perhaps haunted:

BBC - Devon Video Nation - Kitty Jay's Grave - a Dartmoor Legend

Dartmoor Tales: Kitty Jay's Grave - YouTube

Jay's Grave - Wikipedia

Kitty Jay (album) - Wikipedia

Seth Lakeman - Kitty Jay - YouTube

What 'special spiritual places' have you experienced?

Tuesday, 17 August 2021

devon and dartmoor

If you're a German-speaker, welcome to Rosamunde Pilcher Land:

News - The Filming Locations of Rosamunde Pilcher – Beautiful Books, Beautifully Filmed in Cornwall & Devon

Rosamunde Pilcher - The German Link - Cherished Cottages

Rosamunde Pilcher 50+ Landscape course - YouTube

For example:

Rosamunde Pilcher Zeit der Erkenntnis Rosamunde Pilcher - YouTube

It's also the home of Dartmoor:

Dartmoor National Park - YouTube

Dramatic Dartmoor - YouTube

Where there are a lot of sheep:

Farming | Dartmoor

And some rich accents and dialects:

Jay Doubleyou: the english-speaking world: devon in england

And a lot of history:

Bronze Age Dartmoor - The Life of Marghwen - YouTube

Bronze Age Dartmoor Study | Dartmoor

KS2 Prehistory – The Bronze Age - YouTube

With some speculation about how farming and the climate brought the Bronze Age to an end:

Bronze Age upland settlement decline in southwest England: Testing the climate change hypothesis | Request PDF

The moors are full of history:

BBC - Devon Video Nation - Kitty Jay's Grave - a Dartmoor Legend

Dartmoor Tales: Kitty Jay's Grave - YouTube

Jay's Grave - Wikipedia

Kitty Jay (album) - Wikipedia

Seth Lakeman - Kitty Jay - YouTube

But, above all it's a great place to explore:

Great places to walk and go birdwatching in Devon | Great British Life

Summer family day out with otters at Dartmoor National Park | Great British Life

Especially if you like a challenge:

Ten Tors Challenge main event - YouTube

Saturday, 12 September 2020

yeats the song writer

Here's a very beautiful poem by the Irish poet W B Yeats:

The Song of Wandering Aengus

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.

The Song of Wandering Aengus by William Butler… | Poetry Foundation

It has been put to music:

Donovan - The Song Of Wandering Aengus - YouTube

Here's a rather difficult 'analysis':
"The Song of Wandering Aengus" by W.B. Yeats: An Analysis

And here's a more fun class looking at the lovely poem:

Language Arts Lesson Video: The Song of Wandering Aengus (SyncTV FULL Episode!) - YouTube

Is it about the dream of a god?

It has been claimed that the poem's story is based on the Irish god Aengus, and specifically the story of the "Dream of Aengus", which had first appeared in the 8th century, in which Aengus falls in love with a woman whom he sees only in his dreams.

The Song of Wandering Aengus - Wikipedia

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Thursday, 27 November 2014

learning english through musicals

Any good musical will also have good lyrics:

West Side Story-America - YouTube

There are some great web resources which look at musicals:
BBC Learning English
Learning english through musicals: a case study of social economically disadvantaged aboriginal students in Eastern Taiwan - Edinburgh University Press
A Musical Way of Learning English - EnglishClub
Learn English with this musicals English lesson - Les Miserables

Perhaps the best, as ever, is from Larry Ferlazzo:
The Best Music Websites For Learning English | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

Disney offers teaching materials:

EDUCATION

EDUCATION PROGRAMME

Disney’s internationally acclaimed production THE LION KING is a theatrical experience that will engage and inspire your pupils’ imaginations like never before, transporting them to the dazzling world that explodes with glorious colours and stunning effects, all set to the evocative rhythms of Africa.

Upon booking you will have access to THE LION KING EDUCATION PROGRAMME to further enrich your school’s visit. This three part curriculum-linked teaching resource is specifically designed for teachers by teachers to enhance the study of a variety of subjects in an informative and memorable way.

This innovative programme includes:

A special rate is available for school groups, plus teachers go free!

Education – The Lion King
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Sunday, 5 October 2014

kate tempest poet

A brilliant 'young' poet (she's not yet 40) is Kate Tempest:
Kate Tempest - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kate Tempest
pennyspoetry.wikia.com/wiki/Kate_Tempest

She's been at this year's Exter Poetry Festival:
Kate Tempest | Exeter Poetry Festival

She's presented programmes on the BBC:
BBC Radio 3 - Between the Ears, More than a Desert

Kate Tempest: the performance poet who can't be ignored

Kate Tempest – the first person under 40 to win the Ted Hughes award for innovation in poetry – explains how hip-hop, rap and raves led her to write an hour-long spoken story set to music

Kate Tempest: the performance poet who can't be ignored | Stage | The Guardian

Poet and rapper Kate Tempest brings us an epic spoken tale of the everyday Gods. Accompanied by a live quartet of violin, cello, percussion and tuba, Brand New Ancients is the story of everyday epics and small heroics.

Brand New Ancients by Kate Tempest - YouTube
Brand New Ancients On Film - Part 1 - YouTube

More extraordinary performances on video:
Kate Tempest, performance poet (video) - Late Night Live - ABC Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

You will know Shakespeare's Tempest:
Al Pacino-merchant of venice.mp4 - YouTube
The Merchant of Venice (Summary) - YouTube

Here is Kate Tempest rapping Shakespeare's Tempest:
Spoken-word synopsis | Royal Shakespeare Company | Theatre
www.rsc.org.uk/downloads/rsc_mer_synopsis_kt_2011.pdf

And:
teaching-resource/the-merchant-of-venice-2011
the-merchant-of-venice-a-spoken-word-synopsis-by-kate-tempest

See also:
Jay Doubleyou: shakespeare
Jay Doubleyou: performing poetry
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Monday, 14 October 2013

the present perfect with goldilocks and the three bears

What do Daddy and Mummy Bear say when they look at their bowls of porridge/
And why does Baby Bear say something different when he looks at his?

Goldilocks and the Three Bears.mp4 - YouTube

Although perhaps this 'politically-correct' version has more to say...

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

by whimsicalfaery, Aug 29, 2006, 12:24:25 PM
Literature / Prose / Fiction / General Fiction / Short Stories

Goldilocks and the Three Bears
(A Fairy Tale for the Politically Correct)
By Annie Buller

Once upon time, there was a little girl named Goldilocks.  She liked to play in the woods.  One day Goldilocks was playing in a part of the forest that she had never been in before and she was getting very hungry.  She noticed a cute little cottage between the trees and decided to go and ask for a snack.

She knocked at the door, but there was no answer.  When she tried the doorknob, however, she discovered that the door was unlocked and pushed it open.  “This is very unsafe,” she said to herself, forgetting that she was glad it was unlocked.  “My house is never unlocked when there’s no one home.”

Goldilocks went inside and saw three bowls of porridge on the table in the kitchen.  They looked delicious.  She tasted the first one, but it was so hot that she burned her mouth.  She tasted the second one, but it was so cold that it sent electric shocks down her cavity fillings.  Then she tasted the third one and it was just right.  So she ate the whole bowl.  “I wonder whose house this is,” she said to herself.  “They make great porridge.”

With her full stomach, Goldilocks began searching for a place to sit down.  She found three chairs in the living room.  She sat in the first one, but it was too hard.  She sat in the second one, but it was too soft.  She sat in the third one, and it was just right until she realized that she was too heavy for it.  By that time, though, it was already too late and she had broken through the chair and landed on the floor.  “This house could use a few renovations,” she thought.

She decided to go upstairs and look for a bed.  All at once, she had a horrible thought.  “What if they’re upstairs?”  She called out, “Is anyone home?”  There was no answer.

Goldilocks found the bedroom, and after trying all of the beds, (too hard, too soft, just right) she fell fast asleep.  An hour later she awoke only to find three brown fuzzy bear faces looking sternly down at her.  “This must be the one,” growled the biggest one.  They looked at each other and nodded, then as if on cue, they roared as loud as they could.  Goldilocks bolted out of bed and raced out of the house.

The next morning, there was a knock at the door.  Papa Bear opened it to find Goldilocks on his step with a strange man in a suit and carrying a briefcase.  “Who are you?” asked Papa Bear.

“The name is S. F. H. Scunque, attorney-at-law.  Here’s my card.  I’m here on behalf of Goldilocks.  She has asked me to represent her in a lawsuit on the grounds of personal injury, harassment, and emotional duress.  Here are your papers.”

The lawyer left with Goldilocks.  The bears went back inside to call their own lawyer.  They filed a counter lawsuit on the grounds of trespassing and destruction of private property.

After a few months, when the flurry of paperwork flying between the two attorney’s offices had settled, they all met in court.  Goldilocks was wearing a bandage on her tongue where she had burned it on the porridge, a back-brace (she had jarred her back falling through the chair), and she had one ankle wrapped from spraining it while she ran away.  The bears’ charges did not hold up in court, unfortunately, because they had not had a “No Trespassing” sign on their property at the time, and also because a state certified psychologist had stated that Goldilock’s actions were merely responses to traumatic events she had gone through as a child.

It had the makings of a successful frivolous lawsuit until the bears brought in their own psychologist who declared Goldilocks to be insane on the grounds that she liked porridge.  (What kind of child likes porridge?)  Then the judge found Goldilocks in contempt of court for lying under oath.  (No one with a burned tongue has to wear a bandage after a few months of recovery time.)  He found in favor of the bears, although their lawsuit had been dropped and no one received any compensation.  Goldilocks appealed with a new count of unsafe living premises against the bears.  The county and state building inspectors were sent to the bears’ house where they inspected it and declared it safe by state and county standards.  (Although they did confiscate the broken chair as a health hazard.)

When the dust had finally settled, the bears were happy (except for baby bear who didn’t have a chair anymore), the lawyers were very happy, and Goldilocks was forced to use her college savings to pay off court expenses.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears by whimsicalfaery on deviantART
Politically Correct Bedtime Stories - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Monday, 13 February 2012

Gods and Monsters

Virginia Woolf said that Homer's epic poem the Odyssey was 'alive to every tremor and gleam of existence'. Following the magical and strange adventures of warrior king Odysseus, inventor of the idea of the Trojan horse, the poem can claim to be the greatest story ever told. Now British poet Simon Armitage goes on his own Greek adventure, following in the footsteps of one of his own personal heroes. Yet Simon ponders the question of whether he even likes the guy.

Plus a couple of clips from the BBC documentary

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00vtwnz

Simon Armitage does it again

Simon Armitage, "Homer's Odyssey"

… Simon Armitage recasts the Odyssey as a radio play and hence entirely in dialogue. Even though the book was a BBC commission, it is vivid and riveting from start to finish. Odysseus's telling of his story to the Phaeacians is handled beautifully, with the dialogues switching back and forth between those in the stories Odysseus tells and those between Odysseus and his listeners. But the book's best sections are the dialogues between Athena and an entirely memorable Zeus: the king of the gods comes across as a wonderful ironist:

When we send eagles

to signal our thoughts in the sky,

what do they do -- stand and point and stare,

like ... birdwatchers!

Or:

At least they don't live forever, like us. My memory --

it's like a museum. Infinite rooms, covered in dust.

Or:

I find it doesn't do to look down too much like that.

Gives one a bad neck.

As I looked back through the book to find some good passages to cite, I discovered that after about halfway through the book, I stopped underlining things. That could be a bad sign (fewer quotable passages later in the book?), but it usually means that I got so caught up in the story and its telling that I stopped thinking about finding quotable quotes! And this is, of course, a fabulous story, which Armitage tells in a fresh and exciting way.

http://andrewjshields.blogspot.com/2006/08/simon-armitage-homers-odyssey.html

The Ring

This is how it all started:
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/ring-videos.aspx
http://metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/hd_events_template.aspx?id=12572

LotR

Can you summarise this in just one paragraph?!
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_rings

J R R Tolkien's influences

In his writings, in particular the fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings as well as the related novel The Hobbitand the posthumously published collection of stories The Silmarillion, J. R. R. Tolkien is cited as having had a number of influences. Several critics[1] have made the assumption that Tolkien’s novel was directly derived from Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Many parts of his work were, as he freely admitted, influenced by other sources.[2] Some of the influences include philology (his field), religion(particularly Roman Catholicism), fairy tales, Anglo-Saxon and Norse mythology, and numerous sources from Finnish, Greek, Persian, Slavic, and Celtic mythology.

Tolkien was greatly inspired by early Germanic, especially Anglo-Saxon literature, poetry and mythology, which were his chosen and much-loved areas of expertise. These sources of inspiration included Anglo-Saxon literature such as Beowulf, Norse sagas such as the Volsunga saga and the Hervarar saga,[18] thePoetic Edda, the Prose Edda, the Nibelungenlied and numerous other culturally related works.[19]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien's_influences

An epic of sorts from French and Saunders

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders parody the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

.. and Simon Armitage's fine translation

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

From the translation by Simon Armitage

'Gawain,' said the green knight, 'By God, I'm glad

the favour I've called for will fall from your fist.

You've perfectly repeated the promise we've made

and the terms of the contest are crystal clear.

Except for one thing: you must solemnly swear

that you'll seek me yourself; that you'll search me out

to the ends of the earth to earn the same blow

as you'll dole out today in this decorous hall.'

'But where will you be? Where's your abode?

You're a man of mystery, as God is my maker.

Which court do you come from and what are you called?

There is knowledge I need, including your name,

then by wit I'll work out the way to your door

and keep to our contract, so cross my heart.'

'But enough at New Year. It needs nothing more,'

said the war-man in green to worthy Gawain.

'I could tell you the truth once you've taken the blow;

if you smite me smartly I could spell out the facts

of my house and home and my name, if it helps,

then you'll pay me a visit and vouch for our pact.

Or if I keep quiet you might cope much better,

loafing and lounging here, looking no further. But

you stall!

Now grasp that gruesome axe

and show your striking style.'

He answered, 'Since you ask,'

and touched the tempered steel.

In the standing position he prepared to be struck,

bent forward, revealing a flash of green flesh

as he heaped his hair to the crown of his head,

the nape of his neck now naked and ready.

Gawain grips the axe and heaves it heavenwards,

plants his left foot firmly on the floor in front,

then swings it swiftly towards the bare skin.

The cleanness of the strike cleaved the spinal cord

and parted the fat and the flesh so far

that that bright steel blade took a bite from the floor.

The handsome head tumbles onto the earth

and the king's men kick it as it clatters past.

Blood gutters brightly against his green gown,

yet the man doesn't shudder or stagger or sink

but trudges towards them on those tree-trunk legs

and rummages around, reaches at their feet

and cops hold of his head and hoists it high,

and strides to his steed, snatches the bridle,

steps into the stirrup and swings into the saddle

still gripping his head by a handful of hair.

Then he settles himself in his seat with the ease

of a man unmarked, never mind being minus

his head!

And when he wheeled about

his bloody neck still bled.

His point was proved. The court

was deadened now with dread.

For that scalp and skull now swung from his fist;

towards the top table he turned the face

and it opened its eyelids, stared straight ahead

and spoke this speech, which you'll hear for yourselves:

'Sir Gawain, be wise enough to keep your word

and faithfully follow me until I'm found

as you vowed in this hall within hearing of these horsemen.

You're charged with getting to the green chapel,

to reap what you've sown. You'll rightfully receive

the justice you are due just as January dawns.

Men know my name as the green chapel knight

and even a fool couldn't fail to find me.

So come, or be called a coward for ever.'

With a tug of the reins he twisted around

and, head still in hand, galloped out of the hall,

so the hooves brought fire from the flame in the flint.

· Simon Armitage's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is published by Faber, price £12.99.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/dec/16/poetry.simonarmitage

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Poet Simon Armitage goes on the trail of one of the jewels in the crown of British poetry, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written about 600 years ago by an unknown author. The poem has got just about everything - it is an action-packed adventure, a ghost story, a steamy romance, a morality tale and the world's first eco-poem.
Armitage follows in the footsteps of the poem's hero, Gawain, through some of Britain's most beautiful and mystical landscapes and reveals why an absurd tale of a knight beheading a green giant is as relevant and compelling today as when it was written.