a wily subterfuge

This is not the first time I have seen this contraction in our readings, but I think it is worth pointing out that this is actually the grammatically correct form of "shan't," which is a contraction for "shall not," since we also omitted the "ll" in shall.

a person in his or her dotage: a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness

Women are not things to be owned and commanded about.

believe or think

This is a sort of alcohol container, mainly used for wine.

I think this is an important note. She is not attacking virginity, rather attacking the standard of virginity.

As odd as this sounds, this is a very common and very strong argument for devaluing virginity, religiously speaking. After all, if God created us and was perfect in doing so, why should we not use our bodies to the fullest.

Correct. Not everyone's calling or purpose in life is the same, but that does not mean one is of more value than another.

This is definitely true. If none is willing to foster a family, there will be none to serve and praise God. This also ties into my pervious comment.

This is actually a point of debate in both religion and philosophy. Many religious peoples and philosophers believed that marriage was only for the weak, those who could not surpress their bodily desires. The point of existence, according to these peoples, was to study, serve, and praise God. This did not allow room for marriage and a family. However, many philosophers and religion scholars believe that honoring, serving, and praising God can all be done through having a family, not all people must serve and praise God in the same way.

Again, this is true, but none of these men are considered holy. In fact, all of them received some form of punishment as a result of their many wives.

I think this is pointing out a bit of hypocrisy in Biblical teachings. It is not okay for a woman to have many husbands, but it is fine for a man to have multitudes of wives. In defense of the Bible however, Solomon was not praised for his number of wives and ultimately destroyed his relationship with God, if I recall correctly.

I will admit, I do not understand this story nearly as well as our others thus far. However, I think I picked up on the necessary or important parts. From my understanding, the summoner is basically an evil, thieving, lying man who only cares about his personal gain regardless of its repercussions on others. Due to this lack of care, he finds an old widow he believes he can take advantage of in her feeble state. Much to his surprise, she is not willing to hand over her money to pay a ridiculous fee for which she is not guilty. Upon his insisting she pay him, the widow curses him and the devil drags him to hell that night. Quite the satisfying ending and is used to show the power of grace and Christ, though the connection here is a bit fuzzy to me.

A cow that has not borne a calf.

The summoner knows well that the widow is unwell and unable to make it to answer the summons. Knowing this, he stopped at her home regardless of the fact she had done no wrong. He did this to gain money from her that will not be contested due to her unwell state.

A vice is the opposite of a virtue. It is a bad trait or characteristic. In this case, he knows nothing bad about her.

Birthed, specifically for horses.

faith

to say or do something jokingly or mockingly

limited or less than sufficient in degree, quantity, or extent

a man who engages in lechery: inordinate indulgence in sexual activity

one who keeps a house of prostitution

Consisting of or measured in money. In this case, I assume it means financial pain.

I have heard this word used as a form of the word money, but I cannot find anywhere to back this up or provide a corresponding definition.

I love the twists in this story, and the ending. Despite its length and old English, I think this was one of the easiest stories to understand, though my vocabulary has been expanded by it. The descriptions were also incredible. I also loved seeing the ties and constant references to Greek and Roman mythology and culture, though I was a bit confused as to why the two were almost interchangeable in the first few sections.

Another name for Jupiter.

to avoid habitually especially on moral or practical grounds

a stand on which a corpse or coffin is placed

bitter deep-seated ill will

a group of retainers or attendants

a saddle horse other than a warhorse

compassion for the misery of another

prayer

to go quickly

a sleeveless coat of mail or scale armor.

work especially of a painful or laborious nature

Hades, god of hell

Latin for "Red". The figure is an overturned glass; an inversion, meaning good in all that is evil, and evil in all that is good.

Latin for "the Girl". The figure is to resemble the vulva or a woman with exaggerated breasts.

the quality or state of being full

powerful in arms, mighty in battle

boisterously or humorously indecent

May the best man win.

Reluctant or willing

Living creature, being

being notoriously without moderation, extreme

Not only was his freedom taken from him, but now his identity and dignity are also being taken away.

a plant (such as a rose, blackberry, or greenbrier) having a usually woody and thorny or prickly stem

A fixed form of verse based on two rhyme sounds and consisting usually of 14 lines in three stanzas in which the first two lines of the first stanza are repeated as the refrain of the second and third stanzas. A poem in this case

a brief space of time

divine omniscience, foresight

The grass is always greener...

Form, style, or appearance. This is where the word "disguise" originated.

I love the language here. It seems so hard in the modern day to say common phrases in a new and creative way, but there is no evidence of this struggle here.

The Roman equivalent to the Greek Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty.

I think this is the best reaction to seeing a beautiful woman I have ever read.

a massive inner tower in a medieval castle

Rapunzel lol. In many cultures, especially in the east, long hair is a symbol of beauty. I wonder if this is the same here.

at once

Roman god of war, equivalent to the Greek god Ares.

the place where one lives

Not allowing the bodies of the slain to be burned to buried is massively degrading and humiliating, even violating religious practices.

King Capaneus was known as a warrior and died at Zeus's hand (by lightening bolt) after invading Thebes according to the Greek mythology.

a sound, healthy, or prosperous state

Riches to rags

to beg for urgently or anxiously

Bleak

I love the set up of the story. The character descriptions were exquisite and thorough. I also didn't realize that this story was a compilation of stories shared by the characters. I can't wait to continue reading. Also, it became so much easier to read once I realized that the right column was the more modern English translation.

Another form of companion

In learning about leadership, I have learned that the first follower is actually more impactful than the leader. In Christ's case, as being pointed out here, he was his own first follower.

As odd as this sounds to base medicine on, this was very common and thought to be the best way to to care for patients. In this time, blood letting and leaching were also common medical practices. Medicine as we know it today was thought to be heretical.

a raised platform

stables usually with living quarters built around a court

Best in his work by far.

A scholar and a dreamer, preferring to live in a book then in reality.

Either a good and avid traveler or very well educated in business and foreign affairs.

Literal or metaphorical?

Is this still referring to the monk? This does not sound like appropriate actions and clothing for a traditional monk.

Classic feminine emotional fragility.

Table manners, especially for young women in this time, are a symbol of status. The better the manners, the higher class one could assume she was raised in.

Humming

A gifted artist in all forms or art.

I think this gives us some insight to the knight's priorities. He did not care to look exceptional on the exterior, but obviously paid much attention to his actions and morals.

Quite the making of a perfect knight and deadly opponent. Strong, wise, not quick to anger, and respectful.

I think this is interesting. To my knowledge, knights did not take major roles in religion or religious fights, but here we can see he does.

I assume this is a derivative of the word "engender" which means something like "to make happen" according to vocabulary.com.

This is a variant of the word "when." It is used in certain dialects.

While I admit I was confused by this story many times, I also greatly enjoyed it. The language used in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was also fun. It wasn't too difficult to understand, but it had many new vocabulary words for me. The twist towards the end was completely unexpected, and probably is one of the first story twists recorded. I have also noticed that love seems to be the center point or at least a major sub-point of our readings thus far. I am excited to read more. This was a great, entertaining read.

indeed (often used ironically or to express surprise or indignation).

a private romantic rendezvous between lovers.

a steep or rugged cliff or rock face.

a backbone, especially that of an animal as it appears in a cut of meat.

I think this makes an important distinction between the lady devaluing herself with her previous words and building a higher value of Sir Gawain. The truth being the latter.

This being chain-mail not mail of the postage variety

archaic plural of eye

a piece of armor for the thigh.

the white fur of the stoat, used for trimming garments, especially the ceremonial robes of judges or peers.

Also my dog's name.

think or believe

A man's horse is a symbol of his status, so it is quite intriguing to see a horse so rare.

Does this imply that jousting was win or die?

a loud, unpleasant, and prolonged noise.

I find it so interesting how I know who these characters are and what story it is referring to, yet I am so uneducated as to the stories themselves. Glad to be reading this.

These stories all are connected through love, secret, forbidden love. All the stories challenge what makes love really and right or wrong. I think the stories all ended appropriately and made sense. I also didn't find myself trying to stop reading to distract myself, so the overall readability and entertainment was good!

I loved the language in this story. The poem form didn't take away from the story as I would think it might. It is much easier to conform a story to a poem than vice versa. The story itself is a bit sad though. I do have one question though: is the fairy king death? It would make sense, but I am not sure that it was meant to be this.

Quite the poetic way of saying "died"

a medieval singer or musician, especially one who sang or recited lyric or heroic poetry to a musical accompaniment for the nobility.

a large evening party or reception.

This is showing that not all of his ten years were gloomy. There was his music and it played a gentle melody.

a docile horse used for ordinary riding, especially by women

long ago; formerly.

v. tear (something) into two or more pieces

I am glad to see that the descriptions of the months and seasons have remained the same.

I am confused by these lines. The first three are praising Lady Heurodis, then the last is contradictory. At least it seems this way to me. Can anyone explain?

I think this goes deeper than just not wanting to use weapons. I think not using weapons that his opponent does not have is the way that he assures himself that if he wins the fight it was because he was intended to by God, not just because he had the advantage of a forge.

The emotion conveyed here is incredible. I can feel the mourning with him and the sadness at his demise.

There is something so poetic about writing in Death in a story. Its also something not easily done and not often either. Props to the author for being so versatile.

"my precious"... Sorry, I am a big Tolkien fan and I am seeing too many similarities not to point them out.

The Hobbit...

I really enjoyed the connections that I saw from this story to modern literature (modern being within the last 2 centuries, I guess). This was just a great read, but I also loved how ingrained in the culture and time period it was. I felt as if I were learning and understanding about a people while reading, which is something that marks a good read, in my opinion. I think this is also something that is commonly over-looked as well in literature. I think that all too often we focus on the collection of letters known as words and sentences and miss who is writing them. When we read the Bible, we don't always think, "What did this mean to them at the time it was written?" and "How has it changed through translation?" More often we get caught up and miss the picture the words are drawing. I love that in this story, you really couldn't miss it.

From my understanding and research, this is a common method of treatment of a body after death in this culture/time period.

I am beginning to notice connections in this story to that of J.R.R. Tolkien's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. In both stories a man (or hobbit) did something none could have accomplished before and both included a dragon. Is there a way of knowing if there is indeed a connection?

I think the connection here to the Biblical Cain is an interesting choice in this story. Cain is the "original" evil human, killing his brother out of jealousy. I don't think these stories completely parallel because I don't think that Grendel is acting out of jealousy, but I guess it could be interpreted this way. I think this is also in line with an old common thought that all evil is the offspring of Cain. So, there is a historical and cultural aspect present in this poem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcqMp_D5pdE Just a great video I found!