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Early drafts of ‘Once the siege…’

Simon Armitage – translating Gawain
Gawain evolving drafts once crop

Simon Armitage – translating Gawain

Notes and drafts for Simon Armitage's translation of 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' show how his working practices evolved as he worked on the poem.
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Introduction by Simon Armitage

Introduction to resource, written by Simon Armitage
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Gawain evolving drafts once crop

Evolving drafts of 'Once the siege...'

Description of the evolving drafts in Simon Armitage's translation of Gawain
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Gawain first section drafts from BC/MS20c/Armitage/2/9

‘Once the siege…’ in the early notebook

Earliest draft for Gawain.
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BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1 notebook p1

First version of ‘Once the siege…’ in the Gawain notebook

Drafts for first section of Gawain from Gawain notebook, page one.
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BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1 notebook p2

Second version of ‘Once the siege…’ in the Gawain notebook

Drafts for first section of Gawain from Gawain notebook, pages two and three.
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BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1 notebook p4

Third version of ‘Once the siege…’ in the Gawain notebook

Drafts for first section of Gawain from Gawain notebook, pages four and five.
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Gawain first section typed draft from Early Notes file BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1

Early drafts of ‘Once the siege…’

Description of first typed up draft of first stanza of 'Gawain'.
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Gawain first section early notes from BC/MS 20c/Armitage/1/21/1

Early notes for ‘Once the siege…’

Description of annotated printout of first stanza of Gawain.
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Gawain first section, draft #1 from BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1

First draft of ‘Once the siege…’

Description of first typescript draft of first stanza of Gawain
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Gawain first section typed draft #2 from BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1

Second draft of ‘Once the siege…’

Description of second typed up draft for first stanza in 'Gawain'
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Gawain first section typed draft #3 from BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1

Third draft of ‘Once the siege…’

Third typed draft of first stanza of 'Gawain'.
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Gawain first section typed draft #4 from BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1

Fourth draft of ‘Once the siege…’

Fourth typed up draft of first stanza of 'Gawain'.
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Gawain Lines in detail once

‘Once the siege…’: lines in detail

Description of development of first two lines of 'Gawain'.
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Gawain Evolving drafts Now crop

Evolving drafts of 'Now through England's realm...'

Description of drafts for lines 691-739.
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Gawain Evolving drafts Now crop

'Now through England's realm...' in the Gawain notebook

Description notebook drafts for lines 691 - 739, Gawain.
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BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1 notebook p28

First version of 'Now through England's realm...' in the Gawain notebook

Second pages of drafts
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BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1 notebook p30

Second version of 'Now through England's realm...' in the Gawain notebook

Third page of drafts in Gawain notebook
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BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1 notebook p33

Third version of 'Now through England's realm...' in the Gawain notebook

Pages of drafts from Gawain notebook.
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Gawain line 691 section early notes from BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1 (1of2)

Early notes for 'Now through England's realm...'

Typescript early notes for lines 691 - 739, Gawain.
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Gawain line 691 section typed draft #1 from BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1 (1of2)

First draft of 'Now through England's realm...'

First typed draft for lines 691 - 739, Gawain.
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Gawain line 691 section typed draft #2 from BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1 (1of2)

Second draft of 'Now through England's realm...'

Second typescript draft of lines 691 - 739, Gawain.
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Gawain line 691 section typed draft #4 from BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1 (1of2)

Third draft of 'Now through England's realm...'

Third typed draft of lines 691 - 739, Gawain.
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BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1 notebook p200

Writing a poetic translation: defending the work

Notes on the introduction to Gawain, back of Gawain notebook.
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BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1 notebook p199

Writing a poetic translation: translating dialect

Notes on introduction to Gawain, back of Gawain notebook.
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BC/MS20c/Armitage/1/21/1 notebook p198

Writing a poetic translation: pronunciation

Notes for introduction to Gawain, back of Gawain notebook.
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Translating Gawain Bibliography: Ecocriticism

Research resources for Simon Armitage's 'Gawain'
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Introductions to Ecocriticism

Extended bibliography 1
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Armitage and Ecocriticism

Resources for studying Armitage and Ecocriticism
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Ecocriticism and the Late Medieval

Extended Gawain Bibliography
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Image credit Leeds University Library

Armitage's first typed up draft seems to signal a new distinct stage in the drafting process. Once typed, the text appears more formalised, and problems with formatting might be more evident. This is still a relatively early stage in the drafting process, however, as the multiple drafts make evident.