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

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

During the early drafting stages, moments of dissatisfaction with certain passages are sometimes marked by heavy crossings out. These sections do not always change drastically for the final published text, but show how Armitage's feelings towards a particular translated passage change during the course of his drafting.