The Language of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

The Spelling of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

However chaotic the spelling may look, the spelling variations in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tend to follow a few systematic patterns which can generally be explained by those with a lot of training in Middle English. A matter of debate concerns when divergent spellings are likely to result from acceptable variations within the poet's own repertoire and when they are likely to be the result of spellings introduced by the copyist. For the reader, it is more important to learn the likely pronunciations of the spellings in the manuscript, whatever their origin.

Learning the basic spelling-sound correspondences below will get you through the majority of the text. It is vital that you learn these rules. They will allow you to recognise words that are the same in Modern English with different spellings. If you don't learn these rules, you will spend all your time flipping back to the glossary!

Vowels

The pronunciation of the basic vowels as they are spelt in Middle English correspond closely to the pronunciation of the vowel spellings in other major European languages like French, Spanish, and German. In the guide below, letters in angular brackets (like <a>) refer to the spelling only, not the pronunciation.

Simple Vowels

<a, aa>	The sound in French or Spanish la, a bit like the vowel in English father.
<e>	In stressed syllables, the sound varies between that of bet and that of great. Pronounce whichever comes naturally, and it will be right about 90% of the time. Double <ee> is generally the vowel in great.
<e>	In unstressed syllables, the sound has been reduced to something like the sound of 'uh'. We have this in Modern English, as we can see from the pronunciation of the vowels in 'greater' (with stress on the first syllable). Many words end in final -e, which comes from diverse origins (and remains in many of our modern spellings). Generally, the sound was not pronounced, but occasionally it was for rhythmic reasons.
<i>	Generally the sound of <i> in him, except in words where the <i> is pronounced like in wife today. In these cases, pronounce the <i> like in machine.
<o>	The basic sound is something like the vowel in hot, pronounced with a British accent (that is, not the same as the pronunciation of <a> above. But there are some important exceptions given below.
<o>	If the Modern English equivalent is pronounced with the vowel in stone or root, pronounce it like the vowel in stone in Middle English. Double <oo> is generally the vowel in stone.
<o>	If the Modern English equivalent is pronounced with the vowel in monk or love or come, the Middle English pronunciation was like the vowel in Modern look.
<u>	Pronounced like the vowel in Modern English look. This sound is also spelt <ou> and <aw>.
<y>	This spelling is interchangeable with <i> (same pronunciation). Note, however, that it can also be a consonant, as in yes.

Diphthongs (Combination Vowels)

<ai, ay>	The sound in Modern English aisle.
<au, a3>	The sound in Modern English house.
<ei, ey>	The sound in Modern English aisle.

There are a few other combinations, but their pronunciations do not differ so significantly from that of Modern English that they will give you much trouble.

Consonants

Most consonants are pronounced as in Modern English, but there are a few noteworthy points:

The letter <3> occurs very frequently in the manuscript and refers to several sounds. In some cases it refers to an s or z sound, and the editors have always printed this as <z>. The following points should be kept in mind when reading these letters.
1. <z> can refer to the s sound, as in berdlez 'beardless'. This is especially true in the combination <ts>. In this spelling, the <t> is not pronounced. It is a leftover from earlier French spellings such as fitz 'son', Modern French fils (the l is silent). Thus the name FitzWilliam means 'son of William'.
2. <3> is pronounced like the <y> in Modern English yes at the beginnings of words and in the word a3ayn 'again'. It also has something like this pronunciation at the end of a word after the vowels <e> or <i> (examples: de3e 'die', hy3e 'high' -- the final vowel is silent). This sound is also spelt <y> in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
3. <3> is pronounced like the <ch> in Scottish loch or German Bach when it appears before t or at the end of a word after <a>, <o>, or <u> (examples: ri3t 'right', þu3t 'thought', þa3 'though').
4. <3> after <a>, <o>, <u>, or <l> and followed by <e> is pronounced as a w. Examples are fol3e 'follow' and sa3e 'saw'.
The letters <þ> and <th> are used interchangeably. They may refer to the sound in thin or the sound in this.
The sound of <wh> (in words like 'where', 'which') has a breath before it (pronounced like hw) in some dialects of Modern English. This is the pronunciation in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The sound is also spelt <w> and <qu> in the poem.
The sound of Modern English <sh> is spelt <sch>, and occasionally <ch> in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (examples are schaped 'shaped', cheldez 'shields', Englych 'English').
At the beginnings of words the sound of v may be spelt <u> (uyage 'voyage', for example). The sound may also be represented by w (as in schowen 'shove'). The spelling <v> at the beginning of a word represents the vowel u (as in vse 'use').
Double <gg> represents the sound in Modern English bridge. In some cases, words with this sound have developed a y-like sound in Modern English, as in segge 'say'. Try both pronunciations if you don't recognise the word.

There are certainly other intricacies to the spelling, but, as stated above, learning these will get you through most of the spellings in the text. Make sure you learn all this well before you go on to the next section.

Last Update: 23 January, 2003