1581
Til
þe
knyȝt
com
came
hym-self,
kachande
urging on
his
blonk,
horse
The knight, seeing the boar at bay,
1582
Syȝ
saw
hym
byde at þe bay,
stand at bay
his
burneȝ
men
bysyde,
round about
1583
He
lyȝtes
dismounts
luflych[1]
graciously
adoun,
down
leueȝ
leaves
his
corsour,
horse
alights from his horse,
1584
Braydeȝ
draws
out
a
bryȝt
bront,
sword
&
bigly
mightily
forth
strydeȝ,
strides
1585
Foundeȝ
hastens
fast
quickly
þurȝ
across
þe
forth,
ford
þer
where
þe
felle
wild beast
bydeȝ,
stands
1586
Þe
wylde
wild beast
watȝ war of
perceived
þe
wyȝe
knight
with
weppen
weapon
in
honde,
and seeks to attack him with his sword.
1587
Hef
made bristle
hyȝly
erect
þe
here,
hair
so
hetterly
fiercely
he
fnast,
snorted
1588
Þat
fele
many
ferde
feared
for
þe
frekeȝ,[2]
knight
lest
felle
might befall
hym
þe
worre;
worst
1589
Þe
swyn
boar
setteȝ
hym...on rushes at
hym
himself
out
on
þe
segge
man
euen,
straight
The "swine sets out" upon the man,
1590
Þat
so that
þe
burne
knight
&
þe
bor
boar
were
boþe
vpon
hepes fallen in confusion
hepeȝ,
1591
In
þe
wyȝt-est
fiercest
of
þe
water,
þe
worre
worst
hade
þat
oþer;
1592
For
þe
mon
merkkeȝ
aims a blow at
hym
wel,
as
þay
mette
met
fyrst,
who, aiming well,
1593
Set
planted
sadly
firmly
þe
scharp
sharp blade
in
þe
slot
hollow at base of throat
euen,
straight
1594
Hit
hym
vp
to
þe
hult,
hilt
þat
so that
þe
hert
heart
schyndered,
burst asunder
wounds him in the pit of the stomach.
1595
&
he
ȝarrande
snarling
hym
himself
ȝelde,
surrendered
&
ȝedoun[3]
went down
þe
water,
1596
ful
tyt;
quickly
112b
1597
A
hundreth
hundred
houndeȝ
hym
hent,
caught
1598
Þat
bremely
fiercely
con
did
hym
bite,
The boar is soon bitten to death by a hundred hounds.
1599
Burneȝ
men
him
broȝt
brought
to
bent,
bank
1600
&
doggeȝ
to dethe endite.
did~to~death
Then came the lord of that rout himself and reined up his steed, and saw the boar at bay beside his men. He alighted in graceful fashion, and left his courser in charge, brandished forth a glittering sword and strode along with huge strides, crossed by the fording where the fierce beast was biding, who was ware of the weapon in his hand; then he heaved highly his bristles and so hotly he breathed that many of his men went and stood before their lord, lest a worse fate should befall him. The boar made so great a rush for him that both he and the lord fell in a heap, in a place where the water rushed rapidly; but the boar had the worst of it, for the man marked him well as they met, and set his sword in the pit of the beast's stomach, even up to the hilt, so as to rive his heart; and the boar, snarling, gave up the struggle as he fell down in the water
on his knees.
A hundred hounds and more
Fiercely did him seize;
Men brought him to the shore,
And death gave him release.
Text and side-notes from Richard Morris (1869). Interlinear glosses from Brunetti. Translation from Ernest Kirtlan's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: Rendered Literally Into Modern English.
Sources integrated and rendered by James K. Tauber.