If any so hardy in this house here holds that he is,
if so bold be his blood or his brain be so wild,
that he stoutly dare strike one stroke for another,
then I will give him as my gift this guisarm costly,
this axe–’tis heavy enough–to handle as he pleases;
and I will abide the first brunt, here bare as I sit.
If any fellow be so fierce as my faith to test,
hither let him haste to me and lay hold of this weapon–
I hand it over for ever, he can have it as his own–
and I will stand a stroke from him, stock-still on this floor,
provided thou'lt lay down this law: that I may deliver him another.
Claim I!
And yet a respite I’ll allow,
till a year and a day go by.
Come quick, and let’s see now
if any here dare reply!’
He clasps then the knight and kisses him thrice,
as long and deliciously as he could lay them upon him.
‘By Christ !’ the other quoth, ‘you’ve come by a fortune
in winning such wares, were they worth what you paid.’
As a pearl than white pease is prized more highly,
so is Gawain, in good faith, than other gallant knights.
But in this you lacked, sir, a little, and of loyalty came short.
But that was for no artful wickedness, nor for wooing either,
but because you loved your own life: the less do I blame you.’
– Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, as translated by J.R.R. Tolkien
RIGHT. With that enormous but I think appropriate preamble out of the way, I acknowledge that this is embarrassingly a day late BUT, this is an absolutely incredible Christmas gift from the most marvelous and lovely @apolinariomabinis 🥺💖 I introduced him to David Lowery’s The Green Knight a few months back and (though I’d seen it three times before) we were both immensely disappointed. THIS however does not disappoint in any dimension at all whatsoever, I was very keysmashy when he first showed it to me and I still am, it’s an overwhelmingly beautiful piece that captures the spirit of Bertilak and Gawain’s exchange infinitely better than the film, and the clear intertwining of Bertilak with the nature he is so vividly part of as the Green Knight is masterful. As a less sophisticated comment, as a universal thing, men kissing = good, and this is very very good. Thank you so much again dear friend, as soon as I get back home from traveling I’m going to figure out the best place to get this printed and stick it on my wall. 😭💖💖 A belated but no less merry Christmas and happy new year to you, may we have an equally joyful if not greater set one year hence. :) I’m really so very glad that we met!!!
snowghoul
gamechangershow
titsay
vaporwave
andulkaphoto
