#vantuono

Since I really enjoyed the quotation:

Now þenk wel, sir Gawan, For woþe þat þou ne wonde, Þis auenture forto frayn, Þat þou hat3 tan on honde.

(As previously mentioned) I attempted to translate it myself to figure out what the content really meant (and in order to test myself to see how well I can read Middle English), in which my failing attempts gave me:

Now think well, sir Gawain, For danger that thou not be afraid, This adventure you go on is foreign, That thou have taken in your hand.

Now I think we can agree this is a pretty poor attempt at a translated version, considering there are so many Medievalists who have accomplished this task before me, I decided to find out what they had to say about this passage.

That was where I was stumped. Before I elaborate I'll display below the three different versions of this one section I encountered:

Armitage

'But mind your mood, Gawain, keep blacker thoughts at bay, or lose this lethal game you've promised you will play.'

Borroff

'Now take care, Sir Gawain, That your courage wax not cold, When you must turn again To your enterprise foretold.'

Vantuono

'Now think well, Sir Gawain, How this danger to withstand, For you truly must maintain What you have taken on hand.'

Now if that isn't confusing I don't know what is. I understand that these editions try to maintain the original format, structure and rhyme scheme for the poem, but as I am a poor reader of Middle English it leaves me a little bit lost as to what the original words mean. I think the last translation I've listed seems the closest and all of them have the same through-line in their translation: Sir Gawain is hesitant of his fate with the Green Knight. Perhaps my complaints are fruitless, however I think if a literal translation is unavailable, comparison is my next best bet.