In the year following Justin’s death, important works were Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Tennyson’s In Memoriam.
Tag Archives: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
“Better Living” Emerged from a Midnight Epiphany
In the latest installment of “A Life Lived in Literature,” I recount the origins of “Better Living through Beowulf.”
The Most Dangerous Game: Wild Pigs
An Outdoor Living article on the fierceness of wild boars brings to mind “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” which features a dramatic boar hunt.
A Mary Oliver Poem for Lent
Mary Oliver’s “Wild Geese” works as a Lenten poem but departs from medieval notions of what Lent involves.
A Woman 600 Years Ahead of Her Time
If Chaucer’s created a timeless and transcendent character in the Wife of Bath, it is because he listened–really listened–to women.
The Green Knight and Plague Fears
The message of the Green Knight: love nature, love your bodies, and love life. People who don’t are often driven by their fear of life’s transience.
Covid PTSD and the Green Knight
Has Covid-caused PTSD created a MAGA death cult? I turn to “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” written in response to the Black Plague, for perspective.

