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Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

3.2K followers 6.5K following 2.4K posts

Editor of Forgotten Ground Regained (https://alliteration.net), a website devoted to modern English alliterative verse. If you like Beowulf, or Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, or Tolkien's Fall of Arthur or Sigurd and Gudrun, you're in for a treat.

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Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Well what do you know. There's a whole electronic archive for that infamously bloodthirsty medieval alliterative poem, "The Siege of Jerusalem."

siegeofjerusalem.org #alliterative #poetry #alliterativeverse #medievalsky #poetrysky

November 14, 2025 at 2:55 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

And shortly thereafter ...

"Never fear," he said, "I'm not fishing for a fight
with the beardless children on the benches all about.
If I were strapped on steel on a sturdy horse
no man here has might to match me.
No, I have come to this court for a bit of Christmas fun
fitting for Yuletide and New Years with such a fine crowd.
Who here in this house thinks he has what it takes,
has bold blood and a brash head,
and dares to stand his ground, giving stroke for stroke?
Here! I shall give him this gilded blade as my gift;
this heavy ax shall be his, to handle as he likes.
and I shall stand here bare of armor, and brave the first blow.
If anyone's tough enough to try out my game,
let him come here quickly and claim his weapon!
I give up all rights; he will get it for keeps.
I'll stand like a tree trunk -- he can strike at me once,
if you'll grant me the right to give as good as I get
in play.
But later is soon enough,
a full year and a day.
Get up, if you think you're rough,
let's see what you dare to say!"

November 13, 2025 at 2:22 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Here's stanza #80 from my ongoing translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Sir Gawain prepares to ride to the Green Chapel.
#alliterative #Arthurian #epic #poetry #SirGawain #GreenKnight #alliteration #medievalsky #poetrysky #poetrylovers #poetrycommunity #alliterativeverse

Now the New Year draws near, and the night passes
as light limits shadow by our Lord’s decree.
But wild weather stirred in the world’s four corners.
There were clouds whose keen breath fell cold on the earth,
bitter-sharp and biting, a blast from the North.
Flakes fell in flurries, flailing around,
and the wind whistled past, whirling from the heights,
drowning dale and valley under drifting snow.
Gawain lingers there, listening, as he lies in bed.
Though he keeps his eyes closed, he catches no rest.
Each rooster-cry rouses him, for his reckoning’s due.
Before daylight dawned, he dressed himself swiftly
under a lamp whose light illumined his chamber.
He called for his chamberlain, who was quick to answer,
and asked for his saddle and his suit of mail.
So the fellow went off, fetched back his things,
and got him ready to ride as royalty should.
First he wrapped him up warm against winter’s chill,
then gave him his other gear, which had seen good care.
Both his plate-mail and its padding were polished and clean;
the rust rubbed from each link until his ring-mail glittered.
It was as good as he first got it, Gawain must happily
concede.
Here and now, each piece
was polished and proud indeed –
the best between Britain and Greece.
So he bid him bring his steed.

November 11, 2025 at 5:49 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

I have reached the end of Part 3 of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: stanza 79. 22 stanzas more to go to finish my translation ... 😃

#SirGawain #GreenKnight #Gawain #Arthurian #alliterative #poetry #poetrysky #medievalsky #alliterativeverse #translation

Crying and kissing, he declared them friends,
wishing them well with overwhelming thanks.
But as good as they got, they gave right back,
and with sad sighs commended his soul to Christ.
Next, and most graciously, he greeted the household.
To each man he met he made his thanks known
for proper care, pleasant company, and painstaking attention
to the business that had brought him the benefit of their service.
And the servants were as sorry to see him go
as if raised to reverence him as their rightful lord.
Holding lights uplifted, they led him to his chamber,
brightly bringing him to bed, where he could be at rest.
I cannot say for certain whether he slept well,
for tomorrow held much to enmesh him deep
in thought.
Let him lie there still.
He is near to what he sought.
And if you will sit still,
I will say what morning brought.

September 29, 2025 at 1:13 AM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Sir Gawain arranges for his journey to the Green Chapel, in my translation of stanza #78 of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

This is the next-to-last stanza of Part 3 of SGGK. 23 stanzas to go in my ongoing online translation of the poem. #SirGawain #GreenKnight #alliterative #poetry #medievalsky

With mirth and minstrelsy and many kinds of food
they celebrated as sweetly as any soul could manage –
to the lilt of ladies’ laughter and the loudest jests.
Our hero and his host were in such high spirits
that the whole assembly seemed either insane or drunk,
until the evening neared its end, when they must all separate,
each of them bound to their own bed at last.
Getting up, Gawain graciously went
to ask the lord’s leave and politely thanked him.
“What a wondrous welcome I have had this season!
May King Arthur honor you for all you have done.
I must set myself at your service (if that seems proper),
for as you are well aware, I go my way tomorrow.
So task one of your attendants to teach me, as you promised,
how to get myself to the Green Chapel, where, if God so wills
New Year’s Day will make known to me the nature of my doom.”
“In good faith, and with good will,” the good man replied,
“every promise I’ve ever made you, I aim to carry out.”
Then he assigned a servant to set him on his way
And conduct him without detour by the down-lands road,
following it as fast as he could through forest, wood,
and fell.
“I owe you, sir, my duty,
And gratitude as well.”
Then bowing to the beauties,
he bid them all farewell.

September 25, 2025 at 8:19 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Working on stanza #78 of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and ran into a wonderful bit of irony. Getting the irony, of course, depends on the reader realizing that Gawain's host is also, unbeknownst to him, the Green Knight.
#alliterative #poetry #SirGawain #GreenKnight #poetrysky #alliterativeverse

So task one of your attendants to teach me, as you promised,
how to get myself to the Green Chapel, where, if God so wills
New Year’s day will make known to me the nature of my doom.”
“In good faith, and with good will,” the good man said,
“every promise I’ve ever made you, I aim to fulfill.”

September 24, 2025 at 9:05 AM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Today is the anniversary of the death of Snorri Sturluson, who wrote the Poetic and Prose Eddas, and thereby preserved the memory of Old Norse poetry and poetic forms.
#Norse #alliterative #poetry #Eddas #Sturluson #poetry #poetrysky #poetrycommunity #alliterativeverse

September 22, 2025 at 4:52 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Three kisses, returned with interest.

Here's stanza #77 of my translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It's something the poem is famous for: Gawain, returning the Lady's kisses to her husband, per their bet. But not her girdle, which he hopes will protect him when he meets the Green Knight.

They headed home at last, when it was hardly light,
sounding their success on insistent horns.
The master dismounted at his manor door
to find the flagstones fire-warmed, and his friend waiting—
Sir Gawain the Good, who was glad indeed,
and delighted the ladies by his loving manner.
His rich blue robe reached to the ground,
the soft fur of his surcoat suited him well,
and a hood just like it hung from his shoulders;
both were trimmed and tasseled with a touch of ermine.
The two men met in the middle of the court,
where Gawain greeted him and graciously said,
“First off, I shall honor my oath-bound word,
the deal we drew up while drinking non-stop.”
He embraced that brave man and bussed him three times,
as lustily and as long as his lips could manage.
“Good Lord!” said the lord. “You landed a bargain
if you can amass such merchandise and still make a profit!”
“The price is not the point,” he replied in turn,
“as the promised goods have been paid in full.”
“Mine are no match,” the master responded.
“For I have hunted this whole day through and yet have nothing
but this foul fox-skin – fiend take the beast! –
which is far too poor to pay for such prize winnings,
three perfect kisses, so passionately put
across.”
“It works,” the knight replied,
“I thank you, by the Cross!”
Then he heard how Reynard died,
and how his skin was lost

September 19, 2025 at 9:23 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Here's the next stanza in my Sir Gawain and the Green Knight translation. Having failed to seduce Gawain, the Lady has convinced him to accept her green girdle, telling him it will protect him from all harm. Meanwhile, the Lord is closing in on the fox he has been hunting ...
#SirGawain #GreenKnight

Let us leave him now, relaxing, where love sought him out,
and look to the lord, who did not lose his quarry,
but finished off the fox he’d followed for so long.
As he hurdled a hedge to overhaul the rogue,
he could hear the hounds hurrying up.
Reynard came racing through a rough thicket
with the pack pressing behind him, pounding on his heels.
The warrior waited, watching intently;
then swiftly drew his bright sword and swung at the beast,
which flinched from the flashing blade and would have fallen back,
but before it could dodge, a dog dragged it aside,
and the hounds massed to mob it before his mount’s feet,
worrying the wily beast with the wildest racket.
The master dismounted, made for the beast,
took hold of it and hauled it from the hounds’ jaws,
and held it high overhead, hallooing loudly,
over the brutal clamor of the baying dogs.
The hunters headed towards him with their horns uplifted,
sounding the assembly until they saw their lord.
When that grand company was gathered at last,
those who bore bugles blew them together,
while the rest raised their voices in a riotous shout.
It was the merriest commotion any man could hear!
What a rich requiem they raised, for poor Reynard’s soul
invoked.
The hounds got their reward;
their heads were patted and stroked
and then men took Reynard
and deprived him of his coat.

September 11, 2025 at 7:30 AM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Preparing for Enyalie at the Tolkiens' grave at @tolkiensociety.org's Oxonmoot.

#Tolkien memorial.

September 7, 2025 at 12:25 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

uppsalabooks.com/ohg

#german #medievalsky #alliterative #poetry #poetrysky #alliterativeverse

August 26, 2025 at 2:57 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Here' the complete stanza #75 for my translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

By the end, he's just a touch manic!

#alliterative #poetry #SirGawain #GreenKnight #medievalsky #poetrysky #rpic #poem #translation #alliterativeverse

August 11, 2025 at 10:25 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

I often revise a translation while I'm working on it, either to improve the rhythm or the sense. See if you can figure out why I made the changes I did!

Then the lady took her leave and left him to himself;
for the man could hardly manage to amuse her further.
When she was gone, Sir Gawain got himself ready:
Rising, he wrapped himself in his richest clothing,
gathered up the girdle that she had given him,
and set it carefully aside where he could safely find it.

August 10, 2025 at 11:17 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Afternoon sessions:

August 10, 2025 at 12:08 AM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Late morning sessions:

August 10, 2025 at 12:07 AM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Start of the conference program:

August 10, 2025 at 12:06 AM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

From the newsletter of the Silmarillion Writer's Guild:

Love, Grief, and Alliterative Verse in Tolkien's Legendarium by Paul D. Deane (video and transcript)

Presented at Mereth Aderthad 2025, this paper considers how the themes of love and grief run parallel throughout The Silmarillion and are central to Tolkien's imagination. Also central is alliterative verse, and the paper discusses Tolkien's use of alliterative verse in the legendarium, his literary and scholarly influences, and his professional interest in alliterative verse. The paper draws parallels between alliterative verse in the legendarium and in the English literary tradition, making the case that alliterative verse was used in-universe by the Elves. Finally, the paper uses this evidence to advocate for fanworks that use alliterative verse.

Paul will also be presenting at Oxonmoot 2025 on "Alliterative Verse in Arda," including an overview of alliterative verse, Tolkien's role in its revival, and a chance to share fan-created alliterative poems. Event attendees can find more information on Paul's session here.

August 9, 2025 at 11:59 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Here's the Middle English for these lines (in modernized spelling):

Then latches ho her leave, and leaves him there,
For more mirth of that man might she not get.
When she was gone, sir Gawain geres him soon,
Rises, and riches him in array noble,
Lays up the lovelace, the lady him ragt,
Hid hit full holdely, where he hit eft fonde.

August 9, 2025 at 11:54 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

I usually get several lines done in a burst of translation. Here's the start of stanza #75. The second and sixth lines in this bit gave the most trouble. The 2nd, because it was keyed off "mirth", which no longer has the right connotations; the 4th, because "holdely" (carefully) is dead as a dodo.

The lady took her leave; then she left him there,
for there was nothing more he might do to amuse her!
When she was gone, Sir Gawain got himself dressed.
Rising, he wrapped himself in his richest clothing,
gathered up the girdle she had given him,
and set it carefully aside where he could safely find it.

August 9, 2025 at 11:53 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Here's that stanza (in spelling-modernized) Middle English:

There are a few tricky translation issues here ...

August 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Here are the scheduled issues for Forgotten Ground Regained ... check them out and plan your submissions!

alliteration.net/call-for-sub...

Submissions for the Fall issue close Oct. 1st.
#poetrysky #poetrycommunity #CallForSubmissions #writingcommunity #alliterative #poetry #alliterativeverse

Future Issues of Forgotten Ground Regained:

Fall, 2025: Norse and Icelandic Forms
Winter, 2026: Psalms and Meditations
Spring, 2026: Moments Sensed and Seen
Summer, 2026: Alliterative Verse in Arda (Middle Earth)

August 5, 2025 at 9:43 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Here's how that stanza reads in Middle English (though what I've posted has partially modernized spelling). It's useful to make that comparison -- among other things, it shows what kinds of choices I've had to make as a translator.

#medievalsky #poetrysky #SirGawain #translation

“Now forsake ye this silk,” said the burde then,
“For it is simple in itself? And so it well seems!
Lo! So it is little, and less it is worthy;
But whoso knew the costs that knit are therein,
He would it praise at more price, peradventure.
For what gome so is girt with this green lace,
While he hit had hemely halched about,
There is no hathel under Heaven to hew him that might.
For he might not be slain, for slight upon Earth.”
Then kest the knight, and it came to his heart,
It were a jewel for the jeopardy, that him iugged were,
When he achieved to the chapel, his check for to fetch.
Might he have slipped to be unslain, the slegt were noble.
Then he thulged with her threpe, and tholed her to speak;
And she bere on him the belt, and bede it him swithe
(And he granted, and him gafe with a good will)
And besought him, for her sake, discover it never,
But to lelly lain from her lord. The lede him accords
That never wigh should it wit, iwis, but they twain,
for naught.
He thanked her oft full swithe,
Full through with heart and thought.
By that on thrinne sithe,
Ho had kissed the knight so taut

August 3, 2025 at 12:37 AM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Next stanza up! Gawain takes the lady's girdle ...
#SirGawain #GreenKnight #alliterative #poem #arthurian #poetry #alliterativeverse

“So this silk is unacceptable,” she said, and scoffed,
“because it’s such a simple thing? So it may seem –
a mere scrap, skimpy, and of scant worth –
but one conscious of the qualities caught in its web
might place its price a point or two higher!
Just get a man girded in this green lace,
and insofar as it is fitted firmly about him,
no hero under Heaven can harm him at all,
nor can he be killed by any craft on Earth.”
As he considered what she said, it seemed in his heart
that for the peril that approached him, it made the perfect gift
when he must get as he had given at the Green Chapel;
and if that saved his neck, it would be a noble trick!
So he relented at last: allowed her to speak,
and she pressed it upon him with passionate gestures.
As soon as he consented, she set it in his hands,
beseeching him for her sake to conceal the belt
most loyally from her lord. At length he agreed
that none could know; he must never breathe
a word.
She could hardly dismiss
such heartfelt thanks; so undeterred,
she leaned in and landed a kiss:
That one made her third.

August 2, 2025 at 8:25 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

Take a look at my call for submissions, then. There may be an issue that fits something you've written.

alliteration.net/call-for-submissions

alliteration.net/call-for-submissions

Future issues:

Fall, 2025: Norse and Icelandic forms
Winter, 2026: Psalms and Meditations
Spring, 2026: Moments Sensed and Seen
Summer, 2026: Alliterative Verse in Arda [Middle Earth]

July 29, 2025 at 7:19 PM

Paul Deane

@rhunedhel.bsky.social

And I should probably mention the other illustrated alliterative poem i know about! Dan Sumption's "King Arthur vs. Devil Kitty". Which believe it or not, is directly based on a reasonably well known story from the Arthurian legendarium!

www.etsy.com/listing/1590...

July 29, 2025 at 2:44 AM

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