3 The Turke and Sir Gawain

Middle English (Isle of Man)

Fifteenth Century

The Turke and Sir Gawain—similar to other Gawain poems such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain and the Carl of Carlisle, and Gawain and Ragnelle—follows and humanizes Gawain as he learns to be a better knight and to uphold ideologies of inclusivity, courtesy, and virtue. These ideologies appear to invite and accept difference broadly speaking, including accepting multiracial interactions. Based on what remains of The Turke and Sir Gawain, a character called the “Turke” comes into Arthur’s court and challenges the court to a game of a blow for a blow. “Gawain” accepts the invitation and gives the “Turke” a blow. Instead of reciprocating, however, the “Turke” takes Gawain through a series of adventures in which the two characters form a camaraderie of sorts, and they end up in the Isle of Man which is ruled by a “heathen Soldan” and his giants. The “Turke” beats the giants as Gawain’s “boy” and ends up killing the “Soldan.” At the end of the story, the “Turke” is transformed into Sir Gromer (hereafter Gromer), a Christian knight that ends up ruling the Isle of Man.

The poem survives in the Percy Folio Manuscript (c. 1650; British Library Additional MS 27879). Although most of the pages that hold it are damaged, and we only have access to half of the poem. The available sections provide enough information that we’re able to follow along the adventures of Gawain and Turke. The Percy Folio ties The Turke and Sir Gawain with the regional identities of the North and North Midlands as well as with the Stanley earls of Derby. The earls commissioned the Percy Folio to “explicitly celebrate the Stanleys’ involvement in national history” (332). Furthermore, the setting of the poem in the Isle of Man further ties the poems to the Stanley earls of Derby who were in command of the Island and rose to prominence in the later Middle Ages. In fact, the Island gave the Stanleys the title of Kings of the Isle of Man and influence over the Welsh and Scottish borders which was “suggestive to their broader affinity of a particularly pronounced sense of pan-insular power.”²⁶⁶⁹³ Thus, the poem, as part of the Stanley Folio, prioritizes the needs of the powerful men of the Midland borderlands.

The Isle of Man is a Southern Isle in the Irish Sea between Ireland and Britain that is often understood in relation to or against the Northern Isles of the same borderland space. The Island was home to the Mame people who were of Celtic origin and who intermarried with Scandinavian peoples. The English took the overlordship of the island in 1290 under the reign of Edward I. Although the Scotts managed to regain control of the Island several times between 1290 and 1350, “English knights ruled the Mame people (by appointment of the king or purchase of the Manx crown) before 1400.”¹⁹²¹³ Circa 1400, because of Sir John Stanley’s chivalric exploits, Henry IV appointed the Stanleys as rulers of the island which began a long relationship between the two (Byrne and Flood 2015, 342-46). Therefore, the island is a borderland space between and among Ireland, Scotland, and Norman England as well as a medieval colonial holding of England.

The Turke and Sir Gawain

Read Thomas Hahn’s Introduction to “The Turke and Sir Gawain” here https://metseditions.org/read/LQjwAQAHExYhZLD4Uj6VrUa7mP99BR7

Read “The Turke and Sir Gawain” here

https://metseditions.org/read/7993N0xQCD5PVUN51hRWwxtdPvxLb9K9

ASSIGNMENT

Close Reading Analysis

What is a Close Reading?

Overview: A close reading requires critical analysis in fine detail. It means to develop “a deep understanding and a precise interpretation of a literary passage that is based first and foremost on the words themselves. But a close reading does not stop there; rather, it embraces larger themes and ideas evoked and/or implied by the passage itself.”¹ Although a close reading moves from the details to the larger problems, writing a close reading requires to flip the script—begin with the large problems and use the details as evidence of those larger problems.

Tutorial: Close Reading Analysis

Overview: I have adapted a version of the Oxford tutorial system for my World Literature class, where I meet with students in pairs twice throughout the semester. The tutorial system allows me to engage with the students more intensely and personally, and by having them in pairs, I make sure they are comfortable throughout the interaction. The first tutorial is centered on a close reading assignment which helps me gage their analytical skills and help improved them during the tutorial and throughout the semester

The tutorial approach emphasizes active engagement and in-depth analysis. Instead of class, you and another student will meet with me and discuss your close reading analysis. You will come prepared to the tutorial to discuss your analysis with me and your colleague (cookies, coffee, tea, etc. are encouraged).

The structure of the tutorial is as follows:

• Brief presentation of your analysis that include the major throughlines of your argument
• Partner asks questions about the analysis
• Instructor asks questions about the analysis
• Students switch roles
• Partner asks questions about the analysis
• Instructor asks questions about the analysis
• Instructor asks questions about the whole of the text

FURTHER READING:

For an article that discusses The Turke and Sir Gawain through a borderland and critical race perspective, see:

https://doi.org/10.1080/10412573.2022.2094600

For John Gower’s modern translation of this work, see:

https://johngower.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Gastle-TurkeSirGawain-transl.pdf

For an essay on teaching The Turke and Sir Gawain and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, see:

http://www.thisroughmagic.org/ambrisco%20article%202.html