Our intention in this volume has been to provide close, accurate prose translations of Pearl, Cleanness, Patience, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – four superb, but linguistically difficult, medieval English poems. The translations are based on our edition, The Poems of the Pearl Manuscript (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, fifth edition with translation on CD-ROM, 2007).

We are acutely aware that the experience of reading a translation is a poor and feeble substitute for that of reading an original text. These translations are, therefore, offered in the hope that they will facilitate understanding of four fine poems – and will lead readers to, rather than away from, the original texts.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge the help and stimulation which we have received from the scholars whose work we have consulted, the friends and colleagues who have offered advice and information, and the students with whom we have discussed these poems over many years.