not as far as ancient Greece and the siege of Troy, or as far as Romulus and Remus and Rome, but to Britain after the Romans had gone, a Britain in the early mystical mists of her most turbulent times, striving always to keep the invader at bay, and to make of herself a place where people could live out their lives in peace and safety and prosperity. Many kings came and went, many invaders and conquerors, and as the battles raged throughout the land, there was great grief and suffering, and terrible hunger too.

Then, as the myth goes — and whether it is the myth of story or the myth of history is for you to decide — then there came a king who would lead the people of Britain out of the darkness of their misery and into the sunlight at last. His name was Arthur. Never had there been a braver, more noble king. Saved at birth, hidden away, then plucked from obscurity and chosen to be High King by the magical powers of Merlin, Arthur drew the sword from the famous stone and not long afterward gathered about him at Camelot all those great Knights who had goodness at heart, who shunned all greed and pride, the finest and fiercest Knights in the kingdom, who fought only for right and for the well-being of others and of their kingdom. You will know their names as well as I do from stories that have come down to us through the ages: Sir Lancelot, Sir Percivale, Sir Galahad, Sir Tristram, dozens of them, too many to be listed here — and Sir Gawain, of course, who was the High King’s nephew.

My story is of Gawain. Of all the tales of the Knights of the Round Table, his is the most magical and the one I most love to tell. For Gawain, as you will shortly see, was as honest and true as a Knight of the Round Table should be, as kind and chivalrous and courteous, as brave as any other, and stronger in battle than any, except Lancelot. But Gawain was headstrong too, and more than a little vain; and as this story will show, sometimes not as honest or true as he would want himself to have been: much like many of us, I think.

So, to his story, the story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.