the biggest of wild boars has bolted from his cover,

ancient in years and estranged from the herd, 1440

savage and strong, a most massive swine

with a fearsome grunt. And the group were disgruntled,

for three were thrown down by the first of his thrusts,

then he fled away fast before inflicting further damage.

The other huntsmen bawled ‘hi’ and ‘hay, hay’,

blasted on their bugles, blew to regroup,

so the dogs and the men made a merry din,

tracking him noisily, testing him time and time

again.

The boar would stand at bay 1450

and aim to maul and maim

the thronging dogs, and they

would yelp and yowl in pain.

The front men stepped forward to fire a shot,

aimed arrows at him which were often on target,

but their points could not pierce his impenetrable shoulders

and bounced away from his bristly brow.

The smooth, slender shafts splintered into pieces,

and the heads glanced away from wherever they hit.

Battered and baited by such bombardment, 1460

in frenzied fury he flies at the men,

hurts them horribly as he hurtles past,

so that many grew timid and retreated a tad.

But the master of the manor gave chase on his mount,

the boldest of beast-hunters, his bugle blaring,

trumpeting the tally-ho and tearing through thickets

till the setting sun slipped from the western sky.

So the day was spent in pursuits of this style,

while our lovable young lord had not left his bed,

and, cosseted in costly quilted covers, there he 1470

remained.

The lady, at first light,

did not neglect Gawain,

but went to wake the knight

and meant to change his mind.

She approaches the curtains, parts them and peeps in,

at which Sir Gawain makes her welcome at once,

and with prompt speech she replies to the prince,

settling by his side and giggling sweetly,

looking at him lovingly before launching her words. 1480

‘If this is Gawain who greets me, I am galled

that a man so dedicated to doing his duty

cannot heed the first rule of honourable behaviour,

which has entered through one ear and exited the other;

you have already lost what yesterday you learned

in the truest lesson my tongue could teach.’

‘What lesson?’ asked the knight. ‘I know of none,

though if discourtesy has occurred then correct me, of course.’

‘I encouraged you to kiss‚’ the lady said kindly,

‘and to claim one quickly when one is required, 1490

an act which ennobles any knight worth the name.’

‘Dear lady,’ said the other, ‘don’t think such a thing,

I dare not kiss in case I am declined.

If refused, I’d be at fault for offering in the first place.’

‘In truth,’ she told him, ‘you cannot be turned down.

If someone were so snooty as to snub your advance,

a man like you has the means of his muscles.’

‘Yes, by God,’ said Gawain. ‘What you say holds good.

But such heavy handedness is frowned on in my homeland,