[3]. Page 19.—_For Yule was over-past._ This passage, descriptive of the flight of the year, should be especially noticed. Combined with other passages—the description of Gawain’s journey, the early morning hunts, the dawning of New Year’s Day, and the ride to the Green Chapel—they indicate a knowledge of Nature, and an observant eye for her moods, uncommon among mediæval poets. It is usual enough to find graceful and charming descriptions of spring and early summer—an appreciation of _May_ in especial, when the summer courts were held, is part of the stock-in-trade of mediæval romancers—but a sympathy with the year in all its changes is far rarer, and certainly deserves to be specially reckoned to the credit of this nameless writer. [4]. Page 22.—_First a rich carpet was stretched on the floor._ The description of the arming of Gawain is rather more detailed in the original, but some of the minor points are not easy to understand, the identification of sundry of the pieces of armour being doubtful. [5]. Page 24.—_The pentangle painted thereupon in gleaming gold._ I do not remember that the pentangle is elsewhere attributed to Gawain. He often bears a red shield; but the blazon varies. Indeed, the heraldic devices borne by Arthur’s knights are distractingly chaotic—their legends are older than the science of heraldry, and no one has done for them the good office that the compiler of the Thidrek Saga has rendered to his Teutonic heroes. [6]. Page 26.—_The Wilderness of Wirral._ This is in Cheshire. Sir F. Madden suggests that the forest which forms the final stage of Gawain’s journey is that of Inglewood, in Cumberland. The geography here is far clearer than is often the case in such descriptions. [7]. Page 29.—_’Twas the fairest castle that ever a knight owned._ Here, again, I have omitted some of the details of the original, the architectural terms lacking identification. [8]. Page 43.—_With blast of the bugle fared forth to the field._ The account of each day’s hunting contains a number of obsolete terms and details of woodcraft, not given in full. The meaning of some has been lost, and the minute description of skinning and dismembering the game would be distinctly repulsive to the general reader. They are valuable for a student of the history of the English sport, but interfere with the progress of the story. The fact that the author devotes so much space to them seems to indicate that he lived in the country and was keenly interested in field sports. (Gottfried von Stressbourg’s _Tristan_ contains a similar and almost more detailed description.)