Joseph Pearce
Any discussion of Christmas and literature brings to mind instantly the miserly figure of Scrooge and the ghosts in Dickens’ Christmas Carol. It is not likely, however, that such a discussion would bring to mind the medieval classic, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Yet this epic of the Middle Ages, written by an anonymous poet and translated most famously from an archaic English dialect by J.R.R. Tolkien, begins in the Christmas season. Since many will not know of this festive gem, I’d like to offer as my own gift to the reader this short retelling of the story, alternating between Tolkien’s translation and my own words.
The action commences in the court of King Arthur during the festive season:

The king lay at Camelot at Christmas-tide
with many a lovely lord, lieges most noble,
indeed of the Table Round all those tried brethren
amid merriment unmatched and mirth without care.

Continuing with the alliteration with which Anglo-Saxon literature is littered, we are told of tournaments with “trusty knights” and of “gentle lords” jousting joyously. The merriment included the playing of carols, accompanied no doubt by singing, and there’s no doubt that King Arthur and his merry men knew how to have a great party:

For there the fest was unfailing full fifteen days,
with all meats and all mirth that men could devise,
such gladness and gaiety as was glorious to hear,
din of voices by day, and dancing by night….

The celebration continues through to the New Year, which is seen in ceremoniously with prayer. After “the chanting of the choir in the chapel had ended”, the party continued with priests and laity making merry:

With loud clamour and cries both clerks and laymen
Noel announced anew, and named it full often;
then nobles ran anon with New Year gifts,  » Read More
https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2024/12/knight-before-christmas-joseph-pearce.html