ven thine aunt, Arthur's half
sister; wherefore come to thine aunt, for all my household love thee."

Gawayne refuses to accompany the Green Knight, and so, with many
embraces and kind wishes, they separate--the one to his castle, the
other to Arthur's court.

After passing through many wild ways, our knight recovers from the
wound in his neck, and at last comes safe and sound to the court of
King Arthur. Great then was the joy of all; the king and queen kiss
their brave knight, and make many enquiries about his journey. He tells
them of his adventures, hiding nothing--"the chance of the chapel, the
cheer of the knight, the love of the lady, and lastly of the lace."
Groaning for grief and shame he shows them the cut in his neck, which
he had received for his unfaithfulness (ll. 2439-2504). The king and
his courtiers comfort the knight--they laugh loudly at his adventures,
and unanimously agree that those lords and ladies that belonged to the
Round Table, and each knight of the brotherhood should ever after wear
a bright green belt for Gawayne's sake. And he upon whom it was
conferred honoured it evermore after.

Thus in Arthur's time this adventure befell, whereof the "Brutus Books"
bear witness (ll. 2505-2530).

I need not say that the Brutus Books we possess do not contain the
legend here set forth, though it is not much more improbable than some of
the statements contained in them. If the reader desires to know the
relation in which this and the like stories stand to the original Arthur
legends, he will find it discussed in Sir F. Madden's Preface to his
edition of "Syr Gawayne," which also contains a sketch of the very
different views taken of Sir Gawayne by the different Romance writers.

Into this and other literary questions I do not enter here, as I
have nothing to add to Sir F. Madden's statements; but in the text of the
Poem I have differed from him in some few readings, which will be found
noticed in the Notes and Glossary.

As the manuscript is fast fading, I am glad that the existence of the Early
English Text Society has enabled us to secure a wider diffusion of its
contents before the original shall be no longer legible.

We want nothing but an increased supply of members to enable us to give to
a large circle of readers many an equally interesting record of Early
English minds.

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