Upcoming Arthurian Movie The Green Knight Has An RPG

Whizbang Dustyboots · Jul 17, 2020

Ravenbrook said:
Why do they present a Punch & Judy show in the Dark Ages? It didn't even exist until the 17th century.

Because this is a hallucinatory horror-tinged version of the story. It's not going to be any more historically accurate than Excalibur or Monty Python.

Dioltach · Jul 17, 2020

DMMike said:
I'd love to see your next post about it. This one was very interesting!

Alright class, for the next class I'll talk about the origins of the characters in the Robin Hood tales! (Seriously, there are some very interesting roots there - including Little John, who has his roots in Arthurian legend.)

Actually, I'm very rusty on the topic. Like I said, it's been almost 25 years. But many of the Arthurian characters represent natural forces. The whole thing with Percival, the Fisher King and the grail is about year-kings and spring rebirth.

Ruin Explorer · Jul 22, 2020

Dioltach said:
"GAH-wain" is probably close enough.

(Sorry, it's a pet peeve.)

Wait, wait, is there anyone who doesn't pronounce Gawain as "Gah-wane" or something close? That's literally the only way I've heard it pronounced in the UK (including on TV), though admittedly it doesn't come up often. How else is it pronounced, like Gwayne like Dwayne or something?

The existence of this product bodes well for the movie, because the trailer has a sort of weird 80s retro-yet-modern vibe, and that they're making an OSR-type game for that suggests this is not an accident and the movie may well be cool.

Morrus · Jul 22, 2020

Ruin Explorer said:
Wait, wait, is there anyone who doesn't pronounce Gawain as "Gah-wane" or something close? That's literally the only way I've heard it pronounced in the UK (including on TV), though admittedly it doesn't come up often. How else is it pronounced, like Gwayne like Dwayne or something?

It's the emphasis, I think. It's usually Gah-WANE, but I think he's saying the emphasis should be on the first syllable? GAH-wane.

Hussar · Jul 23, 2020

Morrus said:
It's the emphasis, I think. It's usually Gah-WANE, but I think he's saying the emphasis should be on the first syllable? GAH-wane.

Which sounds REALLY weird to modern English speakers where, in a two syllable word with one long and one short vowel, you always stress the long vowel. By reversing the stresses, you change the pronunciation of the stress vowels. It is almost impossible to pronounce the "wain" as "wayne" if the syllable is unstressed.

So, apparently, Gow (rhyming with Now), win. Its a pronunciation I've never heard before.

MGibster · Jul 23, 2020

Ravenbrook said:
Why do they present a Punch & Judy show in the Dark Ages? It didn't even exist until the 17th century.

To be fair, Arthurian tales were never about historical accuracy and have been adapted and re-adapted over many centuries to the preferences of contemporary audiences. And while I recognize that the stories have been adapted time and time again, I dislike the efforts most filmmakers have made to produce updated Arthurian movies for a modern audience but Green Knight as piqued my interest.

ART! · Jul 23, 2020

Dioltach said:
From alliterative poetry (where the "Ga-" is the alliterative element, and his name even changes to "Wawain" sometimes to fit the alliteration), and medieval romances in other languages ("Walewijn" in Dutch, for instance), it's clear that the emphasis is on the first syllable. Just try saying "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" both ways, and you'll see how it fits the rhythm better (particularly if you say "grene" instead of "green", like in the original title).

And if nothing else, the modern version "Gavin" is pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable.

Huh.

I don't know, "SIR guh-WAYN and the GREEN knight" rolls off my tongue perfectly fine, and that's how I've been mispronouncing it my whole life!