Marilyn Peck

Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady Marilyn Peck

This is the second book in Marilyn Peck's Sir Gawain trilogy of stories in the Arthurian tradition, this one written by an unknown poet, possibly Mallory. "Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady, The Wedding of Sir Gawain", survives in a poorly copied 16th century manuscript located in the Bodleian Library. It was written after Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Tale", one of the "Canterbury Tales". Both tales have similar plots. Author, poet and artist Marilyn Peck translated the poem from Middle English. She wrote her poem in the format used by the anonymous poet of "Sir Gawain and The Green Knight" written earlier, probably in the 14th century. She then created 44 watercolour paintings inspired by the poem, and used the paintings to illustrate her book. All the paintings are embellished with gold leaf, palladium leaf, or a combination of the two precious metals. Tiny images have been carved into the gilding. The paintings are all miniatures and they have been reproduced in their actual sizes in the book. The author has also created illuminated initials to start each quatrain in the poem.