"His skin was as the leaves in spring. His eyes, of gleaming gold And on his shield he bore the arms Of antlered gods of old" sent shivers down my spine
It's so fun hearing these ancient and medieval legends rendered into song by such a talented mind, performed on authentic instruments. I can't get enough.
At one point, there was only one copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The owners estate burned down but not before he ran in and saved a couple of his most precious manuscripts. That was a man who understood the mission.
For those who may not know, the "Morgan y Dylwythen Deg" he refers to is a character that's pretty famous, or infamous, depending on the telling, in Arthurian myth. Tylwyth Teg, in Welsh, translates to "fair folk" where we get the word "fairy" from. Thus, Morgan of the Fairies, or Morgan le Fey. (Yeah, it sounded like Ds and not Ts when he sang it, but that's Celtic initial mutation for you. It's also the noun first and the adjective after.)
He was the best. Morgan the Fair. Implying Arthur was an uggo hummie. How could you not choose our champion? We sent the fairest. Like a 20/10 in bong land. A man fairer then all the maidens. This is why we curse you to be ugly now. Every English maiden shall be a -5/10. For all of time.
Thank you for the explanation and especially thanks for the spelling! It was the one line I couldn't quite make out while trying to transcribe the lyrics; I knew it had to be something in Welsh but I couldn't piece it together well enough for a search. 😅
Well, I've run into many underrated musicians. Mr. Pringle is spectactularly good but is, sadly, typical of the geniuses that I've encountered. They're all over the place. Remember Laura Nyro? There's whole gangs of singers like her. Imagine that.
This is unironically up there with your telling of the epic of gilgamesh. I was enamoured by your performance. Peter pringle putting out another banger, please complete the story too
The lyrics as best as I could transcribe- because i felt driven to (blame the auto-generated transcript) It was the Eve of Christmas The Good King and his Knights were gathered in a holy kirk to celebrate the light they came in all humility no shield was seen, nor sword to bow their heads in reverance for the birthing of our Lord. when all were knelt in prayer, there came a mighty blow, upon the doors which opened wide unto the winter snow. and on a steed of holly-green, and bourne by winter winds, a knight in armor, axe in hand came riding, riding in. (clippity cloppity clip clap clop) the ringing of the hooves on stone was the only sound as the knight rode in, dismounted, and set foot on holy ground. his skin was as the leaves in spring, his eyes of gleaming gold, and on his shield he bore the arms of antlered gods of old. in a voice low and soft he spoke, "Good friends, do not fear- I propose a simple game for one among you here; if one of you will fight me on this Christmas-Tide, then will I depart this house, and peace will here abide." "But any wound I suffer here at the hand of any man, be it great or be it small as a scratch upon the hand, we shall agree by sacred oath, before the fight begins; that such a wound- just one year hence- I shall inflict on him." Now Morgan y Dylwythen Deg, sister of the king had a son, a fearless knight the one they call Gawain he was among the gathered throng and thought to put an end to this strange intruder and the king's honor defend Sir Gawain stepped forward and raised his voice aloud "I'll take your challenge, and the oath, and fight you here and now!" he grasped the great green axe and raised it o'er his head the green knight did not raise a hand but knelt in prayer, instead. he swung the mighty axe and the deed was done the green knight's head fell on the stones and so, Gawain had won! there were no shouts of praise... and only silence reigned, as blood spilled out on holy ground at the feet of Sir Gawain... then to defy the laws of men, and the power of death defeat- the headless body raised itself and stood upon its feet! then to its severed head it walked, as if it were unharmed with sightless hands, it took the head and held it in its arms. To the gathered throng it spoke in a voice for all to hear "Now we agree, you come to me on this night, in a year. when in the Chapel Green we meet, then, as is my right- I'll do to you what you did to me upon this holy night." "The chapel you will find to the North, a six-day ride just ask about, and you will find just where the chapel lies." With that, the green knight mounted, his head under his arm on thundering hooves, rode out again into the winter storm... (Clap clop clippity clippity clappity clippity clappity) [my thanks to @Morgan Pollard for the correction]
Last year i went down a rabbit hole after watching the movie. Even though we usually treat Arthurian legends as mythology it's interesting to see the crossovers to historical figures. One of the stories involving Sir Gawain is the "lothly lady" if you want to google it. But this story is also accredited to this "real" irish king dude Niall of the Nine Hostages from around 400 AD. Also what's funny is that a lot of Irish & Scottish surnames trace back to this King's linage: O'Neill, O'Boyle, O'Bradley, Campbell, Cannon, Coleman, Connor, Devlin, O'Doherty, O'Donnell, Donnelly, Egan, Flynn, Gallagher, Gormley, Hynes, Kane, McGovern, McLoughlin, McManus, Molloy, O'Reilly, O'Rourke and Quinn (found on google). Funny to think how much folklore came from family rumors being passed on for generations
I'll never watch that movie because of the casting choice for Sir Gawain. I don't support the replacement of my people. But, if the movie lead you here, then at least something good came of it.
@@TheFoolOnTheHill_ Replacement of what people? Sir Gawain is a fictional character, what is there to replace? I've never heard mention of his ethnicity at all. Could you elaborate?
@@tyburn1493 Huh??? I'm fairly positive none of the knights of the round table have many identifiers besides clothing color/ deeds and symbolism. Sure we can assume most of them are predominantly anglo saxon since thats where the stories come from, but the green knight is literally the most obscure he could be from anywhere. Please explain what you mean. How am I being disingenuous or acting in bad faith?
@@TheFoolOnTheHill_ Pity you won't even give it a chance. I've always felt the performance is the key, in theatre, and as far as movies go it 'feels' like theatre, in its presentation. Patel portrays a fascinating and compelling iteration of Gawain, layered with complexity and a scholar's knowledge of the various source material. But I'm gonna hazard a guess based on your response you're only really interested in a pretty superficial kind of way.
The first video i found from this channel was Lament for Gilgamesh, and i cant say how much i found interesting hearing all the ancient songs, i couldn't image what channel like this could exist
I dont know if you read the comments, but I love what you do and am so happy every time you have a new video. Thank you for all the hard work, research & music you do.
I certainly hope you're in touch with some academic medievalists, because this is gloriously done and drama of the period deserves this kind of revival. I fear the film might fade and never have the sequel or similar production "next tale" which audiences deserve.
I feel like I'm at court beside King Alfred, quaffing wine and eating hen with my fingers while this Master Bard recites the ancient stories of Olde. So fun!! Peter Pringle is the greatest!
came here from someone on tiktok talking about your Gilgamesh video but this was the first thing to come up and i had to listen to it as my dissertation is on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - I'd love to hear this in Middle English also omg
Wow, so cool to hear an epic tale told in verse in modern language. So many cultures of the past had their epic poems that they would have heard in their own contemporary dialect with rhyme and meter. Today we have to translate these poems and we loose the poetic sense in the process. Really cool to get a taste of that here!
This was my exact thought too. His specific rendering might be modern, but I really believe thd experience of watching him perform is the same core experience as it would have been hundreds of years ago.
Peter, I wish you could know how timely and precious this performance is to me. It's filled a social need in me that stays so pained and hungry this time of year, celebrating life richly amid the withering season. It is so grounding to join in with the thoughts and contemplations of so many before us who would have reflected in kind to a similar performance long ago. The thoughts surrounding the Green Knight being wonderfully myriad. Much obliged. ❤🔥
Excellent! I have my kids watch your videos as part of their homeschool work. This’ll be in their school playlist tomorrow. You are helping to educate the next generation. Thank you ❤
This truly is only the beginning of the story. For anyone intrigued by this story, I wholly recommend you read the rest of it. A lovely story of honour, virtue, and chivalry and one of the finest tales of the Matter of Britain.
What a wonderful rendition! I've told the tale myself for years; it's one of my favorites. This setting is simply splendid. I've been wanting a hurdy-gurdy for a long time. Seeing this has turned up the temperature...
I love this legend, I've heard a few retellings of it- but this one might be my favorite! Thank you for all your hard work, I love how you've brought history and legend to life for us all.
Each re-listening shows that a true gem of great art with loving devotion to the material has been released here. A wonderful Christmas gift. Thank you.
I’m not kidding when I say this but I literally finished reading the original story for the second time earlier today. So this is a big coincidence I suppose.
I love this story. I first heard it as a youngin. My grandma always played Joseph Campbell in the car and this was one of my favorites. This rendition is top notch too!
I think Peter Pringle does a beautiful job ! If he had an album of his “ancient” music, I would buy it! His voice and delvery 😊are fabulous! Having said that, I must add that his wonderful songs are not authentic! They are as Pringle imagined them with his 21st century sensibilities! If we were to hear these pieces as they were composed or performed in antiquity, they would not be appealing to our modern ears! I still think he does a superlative job and makes us aware of the existence of ancient literature both musical and literary!
Lovely, beautifully crafted performance. You really brought this ancient mystery back to life for a modern audience. Thanks for sharing this, I am looking forward to hearing more of your work going forward.
I don't mean to be off topic, but what happened to the Namarie upload? It's been gone for a while, I always really loved it. Does anyone remember it? Is it saved anywhere else?
"His skin was as the leaves in spring.
His eyes, of gleaming gold
And on his shield he bore the arms
Of antlered gods of old" sent shivers down my spine
It's so fun hearing these ancient and medieval legends rendered into song by such a talented mind, performed on authentic instruments. I can't get enough.
Were they originally performed in this or a similar song-type manner?
I believe Arthurian legends were performed orally, but not usually accompanied by music. @@allthatwecan
Is this narrative legend or epic?
A round of applause please for this lovely rendition.
👏👏
At one point, there was only one copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The owners estate burned down but not before he ran in and saved a couple of his most precious manuscripts. That was a man who understood the mission.
A man who aught to have a whole music faculty at a top university under his direction .
Couldn't agree more.
For those who may not know, the "Morgan y Dylwythen Deg" he refers to is a character that's pretty famous, or infamous, depending on the telling, in Arthurian myth. Tylwyth Teg, in Welsh, translates to "fair folk" where we get the word "fairy" from. Thus, Morgan of the Fairies, or Morgan le Fey. (Yeah, it sounded like Ds and not Ts when he sang it, but that's Celtic initial mutation for you. It's also the noun first and the adjective after.)
He was the best. Morgan the Fair. Implying Arthur was an uggo hummie. How could you not choose our champion? We sent the fairest. Like a 20/10 in bong land. A man fairer then all the maidens. This is why we curse you to be ugly now. Every English maiden shall be a -5/10. For all of time.
Good to know
Interestingly, the Irish call the Fae folk the fair folk and other such things
Thank you for the explanation and especially thanks for the spelling! It was the one line I couldn't quite make out while trying to transcribe the lyrics; I knew it had to be something in Welsh but I couldn't piece it together well enough for a search. 😅
Peter Pringle might be the most underrated musician ever.
Maybe tragically lesser known, I mean, you'd have to be crazy to underrate this man! Haha
Well, I've run into many underrated musicians. Mr. Pringle is spectactularly good but is, sadly, typical of the geniuses that I've encountered. They're all over the place. Remember Laura Nyro? There's whole gangs of singers like her. Imagine that.
He's our treasure
BABE WAKE UP NEW PETER PRINGLE VIDEO JUST DROPPED
This is unironically up there with your telling of the epic of gilgamesh. I was enamoured by your performance. Peter pringle putting out another banger, please complete the story too
Oh yes! More hurdy gurdy after so long. Thank you again for this lovely masterpiece Mr. Pringle.
im sorry, but fucking Mr. Pringle
@@hypotheticalaxolotl its like having the last name pepper
Arthur Legends on Hurdy Gurdy album wen?
Isn't it organistrum?
@@haruakianno I believe those are bigger
The lyrics as best as I could transcribe- because i felt driven to (blame the auto-generated transcript)
It was the Eve of Christmas
The Good King and his Knights
were gathered in a holy kirk
to celebrate the light
they came in all humility
no shield was seen, nor sword
to bow their heads in reverance
for the birthing of our Lord.
when all were knelt in prayer,
there came a mighty blow,
upon the doors which opened wide
unto the winter snow.
and on a steed of holly-green,
and bourne by winter winds,
a knight in armor, axe in hand
came riding, riding in.
(clippity cloppity clip clap clop)
the ringing of the hooves on stone
was the only sound
as the knight rode in, dismounted,
and set foot on holy ground.
his skin was as the leaves in spring,
his eyes of gleaming gold,
and on his shield he bore the arms
of antlered gods of old.
in a voice low and soft he spoke,
"Good friends, do not fear-
I propose a simple game
for one among you here;
if one of you will fight me
on this Christmas-Tide,
then will I depart this house,
and peace will here abide."
"But any wound I suffer here
at the hand of any man,
be it great or be it small
as a scratch upon the hand,
we shall agree by sacred oath,
before the fight begins;
that such a wound-
just one year hence-
I shall inflict on him."
Now Morgan y Dylwythen Deg, sister of the king
had a son, a fearless knight
the one they call Gawain
he was among the gathered throng
and thought to put an end
to this strange intruder
and the king's honor defend
Sir Gawain stepped forward
and raised his voice aloud
"I'll take your challenge, and the oath,
and fight you here and now!"
he grasped the great green axe
and raised it o'er his head
the green knight did not raise a hand
but knelt in prayer, instead.
he swung the mighty axe
and the deed was done
the green knight's head fell on the stones
and so, Gawain had won!
there were no shouts of praise...
and only silence reigned,
as blood spilled out on holy ground
at the feet of Sir Gawain...
then to defy the laws of men,
and the power of death defeat-
the headless body raised itself
and stood upon its feet!
then to its severed head it walked,
as if it were unharmed
with sightless hands, it took the head
and held it in its arms.
To the gathered throng it spoke
in a voice for all to hear
"Now we agree, you come to me
on this night, in a year.
when in the Chapel Green we meet,
then, as is my right-
I'll do to you what you did to me
upon this holy night."
"The chapel you will find
to the North, a six-day ride
just ask about, and you will find
just where the chapel lies."
With that, the green knight mounted,
his head under his arm
on thundering hooves, rode out again
into the winter storm...
(Clap clop clippity clippity clappity clippity clappity)
[my thanks to @Morgan Pollard for the correction]
The sister of the king is "Morgan y Dylwythen Deg" -- which is the Welsh name of Morgan le Fay
Thanks.
Gawain realizing that he completely could not fuck up worse than he just did💀💀💀
The Green Knight has always been one of my favorite Arthurian stories.
Oh my god, and the little riff on the gurdy that you played in the Death of King Arthur is back
The tapping of fingers on the instrument to imitate the galloping of a horse was such a fun detail!
Last year i went down a rabbit hole after watching the movie. Even though we usually treat Arthurian legends as mythology it's interesting to see the crossovers to historical figures. One of the stories involving Sir Gawain is the "lothly lady" if you want to google it. But this story is also accredited to this "real" irish king dude Niall of the Nine Hostages from around 400 AD.
Also what's funny is that a lot of Irish & Scottish surnames trace back to this King's linage: O'Neill, O'Boyle, O'Bradley, Campbell, Cannon, Coleman, Connor, Devlin, O'Doherty, O'Donnell, Donnelly, Egan, Flynn, Gallagher, Gormley, Hynes, Kane, McGovern, McLoughlin, McManus, Molloy, O'Reilly, O'Rourke and Quinn (found on google). Funny to think how much folklore came from family rumors being passed on for generations
I'll never watch that movie because of the casting choice for Sir Gawain. I don't support the replacement of my people. But, if the movie lead you here, then at least something good came of it.
@@TheFoolOnTheHill_ Replacement of what people? Sir Gawain is a fictional character, what is there to replace? I've never heard mention of his ethnicity at all. Could you elaborate?
@@ThEEPOPO9 You are being disingenuous and not acting in good faith.
@@tyburn1493 Huh??? I'm fairly positive none of the knights of the round table have many identifiers besides clothing color/ deeds and symbolism. Sure we can assume most of them are predominantly anglo saxon since thats where the stories come from, but the green knight is literally the most obscure he could be from anywhere. Please explain what you mean. How am I being disingenuous or acting in bad faith?
@@TheFoolOnTheHill_ Pity you won't even give it a chance. I've always felt the performance is the key, in theatre, and as far as movies go it 'feels' like theatre, in its presentation. Patel portrays a fascinating and compelling iteration of Gawain, layered with complexity and a scholar's knowledge of the various source material.
But I'm gonna hazard a guess based on your response you're only really interested in a pretty superficial kind of way.
Merry Christmas Peter. Thank you for this captivating rendition. Always superb
What I wouldn't give to hear you tell the whole story. My favorite, and never before so masterfully told. Thank you so much for this
This gives me shivers and goosebumps, it is a portal to a whimsical era of myth and legend; and so excellently executed by our most revered bard.
Merci beaucoup Peter pour ce cadeau qui nous aidera à passer au travers de l'hiver Québécois! (On ne t'a pas oublié ici)
Thank you Peter for blessing us with this gift ❤️ what a treasure for the holiday season
The first video i found from this channel was Lament for Gilgamesh, and i cant say how much i found interesting hearing all the ancient songs, i couldn't image what channel like this could exist
This guy fucking rocks . Gilgamesh would agree.
This ancient and medieval stylized music makes me feel very peaceful and good. Thank you sir, I admire your work!
I dont know if you read the comments, but I love what you do and am so happy every time you have a new video. Thank you for all the hard work, research & music you do.
What gorgeous storytelling. I appreciate You 🙏 the clap of hooves departing is a lovely touch 👏
I really appreciated you using your fingers to mimic the sound of hooves. An excellent performance.
hes bac and like his namesake, once you pop you just cant stop. love these unique works peter.
I wanna play D&D with Peter Pringle.
the best christmas tale
The Bard has returned to sing to us again!
I certainly hope you're in touch with some academic medievalists, because this is gloriously done and drama of the period deserves this kind of revival. I fear the film might fade and never have the sequel or similar production "next tale" which audiences deserve.
What an absolute PLEASURE to hear! Thank you so much Peter and have a merry Christmas!
I feel like I'm at court beside King Alfred, quaffing wine and eating hen with my fingers while this Master Bard recites the ancient stories of Olde. So fun!! Peter Pringle is the greatest!
More ballads. please! It is really strong. My respects and gratitude, Peter
came here from someone on tiktok talking about your Gilgamesh video but this was the first thing to come up and i had to listen to it as my dissertation is on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - I'd love to hear this in Middle English also omg
What a surprise!!! So happy!!! Thanks you
This is a great Christmas gift. Thank you!
Wow, so cool to hear an epic tale told in verse in modern language. So many cultures of the past had their epic poems that they would have heard in their own contemporary dialect with rhyme and meter. Today we have to translate these poems and we loose the poetic sense in the process. Really cool to get a taste of that here!
This was my exact thought too. His specific rendering might be modern, but I really believe thd experience of watching him perform is the same core experience as it would have been hundreds of years ago.
Peter, Whenever I listen to your songs, I feel that the instrument and voice become one. Thank you for always
Am I the only one that think this sounds like a tune from Emerson, Lake and Palmer? Amazing work as usual!
Love hearing you bring this almost forgotten music back to life. A true bard!
Peter, I wish you could know how timely and precious this performance is to me. It's filled a social need in me that stays so pained and hungry this time of year, celebrating life richly amid the withering season. It is so grounding to join in with the thoughts and contemplations of so many before us who would have reflected in kind to a similar performance long ago. The thoughts surrounding the Green Knight being wonderfully myriad. Much obliged.
❤🔥
My favorite notification
I could never thank you enough for your work, but thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.
And you're using a Digitech Whammy? You're such a trip, dude, you've got to start touring.
Excellent! I have my kids watch your videos as part of their homeschool work. This’ll be in their school playlist tomorrow. You are helping to educate the next generation. Thank you ❤
stop homeschooling
@@topclub5373 cry about it
You're killing it! Keep up the good work! Do you recommend any homeschool resources that you love?
Homeschooling is child abuse.
Brilliant! But where is the sequel?
Having been a huge fan of your Death of Arthur, this is a dream come true, thanks for this
Absolutely stunning performance. This epic is among my most favourite pieces of British literature. So glad you gave it a musical iteration!
Wonderful! Bravo! Finally another of Peter's videos. Thank you so much. The hooves sounds are such an eleant, yet simple adition. Awesome!
Mr. Perter Pringle deserve at least a million subscribers.
Aw man! It's over already!
As if the geniality of this piece was not enough, to imitate the sound of a galloping horse at the end with your fingers. Wow.
I am waiting for you to release a cd so i can buy it.
I wonder why the Tolkien ones including the cristal baschet & theremin videos got taken down - I loved coming back to them.
Peter you are the best. Your Arthur stuff is top notch.
That's awesome! Thank you. I have that book in Middle English. Very strange story full of allegory. Have to read it again.
Thank you very much for another enchanting performance
My favorite music channel and one if my favorites overall. Wonderful, enchanting music.
This truly is only the beginning of the story. For anyone intrigued by this story, I wholly recommend you read the rest of it. A lovely story of honour, virtue, and chivalry and one of the finest tales of the Matter of Britain.
Another ancient classic from you, my friend. Applause all around!
Wonderful story that made me go to the original because I had to see how it ended. Thank you for your always artful translation of this myth!
This is superb! 👏👏👏
Thank you.
Just one of the most talented and unique musicians and musical scholars on TH-cam. Amazing!
What a wonderful rendition! I've told the tale myself for years; it's one of my favorites. This setting is simply splendid. I've been wanting a hurdy-gurdy for a long time. Seeing this has turned up the temperature...
Simply enchanting
Awesome as always!
You're the Bard of Ages, Peter!
Thank you Peter! I'd love to hear a continuation some time
Awww, Peter, what a lovely gift you bring to us. Thankyou so much for the Green Ķnight who after The Pearl is my second favorite from that manuscript.
It was beautiful as ever, thank you.
Another one from the King ❤️
Thank you Mr. Pringle.
Cousin Peter! This is beautiful. 'So glad I found it.
As always an excellent blending of hurdy gurdy/simphonye with modern effects!!
I love this legend, I've heard a few retellings of it- but this one might be my favorite! Thank you for all your hard work, I love how you've brought history and legend to life for us all.
how can one get so invested in such a ballad, through bards as you.... thank you.
I adore this story! I would love to hear the rest. Also, that pyramid thingee did a great job, the sound is perfect.
This is fantastic! The hoof sounds were an especially nice touch.👍😁
Each re-listening shows that a true gem of great art with loving devotion to the material has been released here. A wonderful Christmas gift. Thank you.
It would be interesting to hear a conversation between Mr Pringle and a medieval music scholar.
So beautiful, so precious ! I got goosebumps on my arms ! You truly found Awen, or it found you.
This would fit in The Green Knight movie so well, beautiful performance
I’m not kidding when I say this but I literally finished reading the original story for the second time earlier today. So this is a big coincidence I suppose.
Thank you for your acting! Beautiful music
I love this so much! This content is truly priceless
I love this story. I first heard it as a youngin. My grandma always played Joseph Campbell in the car and this was one of my favorites. This rendition is top notch too!
Good work. Thanks from Philadelphia
Beautiful, as always.
Love the sound @5:03, your music always connects us to something deeper, bravo!
I think Peter Pringle does a beautiful job ! If he had an album of his “ancient” music, I would buy it! His voice and delvery 😊are fabulous! Having said that, I must add that his wonderful songs are not authentic! They are as Pringle imagined them with his 21st century sensibilities! If we were to hear these pieces as they were composed or performed in antiquity, they would not be appealing to our modern ears! I still think he does a superlative job and makes us aware of the existence of ancient literature both musical and literary!
Another wonderful performance! 🎉
The king has returned!!! Thank you for this song and a merry christmas
Exquisite. 🌹
While my Hurdy softly Gurdz
A favorite of mine given justice, thank you Peter!
This is awesome..!!
Lovely, beautifully crafted performance. You really brought this ancient mystery back to life for a modern audience. Thanks for sharing this, I am looking forward to hearing more of your work going forward.
Beautiful music as always.
I don't mean to be off topic, but what happened to the Namarie upload? It's been gone for a while, I always really loved it. Does anyone remember it? Is it saved anywhere else?
Hi Peter, Amey here. I so enjoyed this offering! I hope you are well