“Henry went down on one knee. 'Like King Arthur's knights,' Mr. Fogarty had told him, but he didn't feel much like a knight. In fact he felt like a twit.”

“Go back,” he said.“Can’t. Stand aside?”“Can’t.”“So it’s like that?” I said.Fix exhaled. Then he nodded. “Yeah.” And for the first time in a decade the Winter Knight and Summer Knight went to war.”

“The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide,But forth vnto the darksome hole he went,And looked in:his glistring armor madeA litle glooming light, much like a shade,”

“The fairy or fantastic world replaces the classical Hades (or Hell) in Sir Orfeo, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight takes this fantasy element to new heights. Sir Gawain is one of the Knights of the Round Table, the followers of King Arthur, who is so much of a presence in English history, myth and literature.”

“She always did like tales of adventure-stories full of brightness and darkness. She could tell you the names of all King Arthur's knights, and she knew everything about Beowulf and Grendel, the ancient gods and the not-quite-so-ancient heroes. She liked pirate stories, too, but most of all she loved books that had at least a knight or a dragon or a fairy in them. She was always on the dragon's side by the way.”

“What Hardy had found, however, was that he liked taking care of her. He liked being her knight in shining armor. He liked spending those few extra minutes with her. So he did.”