The "Pearl Poet", or the "Gawain Poet", is the name given to the author of
Pearl, an alliterative poem written in 14th-century Middle English. Its author
appears also to have written the poems Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,
Patience, and Cleanness; some scholars suggest the author may also have
composed Saint Erkenwald. Save for the latter (found in BL-MS Harley 2250), all
these works are known from a single surviving manuscript, the British Library
holding Cotton Nero A.x. This body of work includes some of the greatest poetry
written in Middle English.
