Beowulf And Gawain Comparison

Beowulf and Gawain are both “Heros”! They both show traits that would make up any hero. But some things that make them Heros are the same but in different ways and some things are completely different.

Gawain Shows three traits throughout this story that make him a hero. Braveness, Strength, and Chivalrousness. Gawain shows braveness in lines 139-142. It says “Then Gawain and Guinevers’s side bowed and spoke his design: “Before all, king, confide this fight to me. May it be mine.”” This shows Gawain being brave because he steps up and asks the king to let him do the fight instead of the king. He is risking his life so that he king doesn't have to. And thats brave. Gawain also shows his strength in this story in lines 197-204. It says “Gawain

gripped his axe and gathered it on high, Advanced the left foot before him on the ground, and slashed swiftly down on the exposed part, So that the sharp blade sheared through, shattering the bones, sank deep in the sleek flesh, split it in two,and scintillating steel struck the ground. The fair head fell from the neck struck the floor.” This shows his strength because he just cut the green Knights head off with one swift swing of an axe. Gawain is also Chivalrous too. He shows courage. Gawain shows courage in this story when he accepts the challenge and that on new years day a year from then he would find the green knight and this time he would take the blow to the neck. He knew what he was getting into and he had the courage to go through with it knowing that in a year and a day he would be the one taking the blow instead of the green knight.
Beowulf Also shows three traits in his story, two being the same as Gawain but one being different. He shows in his story that he has strength. In fact superhuman strength. In the story it says “They have seen my strength for themselves, Have watched me rise from the darkness of war, Dripping with my enemies’ blood. I drove Five great giants into chains, chased All of that race from the earth. I swam In the blackness of night, hunting monsters Out of the ocean, and killing them one By one; death was my errand and the fate They had earned.” This line shows that he has superhuman strength. It shows it because it says that he fought them one by one and killed them all without dying himself so that shows that his strength is great. He also shows Braveness just like Gawain. He shows this in lines 113-114. It says that Beowulf “Heard how Grendel filled nights with horror and quickly commanded a boat fitted out.”This shows Beowulfs braveness because he just got up and left with his men to go fight this beast that had been causing all of this horror without even knowing what he was or what he was capable of. Beowulf also shows leadership in his story. He shows it here in lines 134-136 “Beowulf arose, with his men around him, ordering a few to remain with their weapons, leading the others quickly”. This shows his leadership because he is looking out for some of his troops by telling them to stay behind so that they don't have to fight Grendal.
Beowulf and Gawain are both brave.

They both show there braveness in there stories. The difference in their braveness is that beowulf had no idea what he was going and getting into, and Gawain knew exactly what he was getting himself into. They also both show strength in their storys but different types of strength. Gawain cuts off the green knights head with one swing of the green knights axe and that shows he has strength but not compared to beowulf who ripped off Grendals arm with his bare hands and defeated the monster without using a weapon. So they both are strong and have strength but beowulf strength compared to gawain is out compared. Then there is Gawain who is chivalrous because he is honorable to his king by taking the challenge and risking his life for his king compared to beowulf who is cocky and goes around bragging about himself and thats not chivalrous. Then there is Beowulfs last trait which is leadership which he shows buy leading his men and watching out for them compared to gawain which shows little bit of leadership when takes the offer from the green knight to the king and shows that he can do it and to not disappoint the king. Gawain also shows leadership when a year and a day later he goes to the green knight to get his head chopped off. That shows it because he is taking responsibility for his actions by following through with the deal that the green knight made with him. So like I said in the first paragraph, beowulf and Gawain are alike in some ways but different in other ways.

So in conclusion, Beowulf and Gawain have some traits that are the same that make them heros but some that are different and the traits that are the same between them are different because they show it in their own

ways.