The two literary heroes from the poems Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, can be compared and contrasted by their heroic aspects like their character, strength, honorability, bravery and loyalty. Distinctions between the two heroes, Beowulf and Gawain, are because of their cultural differences and the separate time periods in which each one lives. Despite the fact that these two tales emphasize and focus on different aspects of their hero, there are still clear contrasts of their heroic nature. The actions of both Beowulf and Gawain are honorable, although honor looks different for each hero. The Geats and the Danes find Beowulf honorable after he glorifies himself before them. He boasts and praises himself, yet he keeps his honorability …show more content…
In other words, Beowulf is not ever afraid of death while Gawain struggles with the idea of death at first and then eventually overcomes it. Another example of his timidness surmounted is when the Green Knight interrupts a feast at Camelot and lays out a challenge. At first Gawain, like the other knights, flinches at these words and does not lift a finger (Armitage 41). Only after King Arthur takes up the challenge does Gawain step up to take a swing at the Green Knight’s neck. Beowulf says to his thanes before his fight with Grendel, “...no need then/ to lament for long or lay out my body:/ if the battle takes me, send back/ this breast-webbing that Weland fashioned/ and Hrethel gave me, to Lord Hygelac./ Fate goes ever as fate must,” (Heaney 31). This shows that he is willing to accept that whatever happens, will …show more content…
The whole tale of Beowulf focuses on his battles against three different monsters and in the eyes of his people, he is awesome. The story of Gawain focuses on Gawain’s mission to find the green knight and potentially his death. The challenge in this tale is primarily temptation, given by the role of the king’s wife. The poem does not focus on Gawain’s physical achievements, yet on his way to the Green Knight, Gawain spent months in the wilderness fighting a dragon, bears, boars, trolls and more, which all require lots of strength, proving that indeed Sir Gawain is strong, but it is not as emphasized as Beowulf’s strength. This, debatably, is either because of his ability to overcome harder physical threats than Beowulf or because physical strength is less valued culturally. Gawain’s strength is also shown by the way that he bravely faces the fact that he is walking towards his death, and he accepts it. Gawain is thus, emotionally and morally strong as well as physically
When referring to archaic writing, it is clear to see the recurring archetypes and symbols throughout plots and situations. Understandably, certain patterns involving such motifs have continued through centuries, resulting in various works based around the same monomythic template with slight variations. All the big movie titles we love, Aladdin, Shrek, even, Sharknado contain more than traces of these archetypal patterns, consisting of a hero, a mentor, a dark figure and so on. Prime examples of this archetypal plot structure, with their own unique adaptations, may be found within the two poetic narratives Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Aside from their completely disparate backgrounds and morals, both works include and follow the monomythic journey, as perceived by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, as well as in the secondary works of others who have helped to further our understanding of this analytical method. This generalization, however, is shifted when one dissects further into these two pieces of literature. As in the majority of monomythic quest narratives, the protagonist often practices and displays the characteristics of courage, loyalty, humility
Medieval romance writings consist of a quest of an honorable and chivalrous hero who overcomes the unattainable to prove their virtue. Yet, these perceived idealized heroes often fall short of their expected abilities and values. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is an example of a knight with shortcomings. Nevertheless, Gawain appropriately confronts the imperfections of his life which leads the Green Knight to determine the imperfect knight to be virtuous. Through Sir Gawain’s weakness in strength, courage in redeeming himself, and repentance of his sinful impurities, Gawain demonstrates that a flawed person is capable of a respected and honorable life. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the poet uses the Green Knight’s judgment
...e the quarrels, the hatreds, the feuds,/ That will bring us battles, force us into war/ With the Swedes, as soon as they’ve learned how our lord/ Is dead” (Beowulf 2999-3002). That quote shows that Beowulf lived in a war-torn country and therefore his strength and ability to protect his people made him a revered hero. Sir Gawain, on the other hand, lived in a time when inner qualities were valued. The valuing of inner qualities along with Sir Gawain’s exceptional traits made him a hero. That being said, although Beowulf and Sir Gawain differ in some aspects, they both fit the hero archetype of being better than the ordinary man, proving oneself many times, and having a tragic flaw.
Then the Danes decide to go back to Herot and while they are sleeping, Grendel’s mother
Heroes come in many forms. The construction of "the heroic" has taken many forms, yet traits such as: courage, honor, and loyalty, reappear as themes throughout the "hero" personality. The characters of Beowulf and Sir Gawain each represent a version of a hero, yet each comes across quite differently in their story. A hero can be said to truly win if he remains constant to his noble values when put in any situation that crosses his way. When measured by that criterion, Sir Gawain stands out above Beowulf as a true hero, due to his command of both personal and spiritual power through the use of thought, as well as valiant deeds.
During the Middle Ages, both “Beowulf” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” were epic stories that were chanted aloud to the public. Each story told about epic heroes who went on a long journey to face or conqueror someone or something. “Beowulf” is a poem about a young man, Beowulf, who slays a monster and his mother with his bare hands to protect the people he loves. As the years go by Beowulf becomes king and a dragon begins to stir. In response to this, Beowulf fights the dragon with a sword and one loyal companion. Beowulf’s life comes to end, but so does the dragons. From this epic poem you can see that good does triumph over evil, but sometimes it comes at a cost. Along with “Beowulf”, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” was another popular poem. This poem was about a squire, Sir Gawain, who chooses to take on a game proposed by the Green Knight instead of his uncle, King Arthur. He took on the game because he believed King Arthur’s life was more valuable than his own and that King Arthur should not risk his own life. As a result, Sir Gawain became a knight because of his loyalty and bravery. Both Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’s and Beowulf’s characters share the same quality of courage, the desire to protect people and the involvement of supernatural beings.
Initially, Gawain’s strongest trait is humility, Beowulf’s is pride. In the beginning of Gawain and the Green Knight, a mysterious warrior enters King Arthur’s court to extend a challenge. Although he knows others in the court would handle the challenge better than him, out of respect, when King Arthur attempts to accept the challenge Gawain comes forth and suggests he takes his place. Gawain presents himself as “the weakest of them, I know, and the dullest-minded/ so my death would be least loss, if truth should be told/ only because you are my uncle am I to be praised/ no virtue I know in myself but your blood” (Broadview Analogy 269). Instead of bragging about his bravery, Gawain acts modestly and states that his death would be of little loss during this challenge. He is not self-absorbed and gives off the impression that the only reason he is a knight is because of his relation with King Arthur. By stating this, he gives off the impression that his self confidence is quite weak; this is astonishing for a character of this era. Although King Arthur has at least one of his knights to be proud of, it seems as though
The Green Knight takes a blow from an ax at the hand of Sir Gawain, and in one year and one day, the Green Knight is to reciprocate the action to Sir Gawain. While Sir Gawain was heroic in his deed, Beowulf shows a certain selflessness in his bouts makes him a better hero than Sir Gawain. Sir Gawain was heroic in seeking out the Green Knight to finish the challenge that was brought to King Arthur’s men. “Said Gawain, ‘Strike once more; /I shall neither flinch nor flee; /But if my head falls to the floor /There is no mending me!’” (lns.
society. In Beowulf, Beowulf shows extraordinary courage and strength that gives him special status. This notion is shown, when Beowulf fights Grendel and Grendel’s mother, but it is especially noticeable when he fights the dragon. When Beowulf fought Grendel others had the courage to attempt to fight him. The same is true with Grendel’s mother. When Beowulf goes to fight the Dragon, the other warriors cower away into the woods. Beowulf shows his courage by fighting the Dragon. Even when Beowulf is fighting the Dragon and realizes that his sword can do no damage he continues to fight. After Beowulf is on the verge of death he shows a combination of courage and strength by delivering the death blow to the Dragon, and not just laying down to die. Beowulf’s strength is shown when he is able to actually do battle with the Dragon; any normal man would have fallen to the dragon immediately.
Though Sir Gawain is brave, Beowulf seems more naturally heroic. He goes to the land of the Danes of his own volition. His king does not order him to go. He tells his king that he wishes to go help the Danes defeat Grendel, because he believes he can and should. His people support him because they know what a great warrior and leader he is. He also wants to help King Hrothgar because his father was in debt to Hrothgar and he wants to pay that debt. He wants to honor his father and his father’s word. Beowulf holds himself to a code of honor when he does not have to do so. He risks his life for a country he is not a part of.
Sadly, there was no return for Beowulf, his lack of “Apotheosis” led to his death and he was killed by pride. His kingdom did suffer as there was no longer a king to rule it, and his people dealt with the grief. Sir Gawain was lucky enough to be given another chance. He returns to his kingdom ashamed of himself and informs his people his mistake in the chivalric code. He wears the green girdle to remind himself that he has failed in his adventure to see The Green Knight. The whole kingdom misunderstands the whole story and instead see that Sir Gawain returned from seeing the Green Knight and think of it as a grand adventure and proceed to wear a green girdle. This girdle represents the ignorance of his people. Sir Gawain does not end up saving the community but instead
Gawain displays this ideal trait by getting his king out of the zero sum game with Lord Bertilak, and Beowulf displays the trait by riposting Unferth’s accusations with his deflective boast. They are similar actions, but they are embodiments of different idealized traits. Beowulf is staying true to his idealized traits of honor and pride; Unferth is threatening Beowulf’s reputation as a hero by calling him out publicly like that. However, Gawain’s speech isn’t for self-benefit. He is focused on being the dutiful servant to his lord and allowing him to save face, i.e., adhering to
Beowulf and Gawain showed off differently, Beowulf fought monsters and Gawain fought a mythical creature, they battle for different reasons, and they are religiously distinctive. Beowulf is a great Hero for the Danes and Geats but he is also a very arrogant person. Beowulf’s arrogance put him in challenges while he prepared for battle and during battles. Throughout the story Beowulf loves to brag a lot about himself and everything he has accomplished with his strength. Before he fought with the Dragon he indicated that, “this fight [was] not… up to any man except [him] (2532-2534). During the whole story Beowulf battles against monsters, Grendel and his mother, and a Dragon. From “Beowulf,” before Beowulf battles against Grendel’s mother, it mentions that Beowulf prepared too “soon meet with the menace underwater” (1444), which is a monster and refers to Grendel’s mother. Also at the beginning of the story when referring to Grendel, he is being called names like, “powerful demon” (86), “banished monster” (105), and “shadow-stalker” (703). Even though Beowulf brags a lot of him he always fought to defend the people of the Danes and Geats. When Beowulf arrived at Heorot to battle against Grendel, Hrothgar greeted him and said, “Beowulf, my friend, you have traveled here to favor us with help and to fight for us” (457-458). Also from the story it is noticed that Beowulf is part of a pagan history of Britain and descends from that sort of religion. In “Beowulf,” pagan shrines are described and the religion is detailed as well, for example; “at pagan shrines they vowed offerings to souls” (175-176). Heathen people, like Beowulf and his people, were not
The three heroes discussed here, Beowulf, Sir Gawain and King Arthur, are heroes for different reasons. Beowulf, our earliest hero, is brave but his motivation is different than then other two. To Sir Gawain personal honor and valor is what is important. King Arthur, Sir Gawain's uncle, is naturally the quintessential king of the medieval period. Though all men to a certain extent share the same qualities, some are more pronounced than in the others. It is important to see how these qualities are central to their respective stories and how it helps (or hinders) them in their journeys.
Beowulf is an epic poem telling the story of Beowulf, a legendary Geatish hero who later becomes king in the aforementioned epic poem. While the story in and of itself is quite interesting, for the purpose of this paper it is important to look at the character more so then his deeds, or rather why he did what he did.