The stories of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are both tales of heroes who go out on fantastic quests to uphold and forge their honor. These stories mean to inspire the reader to be like their corresponding hero, and thus provide an outline of what honor means in the culture in which it was written. Through identifying the heroes’ characteristics, one can draw conclusions of what qualities the everyday person needed to have in order for others to think of as honorable.
In both stories, the hero has a community for which they go out on quests. This signifies that it was important in both the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman cultures to have a community to which you belonged and to go out and do something for that community, which would give you honorable status. Beowulf always had a hall for which he went out and fought monsters. For the fight with Grendel he had Heorot, and for the dragon he had the hall in which he ruled over Geatland. Likewise, Sir Gawain had Camelot to go out and face the Green Knight’s challenge for.
Also in both stories, strength is very important. Being strong would be virtue worthy of honor in which both cultures the text was written. Even though the degree of strength varies between the two heroes, their quests each require a great deal of it in order to complete. Sir Gawain had to
…show more content…
be strong enough to lop off the Green Knight’s head with a single swing of his sword, as well as have the strength to survive his travels through the wilderness to the Green Chapel. Strength was Beowulf’s most iconic feature. He used it to rip off Grendel’s arm, defeat Grendel’s mother, and kill the dragon. A major difference between the two heroes is that Beowulf is boastful of his accomplishments where Sir Gawain is humble. In Anglo-Saxon England, it would have been appropriate to tell others of one’s great deeds in order for the community to respect them, thus gaining honor. However, in Anglo-Norman England the same wouldn’t be appropriate. If one boasted about their accomplishments, it would mark them as being prideful. Since Anglo-Norman culture is much more Christian, pride was seen as one of the seven deadly sins. Therefore, in order to gain honor for one’s good deeds they had to let others acknowledge and spread the word of them to avoid this image. This is reflected by Gawain’s overall humble demeanor. Another difference between the two stories is that Beowulf’s actions are superhuman where Sir Gawain’s are in line with human physical capability.
These two versions of what a hero should be, reflect the beliefs of the two cultures. In the Anglo-Saxon culture, there were heavy influences from Norse paganism. In that religion the focus were various Gods who, like Beowulf, go out and embark on superhuman quests. Then later on in Anglo-Norman culture there were influences from Christianity, especially Christ’s crucifixion, which is seen as a more humanly capable act. This aspect is reflected in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight through Gawain’s human
deeds. Related to the heroes’ actions are the enemies that they face. Beowulf fights monsters where Sir Gawain’s conflicts involve other humans. The reason behind the two takes on obstacles the heroes must overcome is the same reason behind how they overcome these conflicts. The different cultures that influenced England that the time showed through in the literature that came out of it. That statement holds true when one thinks about the hierarchical roles in which both Beowulf and Sir Gawain inhabited. Beowulf was much more of a leader, even when serving under multiple lords, he was still the leader of his own faction of warriors. This shows the belief in Anglo-Saxon culture that if one wants to be great, they have to rise and forge their honor for themselves. This is exactly what the Saxons did by invading England, and claiming it and the people there for themselves. Sir Gawain on the other hand is a follower. He embarks on his quest after the Green Knight to serve Arthur and his court, and returns to his service after his quest is over. This service is symbolic of the dominantly French hierarchy in England during the Anglo-Norman period. Most of the higher class aristocrats were French at the time, with the English occupying lower positions in the hierarchy. It makes sense that the story follows one of Arthur’s knights rather than Arthur himself in order to not incite ideas of English leadership. There are many things throughout Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that lead back to the idea of honor and give the audience a sense of the culture in which the stories were written. The idea of honor in the two works are somewhat similar, but are still each characteristic of the cultures in which the texts were written.
What is a hero? Is it someone who pulls a drowning child out of a lake or is it someone such as Nelson Mandela who inspires others to be better? I believe it is both. Although the two differ in what makes them a hero, they are still a hero. That being said, when comparing the British characters Beowulf and Sir Gawain, I found that both fit the hero archetype. Beowulf and Sir Gawain will be compared on the hero archetype characteristics of being better than the ordinary man, proving oneself many times, and having a tragic flaw.
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.
The tales of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Lanval offer their readers insight into a common knightly quandary. Gawain and Lanval are both faced with challenges that threaten their ability to protect, uphold, and affirm their very knightliness. The two knights repeatedly see several knightly traits--- each invaluable to the essence of a knight--- brought into conflict. While the knights are glorified in their respective texts, they are faced with impossible dilemmas; in each story, both reader and knight are confronted with the reality that knightly perfection is unattainable: concessions must be made--- bits and pieces of their honor must be sacrificed.
Sir Gawain is presented as a noble knight who is the epitome of chivalry; he is loyal, honest and above all, courteous. He is the perfect knight; he is so recognised by the various characters in the story and, for all his modesty, implicitly in his view of himself. To the others his greatest qualities are his knightly courtesy and his success in battle. To Gawain these are important, but he seems to set an even higher value on his courage and integrity, the two central pillars of his manhood.
The significance of religious beliefs in the tales of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, portrayed diverse roles in each story. Although it was clear that God was highly-favored and worshipped in each of these tales, the abundance of praising Him was greatly differed. Both Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the green knight are written to be believers of God and his mighty works and miracles. In this passage, the significance of religious beliefs in these tales are explained by presenting how Beowulf and the characters of his time praised the Lord for all of his works, even those that pertained to evil doings, Sir Gawain praised the Lord for blessings and strength instead of his unfortunate times, and how each character was destined to become more like Christ, living their lives being heroes and God-like.
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.
Both of these poems tell about two different stories and many different people in those stories, but that does not make the characters any different. Beowulf and Sir Gawain proved their courage by either clashing with a monster or choosing a deadly game. They both also showed their desire to help and save the people they care about by battling the supernatural. Despite the different journeys that Beowulf and Sir Gawain went on and the people they meet both characters share courage, the desire to save the people they love, and conquering the supernatural which are the qualities that make them an epic hero.
In both Ancient Anglo-Saxon and Ancient Mesopotamian cultures, works of literature portray heroes such Beowulf and Gilgamesh, and the heroic values that they possessed. The heroes, Beowulf and Gilgamesh, had both similar and dissimilar heroic values, however, Beowulf was by far a better hero than Gilgamesh. While Beowulf and Gilgamesh both possessed remarkable strength and courage, Beowulf was fearless and selfless, which makes him a true hero. After comparing the two texts, it is fair to say that Ancient Anglo-Saxons abide by stricter guidelines in terms of heroic values.
Gawain returns to Camelot a changed man, bearing his sins on his shoulders, whereas, Beowulf develops into a more saint like character who is more concerned with giving help than gaining fame. Gawain becomes more aware of his wrong doing, and attempts to better himself by carrying the green girdle as a reminder of his sins.
With those who are good shrouded in light and those who are evil relegated to dark and misty caves, the Nordic people’s separation of moral right and wrong is difficult to overlook. An Aristotelian study of ethics depicts vices and virtues on a linear plane, with the mean virtue in the center and its extremes on either side. A deficiency of a virtue, courage for instance, is cowardice, while an excess of courage can lead to rashness (Aristotle). This view forms the basis for my argument that the characters in Beowulf are subjected to a sliding scale of virtue. Wealhtheow, Grendel, and Beowulf provide valuable insight into how the virtues of modesty, steadfastness, and fortitude are perceived by the audience inside and outside the story, as
Throughout literary history authors have created and restored figures from all times that seem to represent what is honorable and chivalrous. The two literary legends compared in this paper are Beowulf and Parzival. These two figures in their own way find within them what is virtuous.
In Anglo-Saxon culture heroes were determined by their bravery, strength, and glory. In the epic Beowulf, Beowulf is the epitome of an Anglo-Saxon hero because he displays all of these traits. Beowulf exhibits his bravery in the way he fearlessly goes into each of his three battles. He then displays his strength as he defeats each of the monsters. Finally, Beowulf is glorified by his comrades because of his heroic actions. Beowulf is an epic hero because he embodies his people’s ideals of bravery, strength, and glory through his battles.
A hero is someone who is idealized for his courage and noble qualities. Beowulf and Sir Gawain can certainly be called heroes. They both have many qualities that are expected of heroic knights and warriors. They are both brave, gallant, and skilled men, but are they the perfect heroes their people believe them to be? While they are portrayed as perfect heroes and they possess many heroic qualities, Beowulf and Sir Gawain are far from perfect.
Even court life need not be washed completely of human sin and the natural instincts all animals rely on, for being godly, as Gawain is, should not be viewed as the primary characteristic of being moral. There should be a balance between humanity and godliness, similar to Aristotle's idea of a golden mean, that all these knights seek. By showing that knights should achieve this balance, the author extends his message to the common people, who look to knights as role models of morality. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight challenges the contemporary ideals of morality, presenting instead a golden mean that the common people would not have associated with their knightly role models before.
Beowulf is an epic poem that, above all, gives the reader an idea of a time long past; a time when the most important values were courage and integrity. The only factors that could bestow shower fame upon a person were heroic deeds and family lineage. Beowulf, as the paradigm of pagan heroes, exhibited his desire to amass fame and fortune; the only way to do so was to avenge the death of others. This theme of retribution that is ever present throughout the poem seems to color the identities of its characters.