Beowulf is a poem about a knight that hears of a monster terrorizing King Hrothgar’s land. Beowulf travels there to take on the monster named Grendel. He successfully kills Grendel and is praised for doing so. Grendel’s mother is enraged by her son’s death and kills one Aeschere. Seeking revenge for Aeschere’s death Beowulf swims into Grendel’s mother’s cave where he kills her. He is once again praised for his brave act and then returns home. He later becomes king of Geatland where he runs for a very long time. Knowing that his death is near he wants to fight one last fight and takes on a dragon. Beowulf is not his youthful self he once was leading him to being bitten by the dragon causing him to die. Some background on Beowulf is that it “[Beowulf] is an epic poem composed in Old English consisting of 3,182 lines… and is considered one of the oldest surviving poems in the English language.” (Fiorentino). Although it is one of the oldest surviving poems in the English language the author is unknown. The poem is considered to take place in “different parts of Scandinavia over the course of the 6th century CE.” (Fiorentino). Beowulf is from Geatland and sails to King Hrothgar’s kingdom in Denmark to fight Grendel and his mother. The date of when the poem was written is still being debated “Arguments have been made for as early as the 7th century CE and as late as the 11th century CE.” (Fiorentino).
Sir Gawain and the Green Giant is a story about Sir Arthur’s round table otherwise known as his knights. The knights have a bad reputation because some view them as not needed because all they do is sit around. The Green Giant is the one that rebuts this thought by challenging one of Arthur’s knights. The one that takes the challenge is Sir Gawain. The Green Giant enters the room by asking if one knight would like to compete in a Christmas Challenge. None of the knights was to accept the challenge until Gawain steps up. The Green Giants challenge is one chop to his neck with his axe and in a year and a day the Green Giant will have a swing at Gawain’s neck. Gawain accepts the challenge and cuts through the Giant’s neck, unfazed but what has happened the Giant picks up his head and gets back on his horse and rides away. After many months have passed it is now time for Gawain to fulfil his end the bargon. He travels for a long time until he reaches a castle, unknowing of where he is going he stops at the castle to ask where the Green Knight’s castle is. He then meets the king of the castle and he says that Gawain should stay a while and then one of his knights will take him there. Gawain happily accepts the offer. Gawain’s host offers him a deal that whatever they receive they will give to each other.
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On the next day the host goes out to hunt while Gawain stays at the castle until he is approached by the host’s wife. The lady goes into Gawain’s room and attempts to seduce him, however she only manages to get a kiss. When the host returns Gawain is given a doe and the host receives one kiss. The second day comes around and the host brings Gawain a boar and Gawain gives his host two kisses. On the third day the host kills a fox and the lady gives him three kisses accept this time she wants something to remember him by, a toten of love. Gawain has nothing to give but the lady mentions she has a green sash that gives immunity.
However the sash only works if the person wearing it is completely faithful and honest. When the host returns they exchange gifts, Gawain receives the fox and the host receives the three kisses. However Gawain does not mention the sash. The host does as he promises and sends a knight with Gawain to Green Knight’s Castle. The Green Knight approaches Gawain and proceeds with his end of the bargon. The axe only cuts Gawain’s neck a little. The Green Knight then tells Gawain his name; King Bertilak who was the host of Gawain. The reason he did not kill Gawain is because Gawain had proven himself because he did not fall into temptation of the lady. This story is like Beowulf because the author is unknown as well as when it was published. However it “is thought to have been composed in the mid- to late fourteenth century.” (Jokinen). This being said the two stories have that in common however they both have bravery, honor, and morale.
Beowulf and Sir Gawain have many examples of bravery throughout both stories. Bravery is a very important part to a knight because that is what a knight is built on. Knights should protect people and both of the stories display that perfectly. Beowulf shows bravery in many different parts of the poem, it is most noted that Beowulf traveled to fight Grendel. He could have just sat back and watched from the outside and done nothing. However he chooses to take on the challenge because he wants to display bravery and prove how strong he is.
Beowulf not only takes on Grendel but he then dives down into Grendel’s mother’s cave to take her on. This is another example of bravery because many would have take the rewards given to him after he defeated Grendel and left but Beowulf chooses to take on his mother. After that happens some time goes on before he can prove himself again. His next act of bravery was when he took on the dragon. He was nearing death however he did not see that as a barrier of why he should not take on the dragon but instead took it on like he would have in his youth. Nagelsen describes Beowulf’s bravery the best by saying “He suggests that Breca would never have survived this kind of an assault; it was Beowulf’s own bravery that saved him.” (Nagelsen). Sir Gawain has proven his bravery at the beginning of the story. Not only did he ultimately accept the Green Knight’s challenge but he was also a knight on Arthur’s round table. This shows that there has to be some bravery in order for a man to join the knights.
The Green Knight enters the room searching for a knight in Arthur’s round table to ask if he wants to compete in his Christmas Challenge. No one responds to the offer and it is at this point that Sir Gawain approaches the Green Knight. Anyone that accepts a challenge from a magical green knight unknowing of what the challenge is, is very brave. The Green Knight goes on to tell Gawain what it is he will be competing in and it is a blow for a blow at each others necks with an axe. When Gawain is escorted to the Green Knight’s castle the knight escorting him tells him that he would not tell anyone if Gawain did not complete the challenge. However Gawain choose to continue on his quest that he chose to complete because he is brave and he got himself into this. Bravery not only affected both of these men, honor will also play into both of these stories.
Both men display honor because they are both honored in what they do. One must display honor in order to be apart of Arthur’s round table. Sir Gawain is apart of the round table thus giving him some honor. However once the Green Knight arrives he will gain a lot more honor due to him accepting the challenge. The Green Knight entered the hall with challenge although the knights did not know it was to prove that the round table was made up of honorable knights. Gawain would ended up gaining honorability not only for himself but also for his fellow knights. He had to go through not being seduced by the lady in order for King Bertilak to recognise him as honorable along with his fellow knights. Not only did Gawain prove himself to honorable but he also has to have honor according to his chivalry codes.
These codes showed how a knight should act towards a lady “Chivalrous conduct – qualities idealized by knighthood, such as bravery, courtesy, honor, and gallantry toward women.” (Alchin). Gawain even showed honor in not falling under the temptation of the lady. Beowulf was young and did not have much recognition before the fight with Grendel and his mother until after he fought them. After that his story would be told around Hrothgar’s kingdom. This is best displayed after Beowulf first defeats Grendel, when he returns to the Hrothgar with Grendel’s arm, Hrothgar showers him in gifts and rewards him with many treasures. Thus leading to his gain in honor through how the kingdom. After the fight with Grendel’s mother, Beowulf cuts off the of Grendel to return to the king, thus leading to more honor because he not only defeated the monster that was reeking havoc on the kingdom but also the mother of the monster. After all of the fighting was over Beowulf returned to his kingdom where he would give the king the new treasures he had obtained following the fight. This act raised his honor in his own kingdom because it showed he would fight not for the rewards but for the good of the fight.
The morale behind both characters is different, one is trying to make a name for himself throughout the story while the other is trying to protect his name and the names of his fellow knights. Beowulf is relatively young, although he is strong he is still young and does not have much credibility. However over the course of defeating the monsters he has quickly made a name for himself. This is ultimately his morale or the reasoning for what he is doing. He wants to make a name for himself while also protecting people. Gawain on the other hand has already created an image for himself. He is name is apart of the round table, the reason he has “sir” in front of his name. He goes on the quest to prove that he and his knights are not what people make them out to be, useless.
After everything he has been through in King Bertilak’s castle he has proven to everyone that he is noble. The two characters morale ultimately define how they will be in the story. Gerald R. Lucas describes both of the characters perfectly, “The pre-Christian Beowulf is ultimately concerned with glory, while Gawain’s concern lies with his immortal soul.” (Lucas). He explains that both characters had different morales, one was doing it for personal gain in order to better his name while the other was doing it for the greater good.
The overall plot of the stories is very similar, if you compare both in a timeline sequence you will notice that they both have three main plots. Beowulf has to fight Grendel, Grendel’s mother and finally the dragon, while Gawain has to fight temptation three different times from the lady, the first being subtle about it, and as the days go one she becomes more aggressive. Both main characters have to go through difficult times proving they are both brave and honorable. They also have very good morales behind them, they are not doing to for the riches but to either make a statement or prove to everyone that they are not useless.
Beowulf Epic Hero
A hero can be defined in many different ways. Some of the characteristics heroes often possess include bravery, strength, persistence, and loyalty. In the poem Beowulf, the main character, Beowulf, is a Scandinavian prince who embodies many of these heroic qualities. Beowulf is a poem that was written anonymously between the 8th and the early 11th centuries; this was a time when the Anglo-Saxons ruled most of Northern Europe. Beowulf is about a man who sails to Denmark to fight Grendel, a monster who has been slaughtering the people of Denmark for many years. Throughout the poem, Beowulf demonstrates many of the true characteristics of an epic hero. He displays bravery, loyalty, and persistence as he takes on many battles.
One of the heroic qualities Beowulf possess displays throughout the poem is bravery. Beowulf demonstrates bravery at the very beginning of the poem when he sails to Denmark to fight Grendel,; a monster he knows very little about. All Beowulf knows about his opponent, Grendel, is that there have been many people who have attempted to defeat him, yet. However, none have succeeded. In an attempt to prove his bravery to the people of Denmark, Beowulf decides to go up against Grendel unarmed. He believes that “[His] hands alone shall fight, [struggling] for life against the monster” (lines 172-174). Beowulf is not only the first man brave enough to fight Grendel, but he is also the first to fight him unarmed. Beowulf is confident he is strong enough to defeat Grendel, andas he never questions his abilities.
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Fifty years later, Beowulf displays bravery again when he goes into battle with a dragon. At the end of the poem, a thief steals the dragon’s treasure, and in return, the dragon destroys Getland. This makes Beowulf angry, so he sets out to defeat this monster. Although Beowulf has aged over time, this does not steer him away from wanting to fight. Before Beowulf fights the dragon, he tells his people he will “Not run from the shooting flames, [or] stand still, until? fate decides which of us wins” (lines 675-677). No matter the circumstances, Beowulf was not going to back down, even if that meant dying. When Beowulf finally fights the monster, all his men cower away in fear, leaving Beowulf standing alone. Even though Beowulf’s men sheepishly ruan away, he still continues to fight. Beowulf is not like the average man, he shows bravery in everything he does.
Another heroic quality Beowulf portrays is loyalty to his people. Beowulf’s loyalty is made extremely apparent whenever he courageously follows Hrothgar’s orders, not once, but twice, to go after Grendel and then Grendel’s mother. Beowulf also demonstrates loyalty at the end of the poem when he is in battle with a dragon. During the battle “None of his comrades came to him, helped him, his brave and noble fellers; they ran for their lives, fled deep into the woods” (lines 746-749). Even though his men abandoned him, he stayed loyal to them and continued to fight for their protection.
Beowulf knew he could die in battle, but he was willing to fight for the protection of his people no matter the outcome. Another time Beowulf shows loyalty to his people is when he is lying on his deathbed, facing the fact that he might not come back. Despite the fact that he is about to die, his main concern is still his men. As Beowulf is lying on the ground in pain, he asks Wiglaf to “lead his people, help them” (lines 808-809). Beowulf was on his last leg, and his only concern was the future of GeatlandDenmark. Once again, Beowulf differs from the average man, foras he sticks by his men untiltill the end, even though they abandoned him when he needed them the most.
Lastly, Beowulf portrays the qualities of an epic hero by the way he displays persistence throughout the poem. Beowulf’s’ persistence is the reason why he is so successful in his battles. Beowulf demonstrates this when he battles Grendel’s mom. In the battle with Grendel’s mother, Beowulf brings a man-made sword that was supposed to be unstoppable. Beowulf later figures out that the sword was of no use when he attempts to strike Grendel’s mom, and the sword phases her in no way. It was at the point that Beowulf realized that he had nothing but his hands to fight, but that did not stop him from him giving his all. “Beowulf [who] longed only for fame, leaped back into battle” and defeated the bloodthirsty monster (lines 606-607). From the beginning, Beowulf had one focus:, to protect the Geats and the Danes. Beowulf never eased up. Even at the end, when he is old and aged, he maintained his point of convergence to protect the people. In order to shield his people from the beasts, Beowulf took charge of his emotional distress; he never displayed any signs of fear or lack of self-confidence. Beowulf was perpetually confident, so much so that he believed he could alter fate through courage.
Another way Beowulf displays persistence is the way in which he battles Grendel. At the beginning of the poem, before Beowulf fights Grendel, many people start to question whether he will really be able to defeat Grendel. However, this doesn’t affect Beowulf in any way. He knew that his purpose “was to win the goodwill of [the] people or die in battle, pressed / In Grendel’s fierce grip” (lines 366-368). Beowulf knew that death was a possibilityit was a possibility he could die, but he was willing to fight to his death if that’s what it took. Beowulf demonstrates persistence in every battle he fights in, and without it, he would have never been a true epic hero.
Beowulf embodies a true epic hero throughout the entirety of the poem. This is made clear as he continues to demonstrate heroic qualities, despite the adversities he faces. He performed many acts of bravery and was persistent with every battle he faced, while also remaining loyal to his people. Normal men and women do not have the attributes that Anglo-Saxon heroes do, so they must rely on heroes, like Beowulf, to fight off oppression. Beowulf was willing to do anything for his men, and that’s what made him stand out amongst the others. Beowulf died for his people, and that does not only make him a hero in the Anglo-Saxon time period, but also today.
