Beowulf's Virtue In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight
Throughout history, different cultures have held different virtues in the highest regard. The Anglo-Saxons, like the anonymous scop of the poem Beowulf, valued strength and courage over any other quality. On the other hand, the earliest English people, like the poet of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, respected honor and the basic codes of chivalry over all else. Both Beowulf and Sir Gawain, therefore, display the most favored qualities of their people: Beowulf by defeating monsters, performing great feats of courage, and telling of his deeds; Gawain by being loyal, brave, and honest. Both sets of qualities are displayed throughout each tale.
In Beowulf, written in about the fourth century AD, the hero's first major test is to fight a huge …show more content…
Gawain must show how brave he is by making a long and difficult journey to fulfill his oath, and die at the hands of the Green Knight. Beowulf must show his courage by fighting off large monsters, even to the last day of his life. "Why should I be dismayed? /Of doom the fair or drear/ by a man must be assayed" (24) shows how Gawain believes a hero should conduct himself, with dignity and honor. He does not believe that journeying to his death will be such a bad thing, since it will allow him to keep his honor intact. This sounds very similar to "Let me live in greatness/ and courage, or here in this hall welcome my death," Beowulf's concept of bravery. Beowulf believes that either he is going to win, and kill Grendel, or Grendel will win and kill him. Either way, it is up to wyrd, his Fate. The resemblance continues with the theme of generosity. Both try their very hardest to not simply keep all their earned wealth (or lack thereof) to themselves. Beowulf, upon receiving heaping treasures from Hrothgar, promptly dispenses it among his men. He even "rewarded the boat's watchman/ who had stayed behind, with a sword that had hammered/ gold wound on its handle," (1901-03) showing how he treats all his men as equals. The watchman's job, to him, was just as important as all the other warriors that actually traveled with him. Similarly, Sir Gawain tells the lord of the
In Beowulf, written in about the fourth century AD, the hero's first major test is to fight a huge …show more content…
Gawain must show how brave he is by making a long and difficult journey to fulfill his oath, and die at the hands of the Green Knight. Beowulf must show his courage by fighting off large monsters, even to the last day of his life. "Why should I be dismayed? /Of doom the fair or drear/ by a man must be assayed" (24) shows how Gawain believes a hero should conduct himself, with dignity and honor. He does not believe that journeying to his death will be such a bad thing, since it will allow him to keep his honor intact. This sounds very similar to "Let me live in greatness/ and courage, or here in this hall welcome my death," Beowulf's concept of bravery. Beowulf believes that either he is going to win, and kill Grendel, or Grendel will win and kill him. Either way, it is up to wyrd, his Fate. The resemblance continues with the theme of generosity. Both try their very hardest to not simply keep all their earned wealth (or lack thereof) to themselves. Beowulf, upon receiving heaping treasures from Hrothgar, promptly dispenses it among his men. He even "rewarded the boat's watchman/ who had stayed behind, with a sword that had hammered/ gold wound on its handle," (1901-03) showing how he treats all his men as equals. The watchman's job, to him, was just as important as all the other warriors that actually traveled with him. Similarly, Sir Gawain tells the lord of the