Similarities Between Beowulf And The Knights In King Arthur

In the movie King Arthur, Arthur’s knights are part of the Sarmatia cavalry that is indebted to Rome, so therefore it is their duty to pledge allegiance to whomever it is that the Romans tell them to serve. However, after fifteen years of fighting alongside Arthur, the knights develop a genuine loyalty to their general, and a strong trust in him and his decisions. This is demonstrated during the final battle in the film, where the knights were finally freed, and were leaving with the remaining residents of the town. However, all of the knights turn around to aid Arthur in one final battle, willing and able to lay down their lives even though it was no longer expected of them to do so. This loyalty is similar to the loyalty of Beowulf’s men in that both groups are fully willing to die for their leader. However, unlike Beowulf’s men, Arthur’s
knights did hesitate to join Arthur in battle, and protested against the mission the Bishop gave to them in return for their freedom, saying that they would rather stay in town than go on that mission. Also, Beowulf’s men believe that loyalty is less of a requirement and more of part of their heritage. In the beginning of Beowulf, Beowulf’s men are ready to join him in the depths of a lake not even deer dare to enter, not because they have to, but because Beowulf is their leader and they would never abandon their leader. Arthur’s men joined him because they had no other choice, and at the end they began to leave because they had a chance to leave and they took it. However, in the end of the movie, Arthur’s men seemed to have joined him almost out of guilt, feeling bad that they were leaving the man that they had followed for fifteen years, and stayed because they had realized that Arthur became more of a Beowulf to them, someone that they did not want to leave. Overall, Arthur and Beowulf’s men had very similar views of loyalty, the only difference is that Arthur’s knights did not have the intrinsic loyalty of Beowulf’s men, and instead Arthur gained their loyalty over time and becoming somewhat of a brother figure to them. Arthur’s Christian ideas are different than those of Merlin, the other Britons and his knights, mainly because those people did not practice Christianity, and instead were pagans.
In certain situations, Arthur’s ideas are distinctly different than those of the pagans. Arthur said on multiple occasions that he does not believe in destiny, a dominant idea of his knights and the Britons. He instead believes in the free will of the people and that any choice that they make is not already made for them by destiny. There are also oftentimes when Arthur’s knights question his religion, wondering if praying will actually do anything for them, or if it is just a way to make Christians feel better about their choices. The Britons and Arthur’s men don’t believe in Arthur’s God, often being simply disturbed by the notion of an all-powerful being that listens to prayers but doesn’t seem to do anything about them. Overall, the fundamental differences between the ideas of the Britons and Arthur are based in the differences in religion, and the fact that the two religions are not really compatible enough to have a seamless mixture of
ideas.