The Heroic Epics Of Beowulf And Sir Gawain And The Green...

The heroic epics of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight represent warrior and knightly ideal hero of bygone times; Sir Gawain displays chivalric and knightly values, while Beowulf displays a warrior hero’s values. Beowulf tells about Beowulf’s fantastical killing of the monster Grendel and Grendel’s mother. Tales of heroes are usually fantastical rather than realistic, but in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain’s brave quest and morally exhausting trails are more realistic. The physical context and cultural ideals of Beowulf, the warrior hero, are primitive and fantastical; while the physical context and ideals of Gawain, the chivalric hero, are sophisticated and relatively realistic. Since Beowulf is an older manuscript written between the eighth and eleventh centuries by an unknown author, it deals with uncivilized aspects of Anglo-Saxon culture. The critic Howell D. Chickering says about the Anglo-Saxons, â€Å"†¦they kept alive th e ancient Germanic heroic code by which they lived and died and which made them, in one historian’s happy phrase, ‘an aristocracy of the brave’† (38-39). Anglo-Saxon culture, greatly emphasized the thane’s duty to his lord. In fact, Beowulf’s identity was tied strongly to his lord, Hygelac. When he introduced himself to Hrothgar, after a long introduction of where his men came from and who they owed allegiance to, he finally stated his name, â€Å"We are retainers/From Hygelac’s band. Beowulf is my name† (342-343). Naturally, the hero ofShow MoreRelatedCompare and Contrast of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight600 Words   |  3 PagesCompare and Contrast of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Beowulf is an epic poem that was written in the Anglo-Saxon time period where only a few privileged people were able to read and write while Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which is also an epic poem, was written in the Middle English time period where reading and writing was more wide-spread. While both the epic poem Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight have similar protagonists, the main character of each poem also hasRead MoreThe Journies of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay803 Words   |  4 PagesBeowulf vs. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight In the worlds of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the journeys of two heroes, Beowulf and Sir Gawain, are depicted through the form of poems. 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