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Eric Keefauver

Ms. Winter

Brit-Lit/period 1

21 October 2016

Beowulf vs sir gawain /medieval era vs anglo saxons era

Beowulf the boastful warrior, and sir Gawain the noble knight are two characters who are

portrayed as similar to each other but also different due to the time periods they were in. Beowulf

is from southern sweden and is the nephew of Higlac. Higlac is a feudal lord. Sir Gawain is a

knight serving king Arthur and is of the medieval era. These two characters are of supernatural

elements, and are of different beliefs. Beowulf is a warrior of the Anglo-Saxons period who is

portrayed as a boastful character; whereas sir Gawain from Sir Gawain And The Green Knight is

more humble because he follows chivalry, which is of the medieval era.

In Beowulf there is a character named Beowulf who is portrayed as a boastful hero.

However Beowulf decides to come help Hrothgar king of danes because he has a monster of

supernatural powers terrorizing his mead hall. This is best seen when The monsters thoughts

were as quick as his greed or his claws: He slipped through the door and there in the silence

snatched up thirty men, and smashed them unknowing in their beds, and ran out with their

bodies(lines 34-38). King Hrothgar obviously wants this monster gone because he is so

powerful, and capable of slaughtering so many men at once. However this monster they call

grendel In Herot, when the night hid him, he never dared to touch king Hrothgar's glorious
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throne, protected by God - God, whose love grendel could not know(lines 82-85). This line goes

to show that christianity is really a big factor when it comes to the tale of Beowulf. This is why

beowulf defeats grendel and lives to fight another battle because in the Anglo-Saxons era good

always overpowered evil, which is also the case in christianity.

What is learned about Beowulf as a hero, and also the cultural aspects of the time period?

Well Beowulf was very Boastful about killing grendel. This is best seen when A prince of the

Geats, Had killed Grendel, ended the grief, the sorrow, the suffering forced on Hrothgar's

helpless people by a bloodthirsty fiend. No dane doubted the victory, for the proof, hanging high

from the rafters where Beowulf had hung it, was the monster's arm, claw and shoulder and

all(lines 511-17). This goes to show Beowulf is very boastful about his heroic acts. However on

the other hand we see this strong cultural belief in fate or wyrd. Beowulf is best seen showing

this when he says when we crossed the sea, my comrades and I, I already knew that all my

purpose was this: to win the goodwill of your people or die in battle, pressed in grendel's fierce

grip(lines 364-68). This goes to show that Beowulf had a certain cultural belief. That even

though you may die in battle you accept that, and fight anyway. The cultural belief of wyrd was

strongly encouraged during the Anglo-saxons period. Hence why beowulf could have died, but

still went into battle with his head up ready to fight.

In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight there is a character named Sir Gawain who is a

humble knight whose courage is tested. This is best seen when the Green Knight says You can't

be Gawain, he said, who's thought so good, a man who's never been daunted on hill or dale! For

look how you flinch for fear before anything is felt(lines 111-13). This shows the vulnerability

of men and how the medieval era was different from the Anglo-Saxons era because Sir Gawain
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was in this situation because he was involved with a woman. However Beowulf had no woman

that he was distracted by during his quest. Also Sir Gawain is a different hero from beowulf

because Sir Gawain was a knight and he followed chivalry and was humble. Whereas beowulf

was very boastful and the direct opposite of humble. Sir Gawain was So miserable with

disgrace he wept within, and all the blood of his chest went up to his face and he shrank away in

shame from the man's gentle words(Lines 211-13). This again is a direct example of the

vulnerability of men which was big in the medieval era. Hence why Sir Gawain was so shameful

for not taking the sash off and for accepting kisses from king Arthur's wife.

In reading Sir gawain and the green knight, a few different things are learned. The first is

the vulnerability of men during the medieval era. Another is catholicism is the dominant religion

of this era. The reader also learns that Sir Gawain stays true to the code of chivalry. This is best

seen when the Green Knight raises that ax up lightly and flashes it down, and that blinding bit

bites in at the knights bare neck(lines 150-1). This shows that Sir Gawain was willing to give

the green knight a fair shot since Sir Gawain got one. Which shows that Sir Gawain is kind of

similar to Beowulf. This is best seen in Beowulf when beowulf Leaned up on one arm That

shepherd of evil, guardian of crime, Knew at once that nowhere on earth had he met a man

whose hands were harder(lines 431-34). This shows that beowulf and sir gawain are similar

because they both in fact gave their opponent a fair chance. Beowulf because he fought Grendel

with his bare hands and Sir Gawain because he stood true to his word and gave the Knight a fair

shot.

In conclusion to this essay the character beowulf was very different from the character Sir

Gawain. Although there were some minor similarities between the time periods because of
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religion. For example chivalry was of the medieval era and one of the codes of chivalry is fair

fighting and this was also a belief of the Anglo-saxon era. These two characters were also

portrayed through a christian viewpoint which might be in correspondence with the similarities

of religious beliefs. However Beowulf and Sir Gawain were portrayed as two totally different

warriors when compared.

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Works cited

Beowulf elements of literature sixth course; literature of Britain with world classics

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight elements of literature sixth course; literature of Britain with

world classics