Beowulf And Gawain Research Paper

652 Words2 Pages

Who is a real one? A hero is person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. Beowulf and Gawain can both be certainly called heroes. They have qualities and characteristics of a great and heroic knight. They are both gallant, brave, and honorable in their society. Although, after reading stories about them, one can see how they follow different codes. Reader may see one character as more or less of a hero than the other one, but these two stories were created in different time periods and people valued different things. Comparing Beowulf and Gawain we can see how different they were and what actions they thought characterized them as heroes. By analyzing the differences in the storyline, the hero’s adventure and the battle scenes, Anglo Saxon and Christian heroes are different in their nature. Even though Sir Gawain and Beowulf share a lot of common characteristics, their differences are much greater. Beowulf is a type of a hero that we create in our mind in today’s society. He fights evil, trying to protect his people and his lands. He was a great warrior with …show more content…

He is a romantic hero and we see how his actions are different from actions of Beowulf. Gawain cares about what other may say or think about him. He needs to prove himself brave and loyal to his lord at all times. In the story, Sir Gawain neither fights, nor protects anybody from evil. The whole plot is based on his trip to find a Green Knight to let him chop off his head as he lost a bet a year earlier. Many would say that Gawain is not a hero, others will prove them wrong. Anyways, at the time of this story, Gawain’s deed was considered heroic. “Many strange and curious wonders have happened in Britain since the days of Brutus whose race came from Troy. But surely this tale of Gawain and his contest with the Green Knight in a trial of honor and faith is one of the most wondrous.”

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