British literature has many interesting stories that involve numerous journeys with many different types of characters that span from hero down to a miller. Many of the adventures have unbelievable strengths or happenings like magical events that cause for modern day readers to be skeptical of the truth behind the stories, but one must remember that the stories have been passed along, some for many hundreds of years, before ever being written down to read. Back then, many people could not read nor write, so the way stories were told were by way of mouth. Both Beowulf written by an Unknown author and Sir Gawain and The Green Knight written by the Pearl Poet were stories just alike who have characters whom embark on journeys that are quite …show more content…
Hrothgar pronounces to Beowulf, “Beowulf, my friend, you have traveled here to favor us with help and to fight for us… It bothers me to have to burden anyone with all the grief that Grendel has caused and the havoc he has wreaked upon us in Heorot” (Unknown 51). This excerpt is from when Hrothgar is thanking Beowulf for sacrificing his life to get to their lands and save them from the deathly monster, Grendel. Sir Gawain is very similar to Beowulf in this matter for the fact that he willingly went to search for the Green Knight. One thing that is different about the story is that Sir Gawain had a possible negative outcome if he did not find the Green Knight by a year and one day from the time that he cut off his head. So Sir Gawain put off looking for the Green Knight for quite a long time, but then decided to hold up his end of the deal and went to search for him because of his chivalrous ways from being a knight. Line 62-65 read, “Yet Keeping calm the knight just quipped, ‘Why should I shy away. If fate is king. or cruel, man still must try.’” (Pearl Poet 197). This is passage is when Sir Gawain decides to go on his mission to find the Green Knight instead of being a coward and backing out of the deal. Beowulf and Sir Gawain both choose to travel across new territory …show more content…
Both tales are of brave men who come to be confronted by their abilities to move forward in situations that challenge their self-worth, trust, and strength whether it is in the physical or mental sense. It is not always easy comparing two stories that have completely different outlines, but when looking deeper into the matter, there is always similarities among those who embark on adventures that could compare almost to nothing possible during the current day. Early British literature can be blunt and brutal some times, but most of the time it tells wonderful stories of a daring individual who uses their strengths and weaknesses to create an overall positive outcome on their journeys
Michael Crichton intertwined some aspects of Beowulf with his own thoughts to produce the drama, “The 13th Warrior.” Beowulf, written down by an unnamed Christian monk in the 8th century, served as a framework for the plot of “The 13th Warrior.” Beowulf and “The 13th Warrior” have many differences but the similarities that they share are more abundant through out the two pieces.
To compare the movie Brave with Anglo-Saxon in the Brave her father lost his leg and it became a legend. Just like when Beowulf attacked Grendel the and cropped off his arm. With that arm they used it as a trophy and in the movie in the dinning room they have a stuffed bear that could resemble like the arm from Grendel. Fergus is like the king in the story Beowulf because they both want to protect the people of their kingdom. At the very beginning of the movie a bear tries to attack Fergus’s family and him and his army attack the bear to protect his family. In Beowulf the king send out Beowulf to protect his kingdom because Grendel was sneaking in at night and killing off his people. And the king’s purpose is to protect his people of the
What is hero? A hero, under the Merriam-Webster definition, is a person who is admired for brave/great acts or fine qualities. This is a very broad definition that combines both ancient and modern belief of what --or who-- a hero should be. Beowulf is an epic poem that focuses on an Anglo-Saxon hero. As such he embodies the traits that his culture valued most. Deadpool, on the other hand, portrays the most recent ideas of what traits a hero should embody. With these examples from contrasting periods, we are still able to see similarities and differences that shows how modern and Anglo-Saxon idea of heroism reflects its culture.
One of the main topics discussed in lesson one is the fact that heroes over time and overseas all heroes have something in common; which is true in the case of King Arthur and Beowulf. It is obvious that they are similar in the fact that they are both heroes, but what makes them an idol of their time and in their culture are poles apart. There are many things that are different about Beowulf and King Arthur, but the ones that stand out the most are what kind of hero they are and what actions they did to make them heroic. Both heroes possess qualities that others do not have, but it is what they do with those abilities that prompts someone to write a story about them and idolize them in time.
Heroes come in many forms. The construction of "the heroic" has taken many forms, yet traits such as: courage, honor, and loyalty, reappear as themes throughout the "hero" personality. The characters of Beowulf and Sir Gawain each represent a version of a hero, yet each comes across quite differently in their story. A hero can be said to truly win if he remains constant to his noble values when put in any situation that crosses his way. When measured by that criterion, Sir Gawain stands out above Beowulf as a true hero, due to his command of both personal and spiritual power through the use of thought, as well as valiant deeds.
Beowulf represents what a modern hero truly is rather than Dante the pilgrim, because he displays qualities of courage, pride, and humility. In order to be considered a modern hero the individual must demonstrate these particular qualities, and courage, pride, and humility should be reflected in the actions they make.
Initially, Gawain’s strongest trait is humility, Beowulf’s is pride. In the beginning of Gawain and the Green Knight, a mysterious warrior enters King Arthur’s court to extend a challenge. Although he knows others in the court would handle the challenge better than him, out of respect, when King Arthur attempts to accept the challenge Gawain comes forth and suggests he takes his place. Gawain presents himself as “the weakest of them, I know, and the dullest-minded/ so my death would be least loss, if truth should be told/ only because you are my uncle am I to be praised/ no virtue I know in myself but your blood” (Broadview Analogy 269). Instead of bragging about his bravery, Gawain acts modestly and states that his death would be of little loss during this challenge. He is not self-absorbed and gives off the impression that the only reason he is a knight is because of his relation with King Arthur. By stating this, he gives off the impression that his self confidence is quite weak; this is astonishing for a character of this era. Although King Arthur has at least one of his knights to be proud of, it seems as though
Though Sir Gawain is brave, Beowulf seems more naturally heroic. He goes to the land of the Danes of his own volition. His king does not order him to go. He tells his king that he wishes to go help the Danes defeat Grendel, because he believes he can and should. His people support him because they know what a great warrior and leader he is. He also wants to help King Hrothgar because his father was in debt to Hrothgar and he wants to pay that debt. He wants to honor his father and his father’s word. Beowulf holds himself to a code of honor when he does not have to do so. He risks his life for a country he is not a part of.
The title characters in both Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight were both considered paragons of excellence by their peoples. Yet, upon close inspection of the specific actions of these characters, stark differences emerge. While Gawain is virtuous and exemplifies selflessness, Beowulf's heroism is marred by his pursuit of fame and wealth, which seems to dominate his every action. The discrepancy can be explained by a contextual analysis of both heroes. Gawain's code of chivalry emphasizes perfection and thus he is flawless.
Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarsson 2005) depicts a very different protagonist than the one in the epic (Heaney 2000). The Beowulf in the film learns how to have mercy as the movie progresses, while the epic Beowulf is very flat. This is due to the fact that the modern culture is very different from that of the epic. Our culture isn't content with such characters. We want our characters to have more lifelike characteristics such as emotions and a change of heart.
This essay is the comparison between Beowulf and a modern day hero. I consider any American soldier to be my modern day hero. In this essay I will explain in three paragraphs of how my modern day hero is like Beowulf. With in these three paragraphs I will go over how they are both fighting for a good cause, how they are both rewarded for what they do, and how they are both treated with much respect.
Both narratives compare as timeless tales of reputable heroes. They both include similar plots of long journeys back home. The main characters’ flaws are arrogance which is the source of many of their troubles.
Erika Mercado Essay 2 Modern Heroes: Dante vs Beowulf A modern hero is a good-hearted person with these attributes: bravery, strong, and contributes to saving the lives of his homelands. Beowulf demonstrates the characteristics of a modern hero: a leader, fearless, and generous. Beowulf is a young hero whose character exerts powerful strength in battles. Dante the Pilgrim does not display hero attributes in The Inferno.
In the stories of Beowulf and A Knight's Tale, there are many different themes. One of the major themes is the religion that runs through both of them, yet both stories have a very different view of religion. In Beowulf, it seems as if God has chosen where our life will end and where it will begin, everything happens by the will of God in a fair and just way. In The Knight's Tale, we see Greek gods playing with the characters and when they "play" with them, there is no real pattern to how they choose things. Each vies is different and this affects the stories in different ways.
The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. Many have disagreed with such a simplistic and biased representation of Grendel and his role in the epic poem. John Gardner in his book, Grendel set out to change the reader’s perception of Grendel and his role in Beowulf by narrating the story through Grendel’s point of view. John Gardner transforms the perceived terrible evil fiend who is Grendel into a lonely but intelligent outcast who bears a striking resemblance to his human adversaries. In Grendel, John Gardner portrays Grendel as an intelligent being capable of rational thought as well as displaying outbursts of emotion. He portrays Grendel as a hurt individual and as a victim of oppression ostracized from civilization. The author of Beowulf portrays Grendel as the typical monster archetype as compared to John Gardner’s representation of Grendel as an outcast archetype.