Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Comparison Essay

Hrothgar, the king of the Danes is faced with the issue of a horrible monster, Grendel tearing apart his soldiers and causing bloodshed. This is where Beowulf comes along, he is prepared with his men to defeat this monster and when the time comes Beowulf is more than ready to face him. Beowulf

Beowulf is an old Anglo-Saxon story of a terrifying monster Grendel, Grendel travels to the Danes mead hall Heorot and while the danes expect it least he attacks killing countless men purely for the joys of doing so. Hrothgar king of the Danes calls for a warrior to fight this unruly beast. After 12 long years of grendel attacking Hrothgar's calls are answered and the great warrior Beowulf comes to kill Grendel. Beowulf travels to the land of the Danes from across the seas and in the first night he kills Grendel. Sadly for Beowulf Grendel has a mother that now seeks revenge for her son's death and Beowulf is asked to kill Grendel’s mother as well. Beowulf goes to where Grendel’s mother is staying and battled her to the death , Beowulf wins

As a “bloodthirsty fiend,” Grendel was the first of the foes Beowulf battles. (line 407) He is “a powerful monster,” who “was spawned in... slime.” (lines 1, 19) He is a descendant of Cain, and chose to sacrifice the Danes to no one but himself. Grendel is “set on murder.”(49-50) Nothing can “quench his thirst for evil. (lines 52-53) Grendel stalked Herot and set his wrath loose on all who came to the hall. His mother, the “she-wolf” lived in an underwater cavern. (line 572) She is the “water witch,” one that no one’s “sword could slice her evil skin.” (lines 493, 496-497) Both characters are demons living only to hate, and cause terror in the hearts of those who know of them. The third villain comes much later than the first two. The dragon is Beowulf’s last enemy, and last battle. The beast poured out fire and smoke, and was one who “coiled and uncoiled” at the sight of a human. (line 673) The dragon menaces Beowulf’s kingdom and as an old man he is forced to fight the beast. The antagonists are evil and uncaring of human life, each choosing to end it when they please. They are bad and it shows.

The poem Beowulf includes three battles where Beowulf has to defeat the monsters known as Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a dragon. Although he is successful in defeating the three monsters, his preparation for fighting them, his motivation for going into battle, and the conclusions of the battles demonstrate similarities and differences.

Beowulf and Gawain both had key figures within their tale that influenced the struggles they faced. Beowulf was

A. Grendel will return to fight Beowulf again. They may note that Grendel is determined to battle humans and the forces of good. He is also a strong, proud, and brave monster used to winning his battles.

Upon entering the Danes' hall, Herot, Grendel is confronted by Beowulf, who immediately seizes Grendel's arms and drives fear into the monster's heart, "... [Grendel] knew at once that nowhere on earth/ Had he met a man whose hands were harder..." (lines 751-752). Through his slaughter of Grendel, Grendel's mom, the dragon, and other monsters, Beowulf proves his amazing strength to the other characters and to the readers.

Grendel, is thus seen as the descendant of an individual who epitomizes resentment and malice in Beowulf. The author states Grendel lives in exile and is seen as “mankind’s enemy”(Raffel, 22). Grendel is the representation of all that is evil and he is declared to be the “shepherd of evil and the “guardian of crime”(Raffel, 33) by the Danes in Beowulf. The author describes Grendel to be an evil, cruel, apathetic creature who’s pleasure lies in attacking and devouring Hrothgar’s men. The author describes Grendel’s malice by painting a gruesome picture of Grendel’s countless attacks on the mead hall in which he exhibits Grendel as a heartless, greedy, and violent being who mercilessly murders the men at the mead hall by tearing them apart, cutting their body into bits and drinking the blood from their veins. The author describes Grendel’s greed by stating Grendel’s thoughts were as “quick as his greed or his claws”(Raffel, 21). He describes Grendel’s as having eyes that “gleamed in the darkness and burned with a gruesome light”, swift hard claws and great sharp teeth which paints a picture of Grendel’s frightening appearance in the reader’s mind. In contrast to the traditional story of Beowulf, Grendel in John Gardner’s novel, Grendel is not depicted as a monster but as an intelligent creature capable of human thought, feelings and speech. John Gardner portrays Grendel as an outcast

Beowulf and Sir Gawain and The Green Knight are British mythological stories whose authors are unknown. The stories paint the picture of brave and selfless heroes who put the lives of their fellow men before their own. Though the stories differ in their narration, they are built on the same ideas and principles. This essay compares and contrasts the various themes in these two stories and their development. The issues discussed are the role of women, strength and courage and afterlife.

In his three major battles, Beowulf fights for many different reasons. His motivation varies, and as he grows older and wiser his attitude toward these battles also changes. Throughout the epic, Beowulf bradoshously beats Grendel, then more methodically murders Grendel’s mother, and with his last breathes humbly hollers for help to slay the dragon. This shows that Beowulf’s early focuses of glory and riches changes as he becomes a weathered warrior acknowledges that he cannot defeat his enemies alone and must utilize the resources provided to him such as armor, magical items, and companions.

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. The two stories have become two of the most important works of literature in the English history. In the two poems, both Beowulf and Sir Gawain face great challenges in their journeys as heroes. Beowulf embarks on a quest to defeat Grendel and his mother while Sir Gawain faces many difficulties on his search for the Green Knight. Although the main characters in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight exhibit many of the same characteristics, the two poems have stylistic differences and differ in societal values.

While both the characters Beowulf and Sir Gawain are similar in the fact that they are both heroes, each story uses different ways to tell their tale. From going on an adventure, to fighting the enemy, to trying and save a kingdom, both stories contain the good versus bad elements that makes the telling of two brave heroes. One way that both characters are similar is the fact that they both go on an adventure, while showing acts of bravery and selflessness. Both characters jumped at a chance to risk their lives to save their king and earn their honor and respect. However, while both characters are considered heroes, each character focuses on different values. Despite the minor differences each character has from one another, both characters

47). The intense battle between Beowulf and Gredel also symbolizes good versus evil. Gredel was described as “…this grim demon haunting the marches, marauding round the health and the desolate fens;” With the defeat of Grendel, shows that good will always conquer evil.

Grendel’s mother is the most dangerous antagonist for Beowulf during the whole story. The story starts with Beowulf battling with Grendel. Then is switches to the battle with Grendel’s mother who is getting revenge. These two battles define which is more dangerous than the other.

Throughout the history of fictional writing, cultural values of certain time periods have been expressed and implemented through the depiction of the heroes’ experiences on their journeys and the knowledge they gain by the quest’s end. For example, in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a chivalric romance written in the Late Middle Ages, Gawain epitomizes a knight with the characteristics that knights from the Late Middle Ages were expected to possess according to the requirements outlined in the rules of chivalry, such as honor and valor. Likewise, Beowulf, the hero of the folk epic Beowulf, embodies the qualities of an exemplary hero as well as king. Therefore, in both stories, the reader encounters a heroic character that is presented with traits that Anglo-Saxons and the Middle English valued in their culture through their stories’ monomyths, a concept of similar and structural sequences that can be applied to many stories, created by Joseph Campbell. Some of these values are carried from the Early to Late Middle Ages and can be seen through the works of both Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf.