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"Beowulf" And "Sir Gawain": Compare And Contrast

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Beowulf — Comparison Of Beowulf And Sir Gawain As Heroes

Comparison of Beowulf and Sir Gawain as Heroes

• Categories: Beowulf Sir Gawain and The Green Knight

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Published: Dec 16, 2021

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• Jambeck, T. J. (1973). THE SYNTAX OF PETITION IN" BEOWULF" AND" SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT". Style, 21-29. (https://www.jstor.org/stable/42945149)
• Burrow, J. A. (2019). A reading of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Routledge. (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429060557/reading-sir-gawain-green-knight-burrow)
• van Meeuwen, R. S. (2018). Monstrosity in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Bachelor's thesis). (https://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/30271)
• Thomas, A., & Thomas, A. (2018). Writing, Memory, and Revenge in Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Hamlet. Shakespeare, Catholicism, and the Middle Ages: Maimed Rights, 113-147. (https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-90218-0_4)
• Hunter, S. M. (1984). TALES, TELLERS, AND AUDIENCES: NARRATIVE STRUCTURE AND AESTHETIC RESPONSE IN" BEOWULF"," PEARL"," CLEANNESS"," PATIENCE", AND" SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT". University of California, Riverside. (https://www.proquest.com/openview/d6dcc469b38fea5f718bc195f8ec9e14/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y)

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Heroism of Beowulf and Sir Gawain Comparison

The ancient world is often characterized as a world of evil pagan belief systems, full of multiple gods and evil supernatural adversaries. A large part of this characterization may even come from Christian perception of the Old Code as stories of demi-gods, the products of licentious gods and mortal mistresses, shocked their monogamous and even celibate moralities. However, ancient English texts such as the story of Beowulf, first recorded sometime around 1000 AD but existing in the oral tradition for centuries prior, reveal many values of the ancients that were actually in line with the tenets of the Christian ideals. The behavior of characters in an epic such as Beowulf typically makes a clear distinction between the concepts of barbarism and civility, morality and immorality, humility and boastfulness when attempting to define those attributes that make a hero as it is seen in the culture from which the epic is produced. Of the characters in this epic, both Beowulf and King Hrothgar are seen as examples of the Old Code’s definition of hero, demonstrating the distinction made as a concession to age. Similarly, the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, pulled his story from ancient oral tradition, blending it with other stories and producing a work that demonstrates the new Christian definition of heroic, based strongly on the degree to which a man demonstrated civility, a sense of mortality and humility, again with a distinction made as a concession to age. Despite its age and seeming isolation, the Beowulf poet seems to have held many of the same ideals and beliefs regarding those attributes that make a man a hero that would be held by the Christians as represented through stories such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

In Beowulf, both Hrothgar and Beowulf demonstrate the same level of devotion to the old heroic code of the Germanic tribes. This code placed a lot of value on things like strength and loyalty in warriors, hospitality and political skill in leaders, the presentable nature of women, and the good reputation of the people everyone associates with (Tierney-Hynes, 2000).

In describing how he worked to save Beowulf’s father’s good name, Hrothgar tells Beowulf “Great was the feud that your father set off when his hand struck down Heatholaf in death among the Wylfings. … I then settled the feud with fitting payment, sent to the Wylfings over the water’s back old things of beauty; against which I’d the oath of your father” (459-61; 470-72). In this, Hrothgar is recounting how the two families are connected in honor, allowing him to accept the help of Beowulf without losing any of his current power or heroic status. Hrothgar is old and in no fit condition to be battling monsters. Yet he has been a good leader, a great provider, and a true friend for those in need. It is now fitting that he should be provided with a champion to fight his battles for him as repayment for a service done in kind. This illustrates the importance of civility and manners in dealing with each other and the presence of a complex social order in which bonds of friendship were backed up with action.

Hrothgar is aware of the dangers of power that Beowulf is likely to encounter during his lifetime and seeks to warn him of them, indicating a distinct difference between the moral conscience between the civilized culture and that of the barbarian culture that doesn’t recognize such issues. Just before the Geats depart from Heorot, he warns Beowulf against the sins of pride and greed as they will creep into his heart whether he will or no. “Beloved Beowulf, best of warriors, resist this deadly taint, take what is better, your lasting profit. Put away arrogance, noble fighter! The noon of your strength shall last for a while now, but in a little time, sickness or a sword shall swipe it from you” (1758-63). This speech again calls attention to the difference between what is expected of an old hero and what is expected of a new hero. Hrothgar realizes that Beowulf will begin to reap the rewards of the great deeds he has accomplished and will be widely recognized as a strong and brave leader. However, he is also aware that a man who would continue to be considered a hero into his old age, should he live so long, must also remember to retain his humility before his people. Hrothgar’s generosity in the mead hall reinforces the idea that generosity and ample support of your men is both an expected responsibility as well as an important characteristic of the heroic man; it is his obligation to look out for those below him to the best of his ability.

As Hrothgar is seen as the epitome of the old hero, allowing others to pay back their debts to him for previous great deeds accomplished in their name by allowing their children to now accomplish the deeds he cannot do himself, Beowulf emerges as an example of a young hero in the making. His attention to civility is evidenced in his willingness to stand in his father’s place to repay a debt owed to King Hrothgar, as has already been discussed.

Although he must assure Hrothgar that he is capable of accomplishing the task set before him, Beowulf is careful to remain humble, particularly within his first encounter with a monster. His status as a hero is bestowed upon him as a result of his physical prowess, his ability to get the job done. No one asks him for his advice but neither does anyone seem to question the wisdom of his plan of attack. He is seen as having the powers of a god, which is stated explicitly as Grendel dies. Nearing death, Grendel realizes that he, “once the affliction of men, tormentor of their days—[knew] what it meant to feud with the Almighty God” (Beowulf 490-492).

Although Grendel’s mother seems to have the advantage in Beowulf’s next battle, the Beowulf poet again suggests divine origins, “God, who sent him victory, gave judgment for truth and right, Ruler of Heavens, once Beowulf was back on his feet and fighting”(630-632). When Beowulf wins the battle, he sees a divine light descending from the heavens. The poet describes the light as “As though burning in that hall, and as bright as heavens own cradle, lit in the sky”(647-648). This pronounces Beowulf a hero to everyone around and establishes his reputation for the future, again based solely upon his physical actions and his demonstrated skill in outsmarting her. However, again, it is done in such a way that there can be no denying it but Beowulf himself has no need of proclaiming it.

The Anglo-Saxons believed that “life was a struggle against insuperable odds and that a man’s wyrd or lot would be what it would be” (Chickering 269), however, they also evidently believed that a man could bring on his destruction through a loss of one of the major heroic virtues. As a much older man, Beowulf’s final battle is against the dragon. While not much is told about what has happened in the intervening time, it is made clear that Beowulf has ruled well and his people have prospered, he has grown significantly more boastful regarding his earlier conquests and has lost much of his humility. As Beowulf faces the dragon, “his sacrificial death is not seen as tragic, but as the fitting end of a good (some would say ‘too good’) hero’s life” (Bolton 1). In the Old Code, dragons violated the values and conceptions of the good king because of how they hoarded their treasures, rather than sharing them with others (Feldman, 1997). This is perhaps most easily seen by comparing the activities of Hrothgar at the beginning of the story with the actions of the dragon at the end. While Hrothgar spends much of his time awarding rings and other awards to his thanes or warriors, the dragon sleeps peacefully as long as his entire treasure is secure beneath his body. When a runaway slave takes a goblet from the lair as a means of buying off his lord’s wrath, the dragon awakens and begins to terrorize the countryside. Beowulf interprets this as a sign that the gods are angered with him and he must meet the challenge alone. This makes a connection between Beowulf and the dragon that was not made between Hrothgar and Grendel. Although Hrothgar also interpreted the appearance of a beast in his midst as a sign that he had done something wrong as a king, he was aware of his mortality to allow someone else to go fight the battle for him. Beowulf is unwilling to relinquish the power of the young hero to retire into the role of the old hero and dies as a result, giving rise to the new hero despite himself.

While Gawain doesn’t have the same kind of family connection with the Green Knight, or Lord Bercilak, that Beowulf shares with Hrothgar, he has the same kind of tutoring relationship with the older man, who is seen to be the shining example of the heroic code.

Where Beowulf only had Hrothgar as an example, Gawain is seen to be under the care of King Arthur when the Green Knight appears in his court. When Arthur’s court is criticized for cowardice by the Green Knight, someone must rise to the challenge as a means of protecting the honor of the court. To prevent the king from risking his neck, Gawain proves his loyalty, courage, and honor by accepting the Green Knight’s challenge himself. At the most basic level, this action is the same as that of Beowulf in coming to help Hrothgar with his problems. Again it can be seen that the older lord, having proven his heroic status in his youth, is now able to call upon the younger generation to provide the physical hero while allowing the elder to remain the philosophical one.

There is a notable difference, though, in that Beowulf comes seeking adventure and glory while these seem almost thrust upon Gawain involuntarily. According to Garbis, an important element of the Arthurian tradition is the concept of the reluctant hero. “Some kind of shock occurs that makes one aware of the self” (Garbis, 2002) occurs as Gawain realizes that he is the only one capable of accepting the challenge. This is, in large part, the result of his conclusion that he is the least valuable knight in the court and therefore the one most expendable should he fail to win the challenge. “I am the weakest, the most wanting in wisdom, I know, and my life, if lost, would be least missed, truly” (I.16.354-355). Rather than striding forward with pride and prattling off these words as if they were merely for show, Gawain’s initial reluctance and hesitating approach to the king makes it clear that these ideas are just not becoming completely clear to him and he is as sincere as he can be in stating them aloud.

This demonstrates a new level of humility to that experienced in Beowulf as the hero is almost so humble that he becomes powerless. Knowledge of the life of Gawain within other Arthurian legends already enabled many who heard this story to know he would never lose this sense of humility and that it would serve him well as the epitome of the ideal and pure knight; however, even in this poem, the humility of this sort is seen to be prized over bravery.

The concept of civility was also obviously an important element of the true knight as part of the heroic code of the more Christian-minded society of Sir Gawain. Like Beowulf’s appearance in Hrothgar’s hall, Gawain demonstrates extreme politeness in interrupting Arthur’s battle preparations. He asks permission to leave the table and requests the forgiveness of his liege-lady before he attempts to supplant her husband within the hero’s circle. To be sure there is no misunderstanding, he also makes sure to mention the bravery and the high quality of the other knights gathered within the room before he offers to take Arthur’s place before the Green Knight. The Green Knight enters Arthur’s court with his challenge knowing that the code of chivalry will assure the individual will arrive on the appointed day in the future to receive his blow. After Gawain strikes off the Green Knight’s head, the only surety the Green Knight needs to guarantee Gawain’s appearance at the appointed place and time is Gawain’s word that he will do so. That bravery hasn’t completely left the picture of the true hero is alluded to in the Green Knight’s final words before Arthur’s court, telling Gawain how to find him and reminding him, “So come, or else be called coward accordingly” (I.20. 456). No one forces Gawain to leave Arthur’s castle at the appropriate time and no one guards him to be sure he doesn’t run away, but Gawain sets off in search of the Green Chapel in plenty of time to find it with time to spare, ending up spending three days at Lord Bercilak’s castle.

Civility is also a great component of the lessons that Gawain learns as a result of his process through this adventure. During the three days that Gawain spends with the couple, the lord goes hunting while the lady attempts to seduce Gawain, with the test being whether Gawain will honor his agreement with the lord to exchange all that they gained each day.

Gawain resists the lady’s temptations the first two days accepting only a few relatively chaste kisses from the lady and dutifully giving the lord the kisses he received each evening.

However, he fails to produce the green sash the lady provides him on the third day. This is because the lady has promised him that the sash will offer him protection from death when the Green Knight strikes: “For the man that binds his body with this belt of green, as long as he laps it closely about him, no hero under heaven can hack him to pieces, for he cannot be killed by any cunning on earth” (II.74.1851-1854). When Gawain faces the Green Knight on the appointed day, he learns it is Lord Bercilak, who delivers two false blows of the ax and barely nicks Gawain with the third as punishment for his failure regarding the girdle. He does not kill him because Gawain has shown an appropriate sense of his mortality in desiring to keep the lady’s gift and his own life. Through this exchange, the Green Knight has been teaching Gawain the necessity of staying true to the code.

Again, however, there are important differences between the story of Beowulf and that of Gawain. While Beowulf’s journey to hero status was very straightforward – he repays his father’s debt, he slays some obvious monsters and he is honored by heaven above with recognition of his heroic deeds – Gawain’s accomplishment remains as humble as he first presented himself.

The only true knowledge anyone has of Gawain’s adventure is through the hearing of it from Gawain himself. In keeping with his true hero’s humility, Gawain returns to Arthur’s castle with nothing more than a small cut on his neck and a green sash. His hero’s story is reduced to a confession of great sin and his grand memorial is not to attain a throne of his own, as in Beowulf, but to be reminded of his shame and humiliation by every knight of the realm wearing a bit of green to commemorate the occasion. Gawain tells the court, “this is the figure of the faithlessness found in me, which I must need wear while I live. For man can conceal sin but not dissever from it, so when it is once fixed, it will never be worked loose” (IV.101.2509-2512). They do this in amicable agreement with Gawain that they must have something to keep them humble and with a half-joking spirit, but the fact remains that Gawain’s ‘glory’ is little more than a reminder of his imperfection.

In addition to the much less ‘heroic’ end to Gawain’s tale as compared to Beowulf, who was able to rule in riches and wealth until he finally died like a man in an epic battle against evil, Gawain’s story delves deeper into what it meant to be a hero and how one was supposed to live the lifestyle. Within his story, Gawain is faced with mutually exclusive choices in determining which portions of the chivalric code to uphold when he is faced with the Lady. The true knight would receive a lady of this sort in gentlemanly fashion by accepting what she so arduously presses upon him (Price, 1997). However, it was also important that a true knight adheres to the Christian codes of morality by not participating in adultery. “Gawain is forced to make a choice between courtesy and adultery, either of which would result in the dishonor of either the lady or his host, respectively” (Kallday, 2007). Either choice he makes breaks the code, so he must determine the greater wrong on his own. That his choice was the right one is emphasized by his surviving the encounter with the Green Knight, but ultimately, he fails the test in his acceptance of the Lady’s green sash. “A truly ideal and perfect knight would not keep the girdle to save his own life, because the host knight asked for an exchange of all things gained during the day. Yet at the same time, Gawain must obey the rules of courtliness, and accept the girdle from the host’s lady” (Kallday, 2007), again presenting him with an impossible choice to make. While he failed to honor his agreement with his host regarding the exchange, this is an understandable failing as it was a matter of life and death with relatively little harm or dishonor brought upon the host as a result. Thus, Gawain was permitted to live but forced to suffer a mark of his cowardice.

As the traditions of the Old Code were represented in the stories of ancient myth and legend such as Beowulf, they reflect many of the important elements of Christian identity as expressed through stories such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Hrothgar and Beowulf illustrate the importance of generosity, loyalty, bravery, honor, and morality within their stories as examples of the young and the old hero. In both characters, the concept of civility is demonstrated to be as important as humility in defining the true hero, but not as important as bravery in battle, whether this means to sit on the sidelines, to fight in the trenches, or to refuse unworthy aid despite the nature of the trouble. The definition of bravery necessarily shifted depending upon the age of the hero. A young hero who would allow someone else to fight their battles for them was seen instead as a coward while an old hero who refused to relinquish control to a more able-bodied man was equally seen in a negative light. Thus, a realistic conception of the effects of age and mortality was also considered to be a strong defining characteristic of the true hero. These same attributes can be found in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, although in different proportions. The heroic values can still be identified as humility, a sense of mortality, and bravery, but the relative importance of these has shifted. Humility can be seen as perhaps the most important defining characteristic of the hero, that he behaves in a certain way out of a sincere concern for his fellow man rather than for any thoughts, positive or negative, for himself. Following this was the concept of civility in that the true hero must always behave appropriately regardless of the perceived consequences or risks. Only when these two traits were mastered did one look beyond them to the concept of bravery. While both stories demonstrate a similar conception of the hero, development of the idea can be seen within the later story as it investigates to greater depth and places differing relative importance on the major elements of the true heroic character.

Works Cited

Alexander, M. (Trans.). Beowulf. London: Penguin Books, 1973.

Bolton, W.F. The New History of Literature: The Middle Ages. New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1986.

Chickering, Harold D. Jr. Beowulf: A Dual Language Edition. New York: Doubleday, 1977, 267-277.

Feldman, Gina and James Sigona. “Beowulf: The Final Moments.” Research Web Page for Interdisciplinary Course: INT296. New York: Pace University, 1997.

Garbis, Michelle R. Archetypes. (2002).

Kallday, TM. “Gawain: Noble or Naïve?” (2007).

Price, Brian R. “A Code of Chivalry.” Chronique. (1997).

Stone, Brian (Trans.). Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. New York: Penguin Classics, 1974.

Tierney-Hynes, Rebecca. “The Heroic Ethos: Reality and Representation.” Chass. Toronto: University of Toronto, 2000.

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Writing, Memory, and Revenge in Beowulf , Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , and Hamlet

• First Online: 19 June 2018

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• Alfred Thomas 3  

Part of the book series: The New Middle Ages ((TNMA))

This chapter addresses the connection between memory and revenge in the medieval epic Beowulf , the chronicle History of the Danes ( Gesta Danorum ) by Saxo Grammaticus, and in Hamlet . When Hamlet’s father returns from the dead to urge his son to avenge his murder by his own brother, the scene reprises the moment in Beowulf when Grendel emerges from the darkness of the Danish landscape to take revenge on Hrothgar and his mead-hall. In both cases their origins and identity are obscure. Who or what is Grendel? Is he human or monster? And what exactly, Hamlet constantly asks himself, is the nature of the apparition that visits him? This uncertainty is precisely what drives—or rather fails to drive—his revenge. Hamlet is torn between the need to mourn his father and the urge to avenge him; and this confusion arises from the Ghost’s own mixed messages. At first he enjoins Hamlet to wreak revenge for his murder, but his valedictory words to his son are “Remember me!” Memory thus becomes revenge by other means, just as for English Catholics the memory of the old religion was a means to resist and even enact revenge on the Elizabethan settlement.

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Hamlet: The Texts of 1603 and 1623 , edited by Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor (London: The Arden Shakespeare, 2006).

See Gerard Kilroy, “Requiem for a Prince: Rites of Memory in Hamlet ” in Theatre and Religion: Lancastrian Shakespeare , 243–260.

See Ethan Shagan, The Rule of Moderation: Violence, Religion, and the Politics of Restraint in Early Modern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).

Beowulf , edited by Michael Swanton (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997), second edition, 39.

See David Bevington, Murder Most Foul: Hamlet through the Ages (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 12.

See Saxo Grammaticus and the Life of Hamlet , translated with a commentary by William F. Hansen (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1983), 1 ff.

The Saga of the Volsungs , translated by Jessy L. Byock (London: Penguin Classics, 1990), 46–47.

For the repressed subtext of incest in Beowulf , see James W. Earl, “The Forbidden Beowulf : Haunted by Incest.” PMLA vol. 125, no. 2 (March 2010): 289–305.

J. R. R. Tolkien, “ Beowulf : The Monsters and the Critics.” Proceedings of the British Academy 22 (1936): 245–295.

Gildas, The Ruin of Britain and Other Works , edited and translated by Michael Winterbottom (London, 1978), 17.

See J. R. R. Tolkien, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary , edited by Christopher Tolkien (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014), 182–186 (184).

John D. Niles, “Beowulf and Lejre” in Beowulf and Lejre , edited by John. D. Niles (Tempe, AZ: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2007), 169–234.

See Anders Winroth, The Age of the Vikings (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014), 15–19.

Richard Fletcher, Bloodfeud: Murder and Revenge in Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 11.

For this discussion, see Helen Cooper, “The Supernatural” in A Companion to the Gawain-Poet , 277–291 (286).

For the complexity and ambiguity of the color green in the poem, see Derek Brewer, “The Colour Green” in A Companion to the Gawain-Poet , edited by Derek Brewer and Jonathan Gibson (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1997), 181–190.

For the importance of topographical references to the local landscape familiar to the Gawain -poet, see Ralph Elliott, “Landscape and Geography” in A Companion to the Gawain-Poet , 105–117.

Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England c. 1400–1580 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992), 495.

See Gary Waller, Walsingham and the English Imagination (London: Routledge, 2011).

Quoted from Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars , 377.

Les deux poèmes de la Folie Tristan , edited by Joseph Bédier (Paris: Didot, 1907).

John Klause, “Politics, Heresy and Martyrdom in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 124 and Titus Andronicus ” in Shakespeare’s Sonnets: Critical Essays , edited by James Schiffer (New York: Garland, 2000), 219–240.

Everyman and Mankind , edited by Douglas Bruster and Eric Rasmussen (London: Arden Shakespeare, 2009), 114.

Alfred Thomas, Shakespeare, Dissent, and the Cold War (London: Palgrave, 2014), 71.

Riverside Chaucer , 31.

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Thomas, A. (2018). Writing, Memory, and Revenge in Beowulf , Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , and Hamlet . In: Shakespeare, Catholicism, and the Middle Ages. The New Middle Ages. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90218-0_4

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Sir Gawain and Beowulf

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Beowulf is a poem about a knight that hears of a monster terrorizing King Hrothgar’s land. Beowulf travels there to take on the monster named Grendel. He successfully kills Grendel and is praised for doing so. Grendel’s mother is enraged by her son’s death and kills one Aeschere. Seeking revenge for Aeschere’s death Beowulf swims into Grendel’s mother’s cave where he kills her. He is once again praised for his brave act and then returns home.

He later becomes king of Geatland where he runs for a very long time. Knowing that his death is near he wants to fight one last fight and takes on a dragon. Beowulf is not his youthful self he once was leading him to being bitten by the dragon causing him to die. Some background on Beowulf is that it “[Beowulf] is an epic poem composed in Old English consisting of 3,182 lines… and is considered one of the oldest surviving poems in the English language.” (Fiorentino). Although it is one of the oldest surviving poems in the English language the author is unknown. The poem is considered to take place in “different parts of Scandinavia over the course of the 6th century CE.” (Fiorentino). Beowulf is from Geatland and sails to King Hrothgar’s kingdom in Denmark to fight Grendel and his mother. The date of when the poem was written is still being debated “Arguments have been made for as early as the 7th century CE and as late as the 11th century CE.” (Fiorentino).

Sir Gawain and the Green Giant is a story about Sir Arthur’s round table otherwise known as his knights. The knights have a bad reputation because some view them as not needed because all they do is sit around. The Green Giant is the one that rebuts this thought by challenging one of Arthur’s knights. The one that takes the challenge is Sir Gawain. The Green Giant enters the room by asking if one knight would like to compete in a Christmas Challenge. None of the knights was to accept the challenge until Gawain steps up. The Green Giants challenge is one chop to his neck with his axe and in a year and a day the Green Giant will have a swing at Gawain’s neck. Gawain accepts the challenge and cuts through the Giant’s neck, unfazed but what has happened the Giant picks up his head and gets back on his horse and rides away. After many months have passed it is now time for Gawain to fulfil his end the bargon. He travels for a long time until he reaches a castle, unknowing of where he is going he stops at the castle to ask where the Green Knight’s castle is. He then meets the king of the castle and he says that Gawain should stay a while and then one of his knights will take him there. Gawain happily accepts the offer. Gawain’s host offers him a deal that whatever they receive they will give to each other.

On the next day the host goes out to hunt while Gawain stays at the castle until he is approached by the host’s wife. The lady goes into Gawain’s room and attempts to seduce him, however she only manages to get a kiss. When the host returns Gawain is given a doe and the host receives one kiss. The second day comes around and the host brings Gawain a boar and Gawain gives his host two kisses. On the third day the host kills a fox and the lady gives him three kisses accept this time she wants something to remember him by, a toten of love. Gawain has nothing to give but the lady mentions she has a green sash that gives immunity.

However the sash only works if the person wearing it is completely faithful and honest. When the host returns they exchange gifts, Gawain receives the fox and the host receives the three kisses. However Gawain does not mention the sash. The host does as he promises and sends a knight with Gawain to Green Knight’s Castle. The Green Knight approaches Gawain and proceeds with his end of the bargon. The axe only cuts Gawain’s neck a little. The Green Knight then tells Gawain his name; King Bertilak who was the host of Gawain. The reason he did not kill Gawain is because Gawain had proven himself because he did not fall into temptation of the lady. This story is like Beowulf because the author is unknown as well as when it was published. However it “is thought to have been composed in the mid- to late fourteenth century.” (Jokinen). This being said the two stories have that in common however they both have bravery, honor, and morale.

Beowulf and Sir Gawain have many examples of bravery throughout both stories. Bravery is a very important part to a knight because that is what a knight is built on. Knights should protect people and both of the stories display that perfectly. Beowulf shows bravery in many different parts of the poem, it is most noted that Beowulf traveled to fight Grendel. He could have just sat back and watched from the outside and done nothing. However he chooses to take on the challenge because he wants to display bravery and prove how strong he is.

Beowulf not only takes on Grendel but he then dives down into Grendel’s mother’s cave to take her on. This is another example of bravery because many would have take the rewards given to him after he defeated Grendel and left but Beowulf chooses to take on his mother. After that happens some time goes on before he can prove himself again. His next act of bravery was when he took on the dragon. He was nearing death however he did not see that as a barrier of why he should not take on the dragon but instead took it on like he would have in his youth. Nagelsen describes Beowulf’s bravery the best by saying “He suggests that Breca would never have survived this kind of an assault; it was Beowulf’s own bravery that saved him.” (Nagelsen). Sir Gawain has proven his bravery at the beginning of the story. Not only did he ultimately accept the Green Knight’s challenge but he was also a knight on Arthur’s round table. This shows that there has to be some bravery in order for a man to join the knights.

The Green Knight enters the room searching for a knight in Arthur’s round table to ask if he wants to compete in his Christmas Challenge. No one responds to the offer and it is at this point that Sir Gawain approaches the Green Knight. Anyone that accepts a challenge from a magical green knight unknowing of what the challenge is, is very brave. The Green Knight goes on to tell Gawain what it is he will be competing in and it is a blow for a blow at each others necks with an axe. When Gawain is escorted to the Green Knight’s castle the knight escorting him tells him that he would not tell anyone if Gawain did not complete the challenge. However Gawain choose to continue on his quest that he chose to complete because he is brave and he got himself into this. Bravery not only affected both of these men, honor will also play into both of these stories.

Both men display honor because they are both honored in what they do. One must display honor in order to be apart of Arthur’s round table. Sir Gawain is apart of the round table thus giving him some honor. However once the Green Knight arrives he will gain a lot more honor due to him accepting the challenge. The Green Knight entered the hall with challenge although the knights did not know it was to prove that the round table was made up of honorable knights. Gawain would ended up gaining honorability not only for himself but also for his fellow knights. He had to go through not being seduced by the lady in order for King Bertilak to recognise him as honorable along with his fellow knights. Not only did Gawain prove himself to honorable but he also has to have honor according to his chivalry codes.

These codes showed how a knight should act towards a lady “Chivalrous conduct – qualities idealized by knighthood, such as bravery, courtesy, honor, and gallantry toward women.” (Alchin). Gawain even showed honor in not falling under the temptation of the lady. Beowulf was young and did not have much recognition before the fight with Grendel and his mother until after he fought them. After that his story would be told around Hrothgar’s kingdom. This is best displayed after Beowulf first defeats Grendel, when he returns to the Hrothgar with Grendel’s arm, Hrothgar showers him in gifts and rewards him with many treasures. Thus leading to his gain in honor through how the kingdom. After the fight with Grendel’s mother, Beowulf cuts off the of Grendel to return to the king, thus leading to more honor because he not only defeated the monster that was reeking havoc on the kingdom but also the mother of the monster. After all of the fighting was over Beowulf returned to his kingdom where he would give the king the new treasures he had obtained following the fight. This act raised his honor in his own kingdom because it showed he would fight not for the rewards but for the good of the fight.

The morale behind both characters is different, one is trying to make a name for himself throughout the story while the other is trying to protect his name and the names of his fellow knights. Beowulf is relatively young, although he is strong he is still young and does not have much credibility. However over the course of defeating the monsters he has quickly made a name for himself. This is ultimately his morale or the reasoning for what he is doing. He wants to make a name for himself while also protecting people. Gawain on the other hand has already created an image for himself. He is name is apart of the round table, the reason he has “sir” in front of his name. He goes on the quest to prove that he and his knights are not what people make them out to be, useless.

After everything he has been through in King Bertilak’s castle he has proven to everyone that he is noble. The two characters morale ultimately define how they will be in the story. Gerald R. Lucas describes both of the characters perfectly, “The pre-Christian Beowulf is ultimately concerned with glory, while Gawain’s concern lies with his immortal soul.” (Lucas). He explains that both characters had different morales, one was doing it for personal gain in order to better his name while the other was doing it for the greater good.

The overall plot of the stories is very similar, if you compare both in a timeline sequence you will notice that they both have three main plots. Beowulf has to fight Grendel, Grendel’s mother and finally the dragon, while Gawain has to fight temptation three different times from the lady, the first being subtle about it, and as the days go one she becomes more aggressive. Both main characters have to go through difficult times proving they are both brave and honorable. They also have very good morales behind them, they are not doing to for the riches but to either make a statement or prove to everyone that they are not useless.

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63 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay Topics & Examples

Looking for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight essay topics? A famous English chivalric romance of the 14th century that still remains popular is worth focusing on!

• ❓ Essay Questions
• 🏆 Best Essay Topics
• 📌 A+ Essay Examples
• 👍 Exciting Essay Topics

In your Sir Gawain and the Green Knight essay, you might want to focus on its symbolism or themes. Another option is to talk about the context of the romance. One more idea is to take a look at one of the modern adaptations of the literary piece. In this article, we’ve collected top Sir Gawain and the Green Knight essay examples, topics, and questions for research and discussion.

❓ Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay Questions

• Who is the author of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”? The main hypotheses.
• What are the features of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” verse form?
• What is the significance of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” in medieval literature?
• What are “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” themes?
• What is the color symbolism of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”?
• What is the genre of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”?

🏆 Best Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay Topics

• Chivalry in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – Examples & Quotes In the 14th century poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the character of a knight Sir Gawain is a perfect example of the chivalric behavior of a Middle Age knight.
• “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” Symbolism In the context of the “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, the pentangle brings together the influence of “the five virtues, the five wounds of Christ, the five senses, the five joys of Mary the […]
• The Symbolic Role of Green Color in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” The actual name of the character “Green Knight” is not provided, but throughout the poem, the person is described as “green” and thus the color green describe the person himself.
• Gawain as a Hero Gawain is not aware of the plan but is wise enough to find his way out and by so doing he proves to be a hero again, as he is strong enough to avoid the […]
• Magic and Christianity in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a story that comprises of the themes of Christianity and magic as they both play an important role in the story.
• The Poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” by Simon Armitage The first aspect of this poem is the focus on the conduct of the male characters from the perspective of honor.
• “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”: Themes, Aspects, and Writing Style The poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is a piece in which the plot is supported by Christian morality underpinning the chivalry of the characters and their occasional failure to comply with this notion.
• Knightly Virtue in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” Poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an epic poem where the protagonist illustrates knightly virtues through overcoming the trials sent to him by the Green Knight.
• Testing in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a chivalric novel written in the 14th century by an unknown author about the exploits of Sir Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew, showing the spirit of chivalry and faithfulness […]
• “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”: The Bedroom and Hunting Scenes Consequently, from this point on, the narrative splits into two parallel lines that show the reader the perspective of the lord and Gawain throughout the day.
• Depiction of Heroism in “Beowulf”, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and “Le Morte D’Arthur” In Le Morte D’Arthur, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Beowulf, the central characters in the tales appear to represent their own unique description of heroism.
• “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” Christian Poem In the poem, Sir Gawain is visited by a green knight in the form of a mysterious warrior. Sir Gawain accepts the challenge and chops off the head of the knight in only one blow.
• The Knight Without Blemish and Without Reproach: The Color of Virtue Although there is no actual rhyme in the given piece, the way it is structured clearly shows that this is a poem; for instance, the line “At the head sat Bishop Baldwin as Arthur’s guest […]
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight In the real sense, it is at the Green Knight’s abode that Gawain rests on his way to the chapel. This causes Gawain to flinch and he is reprimanded by the knight for that action.

📌 A+ Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay Examples

• The Faith, Strength, and Loyalty of the Arthurian Knight Gawain in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Women’s Indirect Power in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Theme of Courtly Love in “Beowulf,” “The Romance of Tristan,” “Troilus and Criseyde,” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Parallelism Between the Scenes of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Significance of the Color Green in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Self-Realization and the Hero’s Quest in “Beowulf,” “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” and “Everyman”
• The Pentangle in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Ideas of Morality and Wealth During the Medieval Era in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Women Courtly Love and the Creation Myth in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”: Warrior in the Primal Village
• “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” and Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• The Unnamed Wife in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Impossible Pentangle: Chivalry, Christianity, and Ethical Dualism in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Religious Beliefs Observed in “Beowulf” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Meaning and Symbolism of the Hunting Scenes in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Medieval Values in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Comparison of Knights in “Canterbury Tales” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Roles of Women Portrayed in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Romantic Tradition in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Women’s Roles in “Epic of Gilgamesh,” “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” and “The Canterbury Tales”

👍 Exciting Essay Topics for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• The Influence of the Supernatural on Courtly Conduct, Christianity, and Chivalry in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Use of the Supernatural in “Beowulf” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Character of Sir Gawain as a Coward in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” by Pearl Poet
• Virtue, Vice, and Valor in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Knightly Virtues of Courage, Courtesy, and Loyalty in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Ideal of Knighthood as Presented in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Relationship of Binary Opposition in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Contrast in the Characteristics of a Hero in “Beowulf” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Importance of the “Beheading Game” in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Image of Virgin Mary in the Poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Compare the Green Knight and Lord Bertilak in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Similarities and Differences Between Dante’s “Inferno” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Presentation of Sin and Redemption in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Five Virtues of Chivalry Exemplified by the Pentangle in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Comparison of “The Wife of Bath” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Psychoanalytic Approach to “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Themes of Maturity and the Medieval Quest in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Personification of Ideologies in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Effective Use of Sound, Alliteration, and Personification in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Noble Knight in the Poem “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Free the Ambiguity of Chivalry and Temptation in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• Journey From Childhood to Adulthood in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
• The Imperfection of Mankind: The Chivalric Code in “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”
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IvyPanda. (2024, February 29). 63 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay Topics & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight-essay-examples/

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IvyPanda . 2024. "63 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Essay Topics & Examples." February 29, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight-essay-examples/.

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Home > Graduate School > Master's Theses > 109

Master's Theses

A model knight: sir gawain, chivalric contradictions, and grief in medieval literature.

Kennis Jobe , Louisiana Tech University

Date of Award

Spring 5-2023

Document Type

Degree name.

Master of Arts (MA)

Scholarship on medieval and Arthurian chivalry in recent decades has focused largely on the Gawain Poet’s 1375 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Sir Thomas Malory’s 1470 Le Morte D’Arthur. These two romances seem to offer more critical looks at the chivalric system than the glorification of knightly life provided by romances from the previous centuries of the high medieval period. In past works such as L’atre Périlleux and Claris et Laris, Sir Gawain is depicted as the ideal knight—in these poems he is humble, strong, noble, and always perfectly in accord with the chivalric code. In Sir Gawain and Morte, however, Gawain comes to represent the inconsistencies within chivalry and its conflicts with medieval Christian principles. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain makes a crucial mistake that suggests he, as a human being, cannot achieve perfect chivalry, and that the chivalric expectations to which knights are held contradict the instinct of self-preservation as well as Christian values of life and mercy. Meanwhile, Gawain’s vengeful reaction to the death of a loved one in Morte D’Arthur demonstrates how the chivalric ethos can allow for a knight to handle complex emotions in a destructive and violent manner as opposed to the Church-endorsed route of penitence and peaceful resolution. In discussing the complexities of medieval chivalry and the consistent use of Gawain’s character as its representative, this analysis will consider medieval writings on chivalry, grief, and Christianity as well as recent scholarship on Sir Gawain, Morte, and minor French romances involving Gawain. Research for this project will explore the way that Sir Gawain’s character transformed from being the symbol of the model knight to emblematic of the conflicting qualities of the chivalric code and its opposition to Christian principles.

Recommended Citation

Jobe, Kennis, "" (2023). Thesis . 109. https://digitalcommons.latech.edu/theses/109

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