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"BEOWULF" & "SIR GAWAIN & THE GREEN KNIGHT".
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Examines heroes' moral codes, sources, sociohistorical contexts, loyalty, honor, love, theology.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Examines heroes' moral codes, sources, sociohistorical contexts, loyalty, honor, love, theology.

Paper Introduction:
The heroic characters described in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight represent in their heroic adventures, their attitudes, and their relationship to others in their society different moral codes, but each character does have a moral code by which he lives. In each book, as it exists today, that code is related to Christian teaching (the Christian allusions in Beowulf were either added to Beowulf by some later editor or were added to the pagan legends by the unknown poet), and the very structure of the society in each story is built on that code. The story of Beowulf is an interesting case of a literary work that had no influence on subsequent works until modern times because the work was lost, and though a handful of learned antiquaries could study the text in Shakespeare's time, they could not comprehend Beowulf, the most important text preserved

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Beowulf becomes an individual character in the longspeeches he makes that give insight into the person behind the heroicideal.[xiii] Sir Gawain is not such an idealized character. and Donald C. Through the God-sanctioned birth of a son to Scyld a dynasty is established, but this alone will not insure a secure future of the Danes unless the young prince realizes that he must win his subjects' loyalty and affection by generous gifts. The versionthat exists today presupposes an aristocratic Christian audience whose Germanic background and ancestry included the knowledge of Scandinavian and all of Germanic tradition and folk-lore of which the stories of Beowulf's three battles were a part, stories which were transmitted to England during the Anglo-Saxon invasions.[ii]The poem fuses historical material such as the story of Hygelac with folktales of monster fights, and the language has been given a Christiancoloring that places the poem in the first half of the eighth century.Elements in Beowulf indicate that the work has been derived from an earlieroral tradition. His real triumph comesnot through combat and heroic action but through confession and penitence.He is a Christian in an age that is clearly Christian as well. New York: Dover, 1992.Burrow, John. we have heard the glory of the kings of the Spear-Danes in days gone by, how the chieftains wrought mighty deeds. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1969.Ogilvy J.D.A. Beowulf. Indeed, his poetry bearsmore resemblance to the poetic conventions of Beowulf in terms of his useof alliterative devices, based on the old native meter and style.[iv] The social structure of the world of Sir Gawain and the Green Knightis more familiar to modern readers than that of Beowulf because it takesplace in the fictional world of King Arthur. an even greatersin, one about which Gawain feels truly remorseful, is that when the GreenKnight strikes at him, he flinches. These are characteristics of the oral tradition.Starting at line 867 in the poem, the method of composition of a poem by aDanish scop is described, and it is likely that this is the process thatproduced the original "Beowulf" as well long before it was written down bya scribe. The story of Beowulf is an interesting case of a literary work thathad no influence on subsequent works until modern times because the workwas lost, and though a handful of learned antiquaries could study the textin Shakespeare's time, they could not comprehend Beowulf, the mostimportant text preserved in Anglo-Saxon prose. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1966.Clark, George. Blanch (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1966),13 .J.D.A. The poet describes how he comes to rescue the lordless Danes fromanarchy and to establish for them the Scylding dynasty. Old English poetry is composed of a number of repeatedphrases called formulas. It is atsuch a feast that both heroes either accept or are given their task--Beowulf comes to see the leader of the Danes to offer his services todestroy the monster, and Sir Gawain is challenged by the Green Knight in apublic way he cannot refuse. The king is surrounded by a group of warriors knownas the comitatus, hand-picked men specially charged with protecting theking. He is also a hero andlarger-than-life, but he also commits sins, repents, shows bravery andcowardice alike, and suffers as well as triumphs. and then, finally, with Arthur and his court; and he does public penance for it.[xi] Christianity is found in both Beowulf and sir Gawain and the GreenKnight, though the theology is clearer and more tied to the community inwhich the story is set in Sir Gawain than it is in Beowulf. Blanch. It has been called the Heroic Ageand produced a poetry to match: Heroic poetry is apparently the product of rather special conditions, often where seminomadic barbarian war bands exist as predators on the fringes of a higher civilization. Ogilvy and Donald C. The work did not begin toreach a wide audience until after World War I, and after World War II itwould become an influence on modern literature.[i] There remains some question about the origin of this heroic poem, butit is believed to have been an Anglian poem composed in Northumbria (orpossibly Mercia) during the first half of the eighth century. . Baker, Reading Beowulf (Norman:University of Oklahoma Press, 1983), 33.Ibid., 4 -41.----------------------- 9 Such groups carry with them in their raids and journeys what has been called the only entirely portable art, an oral poetry that celebrates a warrior's code perpetually being tested in violent exploits.[v]Germanic heroic stories are based on historical events from the fourth,fifth, and sixth centuries, "but most of the tales soon acquire the pebble-smooth shape of legend rather than strict history."[vi] Beowulf includes alist of heroes and tribes from all over the Germanic world, allusions to anumber of different stories of the era. Tolkien (tr.), Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl,and Sir Orfeo (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978), 13-14.Irving, 11.Ibid., 11.Ibid., 2 .Beowulf (New York: Dover, 1992), 1.Irving, 21.Ibid., 23.John Burrow, "The Two Confession Scenes in Sir Gawain and theGreen Knight," in Sir Gawain and Pearl: Critical Essays, ed.Robert J. He is aware of the possibility of disaster, but that would comeif he fails. Central to both Beowulf andSir Gawain are the great feasts held by and centered on the king. Beowulf, on the other hand,takes place in the Germanic world of the eighth century or even before, andfar less is known to us of this period. The cremation of Beowulf is clearly a pagan rite:"The cremation was so firmly established in heroic literature that itpassed on unchanged into the Christian period."[xii] The character of Beowulf differs greatly from that of Sir Gawain, andone reason is that Beowulf is an idealized portrait of a hero while SirGawain is more complex. Chaucer's work would serve as the beginningfor a poetic tradition extending over the next five centuries, while thepoet of Sir Gawain wrote in a different style off the main track ofdevelopment and completely ignored as a model. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo. In every tribe a man shall prosper by deeds of love.[viii]Fame is the motivator for action, so that the hero will be remembered bythe people. He never has any choice to make but to try. All are by thesame unknown poet who wrote in the last half of the fourteenth century,during the time of Chaucer. Hisbehavior is rooted in that truth, whereas the behavior of Beowulf, however,many Christian elements have been added, is rooted in the pagan era. The society depicted in Beowulf is harsh and violent, and it mayappear to the modern reader as unattractive with its unrepentant passion for showy material things, and yet at the same time sophisticated in its sure awareness of the depth and complexity of certain human values and relationships.[vii]The poet indicates the scope of the work in the opening lines: Lo! Baker, Reading Beowulf. Endnotes BibliographyBeowulf. Theprincipal pagan elements in the poem are Beowulf's funeral, allusions towyrd (fate), and Beowulf's obvious concern with worldly glory as a means toachieve immortality. Beowulf from beginning to end has no need even tomake a choice because the path to glory is laid out for him and he has onlyto follow. "Introduction." In Beowulf Together with Widsith and the Fight at Finnesburg in the Benjamin Thorpe Transcription and Word- for-Word Translation. The heroic characters described in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and theGreen Knight represent in their heroic adventures, their attitudes, andtheir relationship to others in their society different moral codes, buteach character does have a moral code by which he lives. and indeed much of the same ideal lived on in the feudal and chivalric codes of the later Middle Ages.[x]This code of honor centered on loyalty and love for the ruler is what linksthe society of Beowulf with that of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. A later passage, beginning at line 21 5, also details thetelling of stories and places a stress on the ability to remember the oldstories as an important qualification for a poet.[iii] Sir Gawain and the Green Knight exists in a manuscript containingthree other works as well--Pearl, Purity, and Patience. (tr.). Irving Jr., Introduction to Beowulf (Englewood Cliffs,New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1969), 5-8.J.R.R. Inthe latter poem, though, the theme has been more closely woven with ideasof Christian duty, repentance, and redemption. He gains hisposition through force against neighboring tribes until he obtains theirsubmission and tribute, and this is the way a king should behave: But what has been won by force must now be maintained by other means. "The Two Confession Scenes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." In Sir Gawain and Pearl: Critical Essays, ed. He also has nospecial preparations to make for fighting except to carry an iron shieldfor the third fight. This drive toward fame is the structural basis of heroicsociety, as can be seen in the story of the fabled Scyld in the prologue toBeowulf. Because of this, Gawain says that heis guilty of cowardice and covetousness. His certain death at the hands of the Green Knight, since he willnot be able to pick up his head and ride off as the Green Knight has done,is stayed when the Green Knight deliberately only nicks his neck. . Just as Beowulf begins withand includes references to earlier heroes in the tradition, so does SirGawain begin with a reference to the fall of Troy and to the flight of theTrojan heroes to different parts of Europe. Boston: Twayne, 199 .Hopper, Vincent F. Robert J. Woodbury, New York: Barron's, 1962.Irving Jr., Edward B. Sir Gawain commits a sin that goes againstthe code by which he lives when he seduces his host's wife. Generosity is the second great obligation of a king. . Thissymbolizes Sir Gawain's rebirth, which is effected in spiritual terms whenhe confesses: He shares the knowledge of his guilt, first, with the Green Knight. In each book, asit exists today, that code is related to Christian teaching (the Christianallusions in Beowulf were either added to Beowulf by some later editor orwere added to the pagan legends by the unknown poet), and the verystructure of the society in each story is built on that code. . Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1983.Tolkien, J.R.R. While the poet calls on God and speaks of God's grace,the Danes were pagans, a fact which the poet also acknowledges. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978.-----------------------George Clark, Beowulf (Boston: Twayne, 199 ), 1.Vincent F. ., . .[ix] What emerges in the poem is that there is more between the king andhis subjects than gifts and loyalty--there is also a great love that hasbeen built over time. Hopper, "Introduction," in Beowulf Together withWidsith and the Fight at Finnesburg in the Benjamin ThorpeTranscription and Word-for-Word Translation (Woodbury, New York:Barron's, 1962), viii.Edward B. . Many of the members of this inner circle are related to the king byblood: The ideal of such a tightly knit human community and the absolute obligations of loyalty it imposed persisted throughout the Anglo-Saxon period. In the course of the poem, Sir Gawain repents of his sins and isreborn. Introduction to Beowulf. There are anumber of inconsistencies and apparent inconsistencies in Beowulf relatedto Christianity.

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