Both "Beowulf" and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" focus on their main heroes on a quest. However, they highly differ from one another in their purpose. While the well-being of the king and his whole community directly depends on Beowulf's adventure, Sir Gawain's only affects it indirectly. Thus the second is more concentrated on an individual.
Even though the story of Beowulf's quest may seem like it mostly focuses on highlighting his individual strength and giving him the prominence of the greatest hero of all, it bears a much deeper message about the importance of loyalty to the king and the community.
At the outset of his adventure, “highborn and powerful” Beowulf goes to the rescue of the Danes (line 198). The reason why he takes on …show more content…
Sole proof of this is found in the speech Hrothgar gives to Beowulf: “What you have done is to draw two peoples into shared peace and pact of friendship” (lines 1855-1857). Ties between communities here are extremely appreciated. We can see their significance through the exchange of their invaluable means of warfare. For instance, when Unferth gives him an ancient sword, he gives his own blade in turn. Furthermore, it is present when King Hrothgar honors Beowulf with a special armor, and when the queen rewards him with a golden collar as a token of the new ties between their people. He passes both on to his own king and queen. Thus, symbolically, two communities of past and present warriors and their traditions are strongly linked. Community here represents the center of existence. Without their tribal adherence and family bonds, warriors have no identity. The perfect way to understand the priority of those connections is to observe Grendel's reaction to a communal gathering. He feels envious, thus morose, rapacious and malevolent. “It harrowed him to hear the din of the loud banquet every day in the hall, the harp being struck and the clear song of a skilled poet” (lines 87-90). Hence, the reason why he attacks them in the first place. On the other hand, Danes celebrate their bonds and find strength in …show more content…
First and foremost, his quest is to find the unfathomable Green Knight and unearth a way to win his game; second, to stay true to his code and prove that he is worthy of the task. And finally, he has to tackle with the word games of his hostess and stay true to his host's games and their terms. All of those tasks are genuinely intertwined, so finding the Green Knight becomes the least of his concerns, but he only gets aware of it at the end of his venture. Along the way, he chiefly has to show respect for the Church and stay courageous, devoted, trustworthy, and virtuous. But, his effort of trying to stay loyal to his principles is notably disturbed by the temptations that come his way. Nevertheless, weaknesses of human nature, doubts and a fear of death eventually become his greatest enemy. His primal challenge essentially becomes escaping the “womanly guile” while staying gallant, for here he needs to combat with words as his weapon (line 2415). Notwithstanding that he graciously refused the alluring offerings of his hostess, he accepts her green belt as a gift and fails to represent it to his host when the time comes. He doest it out of fear, uncertainty in his abilities and hope that the token can save his life. Even though he falters in his goal through “treachery and untruth”, “confession of his failings” saves him from fall and raises him above all the other knights, because sincere repentance is the
Even though the story of Beowulf's quest may seem like it mostly focuses on highlighting his individual strength and giving him the prominence of the greatest hero of all, it bears a much deeper message about the importance of loyalty to the king and the community.
At the outset of his adventure, “highborn and powerful” Beowulf goes to the rescue of the Danes (line 198). The reason why he takes on …show more content…
Sole proof of this is found in the speech Hrothgar gives to Beowulf: “What you have done is to draw two peoples into shared peace and pact of friendship” (lines 1855-1857). Ties between communities here are extremely appreciated. We can see their significance through the exchange of their invaluable means of warfare. For instance, when Unferth gives him an ancient sword, he gives his own blade in turn. Furthermore, it is present when King Hrothgar honors Beowulf with a special armor, and when the queen rewards him with a golden collar as a token of the new ties between their people. He passes both on to his own king and queen. Thus, symbolically, two communities of past and present warriors and their traditions are strongly linked. Community here represents the center of existence. Without their tribal adherence and family bonds, warriors have no identity. The perfect way to understand the priority of those connections is to observe Grendel's reaction to a communal gathering. He feels envious, thus morose, rapacious and malevolent. “It harrowed him to hear the din of the loud banquet every day in the hall, the harp being struck and the clear song of a skilled poet” (lines 87-90). Hence, the reason why he attacks them in the first place. On the other hand, Danes celebrate their bonds and find strength in …show more content…
First and foremost, his quest is to find the unfathomable Green Knight and unearth a way to win his game; second, to stay true to his code and prove that he is worthy of the task. And finally, he has to tackle with the word games of his hostess and stay true to his host's games and their terms. All of those tasks are genuinely intertwined, so finding the Green Knight becomes the least of his concerns, but he only gets aware of it at the end of his venture. Along the way, he chiefly has to show respect for the Church and stay courageous, devoted, trustworthy, and virtuous. But, his effort of trying to stay loyal to his principles is notably disturbed by the temptations that come his way. Nevertheless, weaknesses of human nature, doubts and a fear of death eventually become his greatest enemy. His primal challenge essentially becomes escaping the “womanly guile” while staying gallant, for here he needs to combat with words as his weapon (line 2415). Notwithstanding that he graciously refused the alluring offerings of his hostess, he accepts her green belt as a gift and fails to represent it to his host when the time comes. He doest it out of fear, uncertainty in his abilities and hope that the token can save his life. Even though he falters in his goal through “treachery and untruth”, “confession of his failings” saves him from fall and raises him above all the other knights, because sincere repentance is the