The Societies and The Ethical Values in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
The Societies and The Ethical Values in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
In the year 410, the Anglo-Saxons were tribes and populated the regions of northern Germany
and southern Denmark. They were among other persons who had conquered the Roman Empire
from three directions at the time. They were dubbed 'Saxons' by their neighbours in general. But
until the eighth century, when people on the continent began using it to differentiate between the
inhabitants of Britain and the Saxons who lived in northern Germany, the word 'Anglo-Saxon'
Most of the invaders had settled by 500 AD. Much of the region was populated by the Angles,
Saxons, and another community of people called the Jutes. Most of the Anglo-Saxons have been
discovered, mostly because of archeology. Via their graves, they have figured out a lot about
them. Arms and other personal belongings were deposited in their graves. We will see core
essentials of Anglo-Saxon society, such as courage, affection, kindness, and devotion, in the epic
poem Beowulf. Loyalty is perhaps the most significant characteristic for them. The political
structure of the Anglo-Saxons was based on the basis of fidelity. The very tribal society they
lived in was influenced by it. In the book, this can be seen. The fidelity of Beowulf to the Danes
carried him to Hrothgar to fight Grendel.Beowulf was obedient to an alliance made with
Hrothgar by his uncle. When we crossed the sea, my comrades and I, I already knew that all my
intention was to do this: win the good will of your people to die in war, pressed in the fierce
hands of Grendel. Loyalty is so strong that it's still seen on the side of Grendel.Grendel, the
villain of this novel, and his mother, as a family, were faithful to each other. After her son was
killed, Grendel's mother unleashed her vengeance on the people of Hrothgar by murdering
Aeschere.
Another characteristic of Anglo-Saxon culture is generosity, as expressed in Beowulf, when
Hrothgar pledged Beowulf great wealth to save the Danes. Generosity also displayed honor
among warriors, such as how Beowulf was honoured by Hrothgar only for coming to see
him.Beowulf speaks of his courage in the tale by boasting of his previous wars and successes. In
his bare hands, he went against demons. Until the end, he was courageous. This represents the
values of the Anglo-Saxon way of life. It's fair to conclude that the courage of Beowulf was
Storytellers shared tales of heroes and society from their times throughout the 6th century. By the
time stories started to be published in the 8th century, Beowulf, which portrayed the warrior
society of medieval England and Scandinavia, was the only remaining epic poem. The poem
traces the story of a warrior called Beowulf, from childhood to death, and simultaneously
represents society's ideals during this time period.Many of the ideals of the warrior community
are drawn to attention in the poem, but the most important thing to repeat throughout this poem
is compassion. Generosity is the single most significant virtue that the warrior community
promotes, since it is utterly important for the stability of civilization.There is a single scene in the
poem that depicts how important generosity is to the warrior culture. This particular scene is
when Hrothgar learns that Beowulf will one day be king and he warns him about King
Heremod's errors in order to highlight the importance of charity, especially gift giving. Hrothgar
lived during the reign of Heremod and after listening to his lecture, expects Beowulf to
Each community has its own collection of beliefs and customs of belief. Throughout a childhood,
cultural views, ideals, and assumptions are specifically and implicitly gained. A culture is the
sum of the way of life of a group, and the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture is no different from
this.Typically, societies have distinct figures that represent their entire society. The meaning of
religion, ideals, and heroes is expressed in Beowulf's epic poem, which adequately demonstrates
Anglo-Saxon society as a whole. The Anglo-Saxon culture was dominated by men and the
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, as they all play an important part in the novel, is a story that
involves the concepts of Christianity and sorcery. This tale is full of metaphors that offer a
Christian viewpoint and the inherent vulnerability of human beings. Some of the symbols used
by the author are among others the tap, number three, and the green belt.A mythical beast, the
Green Knight, requires a valiant knight to do something that is almost impossible. The knight
meets the temptations of a beautiful lady in an effort to do as the magical creature wants.The
Knight called Gawain, however is professional, brave and depicts the courtesy of a chivalry to
negotiate with the woman. This article explores how the characters' actions in the plot are
influenced by Christianity and sorcery.The tale symbolically uses the tapping of Gawain to
symbolize the penalty levied on him for failure to forfeit the profits. The Green Knight
understands that Gawain is hesitant to send the lovely lady the green belt, even though Gawain is
afraid of penance. This narrative is a reflection of the divine acts of forgiveness and
confession.The conduct of Gawain acknowledging that the cut made him a coward after the
Green Knight reveals that he was tapped is clarified in this part of Christianity. The religious
definition of forgiveness is also seen and guides the actions of the Green Knight. The green
Knight forgives him after Gawain confesses his sins.Ultimately, the Green Knight gave Gawain
the belt so that he would not forget that they had met at some point. All this time the name of the
Green Knight was never revealed to Gawain, and that's when he wanted to ask him his name.
The ingestion of the fruit they had been told not to eat in Christianity was what opened up their
nakedness to Adam and Eve.This caused them to experience a great deal of guilt, leading them to
wonder why they were nude. In this novel, this Christian idea is obvious for it is only after
Gawain feels the humiliation of being tapped that he asks his name for The Green Knight.To
symbolize the immoral existence of human beings that led Jesus to die to save humanity,
Christianity uses the cross. It tells Christians that for them, Jesus died. After reading the tale of
Gawain, this notion affects King Arthur's conduct. All the women served in the court are
required by the king to wear green belts as symbols of their sin.This tale is full of many instances
of magic. For eg, when he makes his appearance there the individuals at the court of King Arthur
assume that the Green Knight is a mysterious being. He is completely green. He picks his cut off
head to show the illusion and talks with it, letting others believe the magic.Another indication of
sorcery is apparent when Morgan le Fay, who is a sorceress, enchants Bertilak who is human and
turns him into the Green Knight in order to fear Arthur's queen and test the knights. Magic is also
clear when we are told that King Arthur's birth was due to his father being tricked by his
mother.The magical phenomena apparent in this plot impact the actions of the characters to a
significant degree. The idea that magic is mainly performed by women in the story, for example
allows them the potential to have control. Since they have the strength, they are often motivated
to misuse the power by sorcery. In the novel, another influence of magic is that it allows the
knight to act in a way that wins him honor for being considered courageous.Christianity and
magic are successfully used by Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to carry out the unfinished
problems in the plot. The author makes allusions to biblical ideals that motivate much of the
characters' actions. Symbols such as the green belt are used in the portrayal of the religious
principles that symbolize the Christian cross that reminds Christians of their sins.The author has
used magic in the plot, which affects the characters greatly. Women who are more inspired to
perform magic in the plot, for instance, have a lot of control. Unquestionably, Christianity and
sorcery affect the characters in the plot and drive their actions.
Both eponymous heroes experience three influential trials within the epic poetry, Beowulf and
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, which characterize their characters and eventually form the
rest of their lives. The noble ideal of loyalty, courage, chivalry, and morality is an emphatic topic
that pervades Medieval literature. The warrior ideal in Old English involved gaining great
honour and status by victories in arduous wars.In Old English verse, Beowulf is probably the
most heroic hero, encapsulating these virtues through his fights with Grendel, the mother of
Grendel, and the dragon. In comparison, in Middle English, the emphasis turned to the more
chivalrous ideals of the beautified court of Arthur's knights, such as virtue and chastity. In his
confrontations with the Green Knight, the lady of Bertilac's palace, and the Green Knight once
again in the Green Church, Sir Gawain is tried for his very principles.
The reader is shocked that Beowulf must suffer this poisonous beast, facing his death, after this
horrific portrayal of Grendel. H.L Rogers insists, however that Beowulf is at the heart of the
story against odds; undaunted by death." Although the spectator is conscious that Beowulf is
unlikely to die at his first execution, they are indulged in their fears of the destiny of their
warrior.Beowulf uses neither arms nor armor to defend himself against Grendel, reiterating his
fighting prowess again and relies entirely on his brute human power to defeat the 'satanic' fiend;
it's almost as if Beowulf himself is not human. This is arguably the most honourable form of
fighting for the reader; the courage of Beowulf ends the expected death of Grendel. Tolkien
claims that men shall die, every man and all men, and their works."What he fails to realize is that
his legacy remains an everlasting source of honor for him in the trials of Beowulf, even after his
death in the final trial. It is very brutal about the essence of this test. Beowulf uses only brute
strength to brutally rip Grendel's arm from his body, but this fight is Beowulf's faultless
introductory test.Ad Putter, on the other hand, argues that this Arthurian romance is 'curiously a
combination of realism and spiritual severity on the one hand, and imagination and illusion on
the other.' A supernatural Green Knight declares his appearance as Arthur and his knights
celebrate Christmas and invites a brave to play a 'crystemas gomen' Christmas game of
beheading each other with a 45 inch axe.Not only is the knight portrayed in green, but his ability
to pick up his severed head and speak adds to the incredible mystery of the story, the imagination
lies in the bewildering portrayal of the green knight. There are stark contrasts, however, between
the trial of Sir Gawain and Beowulf.Beowulf, by contrast, purposely pursues Grendel to glorify
his stature. Secondly, it is literally a death inflicting beheading that transcends into a contractual
legal contract, as the knight paradoxically calls Gawain's test a 'playing'. The lexical choice of
'gomen' suggests that for this knight, death is merely playtime. As Hrothgar's realm was under
siege with countless warriors dying from Grendel's hunger, Beowulf's battle with Grendel was
out of desperation.The Gawain-poet, however, deceptively disguises the 'moral gravity' of this
apparently futile beheading game before the final fit of this poem.Next, both Beowulf and Sir
Gawain are tried by women, but Beowulf endures a physically arduous and bloody struggle once
again with the mother of Grendel avenging her dead son. Gawain, on the other hand, is
physically attracted by the wife of Lord Bertilac, demure in her medieval grace, which almost
contributes to his undoing.For Beowulf, the second trial proves more vigorous as he swims for
about a day to reach the 'ælwihta eard' [abode of foreign creatures], clad in his ornate armor. In
such a way that it seems almost unlikely for this valiant hero to be defeated, particularly after his
proud boasts accompanying each battle, the Beowulf-poet illustrates Beowulf. However, despite
being female, Grendel's mother is able to vigorously assault Beowulf, crippling him into a
ragdoll, arguably, and eventually sitting on him.Critics claim that a convoluted romantic desire
lingers between Beowulf and the mother of Grendel at this stage, but it is obvious that Beowulf
is in undeniable trouble when she aims to echo her son's death on his shoulder. The presumed
Beowulf did not previously need help from weapons or armor, it is now clear that he would not
have been able to survive in his second trial. Rogers claims that Beowulf has a more desperate
fight to conquer her despite this 'female creature becoming weaker than her son.' Ironically, the
reader feels a sense of sympathy for this adversary, she didn't strike the court of Hrothgar
unprovoked, she's not only a Cain's satanic descendant.However the test of seduction, emotional
coercion and his virtue was Sir Gawain's test. Although Gawain enjoys a short interlude before
the final Green Knight confrontation, Bertilac's wife attempts to lustfully try to seduce him in his
apartment. Spearing argues that There should definitely be no question that it is the chastity of
Gawain that is being tested here.'It is clear from this quote that the knight had to be checked by
romance in Middle English's chivalric heroic, in order to prove his true virtue; contradicting
Beowulf, where no romantic interest is ever present, his examination was of bravery.When the
husband is hunting, the lady of the castle visits his bedroom three times, keeping his vow to
Gawain. The first day, like Grendel's mother, an unknown woman tries to kiss Gawain, and the
second day she manages to kiss Gawain again, twice failing to lure him to become her sexual
partner. His insecurity was instilled in the idea that he should not offend against Heaven, rather
than disrespect his fidelity to his host.However in spite of her rebuking Gawain's ways of
refusing her on the third day, he only accepts a green girdle that will shield him from any harm.
With the Green Knight in mind, as part of their trading game, he declines to trade his winnings
with Lord Bertilac; he breaks his vow. While Gawain effectively repels sexual advances, he fails
to measure 'trawέe'[truthfulness] in the test.Like Beowulf, Sir Gawain, in his second trial, falls
weak. Ironically, the women who are belittled by the absence of identity serve as the most
strenuous protagonists to date, causing the reader to anticipate their collapse. Another distinction
between the second trials is that the reader does not invoke concern for the castle lady, but rather
for Gawain as he is driven ever closer to the loss of his 'trawĐe'.Sadly, he does in the keeping of
her girdle, and the story sharply entangles Gawain in a web of deception.Beowulf and Gawain's
third and final examination, every poem's apex climax, is when they both meet their death.
Beowulf feels his own death before the battle with the dragon; likewise, once again in the chapel,
Gawain before meeting the Green Knight.Beowulf is not decrepit, but he is fifty years older
when he approaches his final examination. In spite of this, his shield had refused to defend him,
and all but one, Wiglaf, had fled in cowardice. Beowulf arguably repudiates all his support. The
dragon shielded the dragon for years in an effort to obtain the cursed treasure.Tolkien describes
that 'malice, greed and ruin' is the evil side of the heroic[9], but this must be debunked as the
noble, courageous Beowulf is portrayed as a brave leader loyal to his Lords and later his subjects
throughout his life. It is not greed that in the end destroys him.William Lawrence insists that a
true troll slayer' does not perish in his bed, tamely, but with a valiant opponent in glorious battle.'
Just like the dragon is Beowulf's perfect conclusion, Grendel was his perfect beginning.Gawain's
final test is as he waits for the retaliatory blow of the Green Knight, fearing his death. His
dishonesty awards him a minute wound on his neck as he conceals the girdle from Bertilac;
parallel to Beowulf's neck injury as well. At this point, Gawain flinches in terror, different from
Beowulf, who was always steadfast, and as the Knight declares himself to be Lord Bertilac, the
psychological, often physical, discordant from Beowulf. The morality of the final test of Gawain
is that 'trawЯe' is a virtue that any noble knight can encapsulate. He is remembered for his
preeminent bravery that reverberates throughout Old English literature, though Beowulf dies.In
the other hand, Sir Gawain, lies, repents, and in exchange, the source of his ruin, the girdle,
ironically becomes the emblem of his renowned fame in Middle English as the courteous
knight.In conclusion, the epic poem Beowulf concludes as it should, with Beowulf's apotheosis.
Tolkien claims that 'Beowulf is not necessarily an epic; it is in fact a heroic-elegiac poem.' This
is a true argument; this poem was composed in homage to his recollection of victorious deeds
after Beowulf's chaos in his fictional life. Sir Gawain Putter believes that social relations are as
volatile as human desires without human truthfulness. "The crux of both of these poems is that
Beowulf and Gawain appear as the ultimate infallible protagonists of Medieval Literature after