“Beowulf” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” Essay

Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the spurt KnightThe Importance of Literary Genre and clock DifferenceThey said that of all the kings upon earth / he was the world most gracious and fair-minded, / kindest to his people and keenest to progress fame, (Beowulf 97 ln. 3180-82). This is a description of the great king Beowulf, from the epic poem of the same let out. Sir Gawain you are, / Whom all the adult male worships, whereso you ride / Your honor, your courtesy are higest acclaimed / By lords and by ladies, by all living men, (Sir Gawain 139 ln. 1226-29). This is a description of Sir Gawain, from the romantic poem Sir Gawain and the verdancy Knight. Both of these heroes are obviously very highly viewed by those about them, although almost 600 age separates the writing of the dickens manuscripts. Beowulf, an epic poem, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a romantic poem, are two great literary works, both with nameless(prenominal) and possibly countless authors, separated by lite rary music genre and 6oo years of societal development.Beowulf is an epic, and as such follows certain characteristics that are unique to this form of poetry. The key to all epic is its hero and his flaw the hero is required to have a flaw because the epic is a form of serious and tragic poetry that allows for few lighthearted moments. This particular epic centers around a young and eager adventurer named, of course, Beowulf, who is fueled by a desire to be remembered forever as a great hero. His calling comes when a fiend out of hell, / began to work his evil in the world. / Grendel was the name of this grim demon / haunting the marshes, marauding round the heath / and the desolate fens (Beowulf 33 ln. 100-04). Grendel likewise brings in the first otherworldly element of the poem, a characteristic specific to epics this element is expanded upon when Beowulf tells of many sea monsters he undo in his youth, later when Grendels mother seeks revenge, and finally when the great drag on threatens Beowulfs kingdom.The purpose for extremely long epics such as Beowulf (which is over 3000 lines, and in all probability longer due to destroyed sections of the original manuscript) lies in tradition and preservation. It is thought that the actual Beowulf lived around 450 A.D., exclusively the epic was not enter until approximately 700 A.D. during this long gap, tales of Beowulf were passed down orally, a tradition of the Anglo-Saxons based upon the preservation of their unique culture. This culture was a serious superstar because the clock ofthe Anglo-Saxons were extremely dangerous outside of their own clan they had no angiotensin-converting enzyme to trust as any outsider was just as belike to kill them as fashion at them, lest he end up slain first.Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, in contrast to the epic, is a vision a circular and lighter version of the epic based around a single quest. standardized the hero of the epic, Gawain has a flaw that leads to h is failing, but as the romance is lighter it does not lead to his death. Gawain is a pure young knight whose quest presents itself upon the appearance of the Green Knight at a vacation feast at King Arthurs court. As in the epic, in that respect is also an element of the chimerical present Great wonder grew in hall / At his hue most strange to see, / For man and gear and all / Were green as green could be, (Sir Gawain 117 ln 147-50).The style of Sir Gawain follows the alliterative style of Beowulf that makes it easier to perform orally, but the romance mostly serves to entertain rather than preserve tradition or culture, as is the purpose of the epic. This is likely because while 1375 (the estimated time of Sir Gawains recording) was certainly still a rough time for anyone survival-wise, it was a less animalistic time than 700 A.D. as society had 600 years to develop in the interim. Camelot is described as a prosperous place with a grand castle and many luxuries in the time of Be owulf the structures that preserved the Anglo-Saxons were more(prenominal) or less gigantic huts. Further, while Gawain does designate out on a quest with his liveliness on the line, there are no giant serpents attacking Camelot and eating its court members out of spite.To the Anglo-Saxons in 700 A.D., the comitatus was very measurable as all the thanes had was each other the comitatus is also important in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but on a lesser level. This argument can be make because, although Sir Gawain sets out on a task to preserve his comitatus back at Camelot, he makes the adventure by himself Beowulf is constantly meet by his band of men. Beowulf does separate from his thanes when he battles Grendel and his mother, but it is in the interest of their immediate preservation as the two monsters would happily gobble up any of them. The dire importance of the comitatus is also seen in Beowulf through with(predicate) the theme of revenge, which is not present in Sir Gawain. In 700 A.D., it was everytribe for itself and there was no set form of law or legal system if a man was murdered, the only reparations that could be made against his killer were those belonging to wergild.In the time that Sir Gawain takes place, there were entire kingdoms under the rule of the leader versus miniature tribes, and there was a better-established legal system for dealing with crimes such as murder. This legal system is also evident through the many centers found in Sir Gawain, such as those between Gawain and the host during his flummox And Gawain, said the good host, agree now to this / Whatever I win in the woods I will give you at eve, / And all you have earned you must offer to me, (Sir Gawain 137 ln 1105-07). This particular contract also draws away from the importance of the comitatus because it involves the interest of only two men if Beowulf received such an offer, it is likely he would split whatever he acquired amongst himself and his thanes.Relig ion is an important difference between the two novels and the times they were set in. In the time of Beowulf Paganism was still commonly present. In the time of Sir Gawain Christianity was the widely certain righteousness. Religion in general is much more present in Sir Gawain, as the entire plot of ground of the book revolves around Christian holidays and celebrations. Christianity affects even the attire of characters in the story. Sir Gawains shield shows that he fitly had / On the inner part of his shield Marys image portrayed, / That when his look on it lighted, he never doomed heart, (Sir Gawain 128 ln 648-50). The downfall Gawain suffers also has to do with his religion, as he puts faith in a magic baldric instead of in God, and in doing so is belittled and shamed by the Green Knight. In Beowulf, there is mention of God, but merely in passing it is obvious that religion is not as important to the Anglo-Saxons of 700 A.D. as is the comitatus. This goes back to the harshne ss of the time and the feature that all the faith the thanes had, they put in one another.The main factors that divide Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are literary genre and time difference. Throughout the 600 years that separated the creation of the two manuscripts, society developed, the legal system developed, the emphasis on the comitatus changed, and the popular religion turned from Paganism to Christianity. While all of these factors altered thestyle of writing and the content of the two poems, the fact remains that Beowulf and Sir Gawain are two great literary heroes who strove to be all that they could.Works CitedGreenblatt, Stephen. Beowulf. The Norton Anthology of EnglishLiterature. 8th ed. 2006.Greenblatt, Stephen. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The Norton Anthology of EnglishLiterature. 8th ed. 2006.