ipl-logo

Examples Of Religion In The Middle Ages

680 Words3 Pages

Religion in the Middle Ages. In the three stories we have read and talked about so far all three discuss religion in very different ways. The story Beowulf was set in the Anglo-Saxon time period. The story Beowulf has Pagan roots but at the time this was written many Pagans in the Anglo-Saxon time period had converted to Christianity. This story follows how the narrator of Beowulf struggles between the Christian beliefs and values of the narrator and the Pagan activates done by the charterers in the story. The narrator however does say he believes that Beowulf would have been Pagan, but still thinks that the trust Beowulf has in God makes him a Christian. There are many references to God in this story. For example in Beowulf it states “Afterwards a boy-child was sent to Shield, a cub in the yard, a comfort sent by …show more content…

During this time period the Catholic Church influenced the life of people daily. The Church and it’s officials held most of the power. Sir Gawain is very proud of his religion and his religious beliefs are unshakable. His religions morals are unshakable. Gawain’s shield is where we can see most of his faith as he displays a painted picture of the Virgin Mary on it. Additionally, the outside of this shield featured the Pentangle, which symbolizes Gawain’s strong chivalric morals. The Pentangle, of five-pointed star represents all of the Christian and moral codes that he represents as a knight: his faultless senses, infallible five fingers, the five wounds of Christ, the five joys of Mary, and the five qualities in a knight. Gawain and the Green Knight models the sort of behavior expected in the 14th and 15th century. Religious morals were extremely prevalent, and Gawain demonstrates religious devotion to maintain his chivalric code. (Religion in Sir Gawain and the Knight.) This shows how important religion really was during this time period, religion was extremely

Show More
Related
277 Words | 2 Pages

Outline: Symbolism in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight I. Introduction A. Topic Sentence: The meaning of the story is affected by the use of symbolism B. Thesis: The use of Symbolism in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, does not change the story itself, but rather affects the moral of the story. II. Body Paragraphs A. Topic Sentence: The first instance of Symbolism is the Pentangle of Gawain’s shield.

Read More
1288 Words | 6 Pages

The ideals of the Pentangle and the Chivalric Code allow Sir Gawain to be known as the greatest knight by elevating the expectations placed on him. With virtues such as friendship, generosity, chastity, courtesy, and piety from the Pentangle along with a moral code as strong as the Chivalric Code, Gawain is set apart from other knights and tried with higher standards. Many of these ideals would inevitably contradict one another, which makes his efforts to abide by them extremely noble. As difficult as they may be to follow though, without both the Pentangle and the Chivalric Code, Gawain would stand in line with the other knights rather than above. Religion, being represented in both the Pentangle and the Chivalric Code, is a leading virtue

Read More
546 Words | 3 Pages

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the relationship between worldly contingency and supernatural Faith is explored through the ideas and influence of mortality, desire, and fear. The main goal of the Green Knight was to bring humility into King Arthur’s court because with time the court had become too full of unjust pride. With the trials that Sir Gawain experienced during his time in the castle, he learns that it is not just to rely on worldly objects, but instead on God’s grace, alone. Sir Gawain demonstrates true human nature through his reliance on worldly ways of saving his life instead of God and Faith.

Read More
998 Words | 4 Pages

The ideals of Christian morality and knightly qualities are represented by Gawain’s gold, star-shaped pentangle. The five knightly virtues that Sir Gawain expresses are: generosity, chastity, friendship, piety, and courtesy. From the beginning of the poem, Sir Gawain portrays his generosity by agreeing to cut the Green Knight’s head with an axe. He makes this decision after King Arthur fails to do so (Cathell, 2014).

Read More
1052 Words | 5 Pages

During the Medieval times chivalry was one of the most important characteristics a knight could display. Chivalry was viewed as a moral obligation that involved bravery, honor, respect, and gallantry. Knights were expected to uphold this code or face social consequences for any infractions, with punishments ranging from humiliation to termination of their knighthood. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” presents the struggles knights faced with honoring the chivalrous code at all times. Sir Gawain, while imperfect, exhibits qualities expected of knights and embodies the internal struggle between honoring the chivalrous code and giving into selfish desires.

Read More
645 Words | 3 Pages

Relations Between Sir Gawain And The Green Knight And Christianity “Sir Gawain and The Green Knight” have a plethora of connections and relations to Christianity all around its story. Some examples could be Arthurian chivalry with the pentangle of Sir Gawain's shield and Mary's face in the middle, the battle between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight which took place inside the chapel of a church, and The Green Knight's decision toward Gawain in showing him mercy. These examples show only few reasons why “Sir Gawain And The Green Knight” have connections and relations towards Christianity. The ideals of Christianity and chivalry are brought together in Gawain’s symbolic shield.

Read More
422 Words | 2 Pages

As one of the most well-known Arthurian stories, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a chivalric romance from the 14th-century that has a foundation based predominantly on chivalric beliefs and behaviors. The knightly code of honor is what the story’s main plot circulates around, as well as the title character’s ability to maintain his honor and stay true to his chivalry. The existence of chivalric beliefs and behaviors in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are clearly shown when Gawain accepts the Green Knight’s challenge, dodges Lady Berciliak’s advances, and returns to Camelot wearing the girdle as a sign of his failure. The existence of chivalric beliefs is present throughout the entire story, even when the narrator first describes King Arthur’s

Read More
519 Words | 3 Pages

In Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, religion and hell are referenced to many times throughout the story. “Because the poet 's obvious references to religious matters are infrequent and elementary, he would-appear to have had a slight grasp of Christianity as we understand it, unless he disguised his erudition with characteristic Anglo-Saxon understatement (Whallon).” Chapter two of Beowulf “is most interesting when it collects the familiar evidence for Christian education in the early Anglo-Saxon (Parker)” era. When he speaks of the arrows of the devil in lines 1743 through 1744, “Grown too distracted. A killer stalks him, An archer who draws a deadly bow,” “one may therefore look to a passage in Ephesians, observe that the image was common

Read More
573 Words | 3 Pages

The lines 1550-1553 from the Pearl poets epic Sir Gawain and the Green Knight epitomizes two of the most important virtues of a noble knight, and Sir Gawain, the man the story follows, defines what is a true knight. He holds a place next to King Arthur and the queen as well as exemplifying two of a knights most important virtues. The first being chastity and the second being courteousness, both however, are very much entwined in this tale. Throughout this epic and many other Arthurian legends praised these traits in the knight and as we shall see, Sir Gawain although still very much human, is a master of both. The virtue of chastity is extremely important in Arthurian legend and we can see this from examining Gawain’s shield.

Read More
1021 Words | 5 Pages

Sir Gawain and the Green depicts this importance of faith by testing Gawain’s moral and knightly code. Gawain is the epitome of what a knight ought to be, with a strong moral code and an unquestioning faith, which he proudly displays on his shield with the Virgin Mary painted on the inside and the Pentangle on the outside. This faith is soon meet with a test the castle of the lord and his once strong faith in God falters. While Gawain is able to remain innocent when it comes to the seductive ways of the lord’s wife, he is unable to stop himself from accepting her magical girdle that would protect him against any harm, even though it is in opposition to both his faith and his loyalties. Gawain comprises his morals due to fear about his impending encounter with the Green Knight and he give into his fear and takes the magical protection the girdle offers.

Read More
1448 Words | 6 Pages

From Beowulf religion compared from real life, religion there is somewhat a comparison. It has some differences, but then some things in common as well. Religion is a part of the poem, movie, and as well real life. Beowulf is one of the types that don’t care about faith or anything having to deal with Christianity. He thinks that he is fine the way he is and thinks that baptism won 't give him protection.

Read More
605 Words | 3 Pages

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, written by an author who is unknown to all, is a story, in the genre of Arthurian Romance/Epic, containing certain qualities of the symbolism of the Christian variety. “ So the star on this spangling shield he sported / shone royally, in gold, on a ruby red background… “ (Part 2, Lines 662-663 ) The meaning of this Pentangle has to do with Christianity. The fact that Sir Gawain displays this shield so proudly means he thinks of himself as a chivalrous and holy

Read More
1466 Words | 6 Pages

Critically assess the extent of Christian and Latinate influence on Beowulf. When first reading Beowulf it would appear that the Christian references within it superimpose onto the essentially pagan view that makes a huge body of the poem. Therefore, within this assignment, there will be investigations of inconsistencies. Sources clearly show that Beowulf was written by Germanic pagans that had been debauched by some leftist ecclesiastic wordsmith , to the insistence that the author designedly created the Christian allegory along the lines of Book 1 of The Faerie Queen. It is know that Germanic traditions and techniques were used by Anglo-Saxons to frame Christian literature, just as it was with the poet of Beowulf.

Read More
449 Words | 2 Pages

Which explains that a lot of people in England were at one point following Pagan culture until missionaries in England came and converted a lot of them to Christians. In Pagan culture, a lot of the beliefs in their stories describe life controlled by faith where people are struggling with evil for a part of the world and in Christian culture, they believe that the choices people make in life are centered around their creations. In conclusion, the story Beowulf includes both Pagan and Christian beliefs in the story as the characters Grendel and Grendel's mother and the dragon represent the dark aspect of the Pagan culture of the epic and the choice’s Beowulf makes in the story when fighting the evil monsters represents the Christian culture part

Read More
988 Words | 4 Pages

Christopher Cain, professor and expert in Old English and Medieval Scandinavian literature and culture, published an essay analyzing the relationship between Beowulf and the Old Testament, as well as the presence of paganism in this poem. In the essay, it is noted that “the general tone of the poem and its ethical viewpoint are decidedly Christian;” the poet relied heavily upon the Bible, as can be evidenced by “allusions to Cain, the Creation, and the Deluge,” which are all Old Testament allusions (Cain). The characters themselves also serve to represent Christian ideologies, though references to Germanic culture appear frequently. For instance, this is embodied in the scene where Beowulf is fighting to rid Heorot of Grendel, and “Beowulf recognizes it to be God's will that determines the outcome of the fight—” not his own strength (Cain).

Read More

More about Examples Of Religion In The Middle Ages

Related Topics

Open Document