Sir Gawain And The Green Knight Vs Beowulf Essay

In the writings of English literature both attributes and imperfections reflect the heroes values in culture. Along the hero's journey they gain knowledge from wrong to right, where the reader also follows along the quest of reinforcing proper cultural values. In the Late Middle Ages for instance, their honorable deeds and religious beliefs, pagan and Christianity, were highly practiced as an importance to their lives. In Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight both reflect these beliefs of the Anglo-Saxons and Middle-English while others stand in firm contrast, which can be viewed clearly through an archetypal study of the heroes in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. In the epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf travels to Heorot because

Gawain’s resemblance of Christianity portrays his honor towards Camelot he was willing to fight for. On the journey to the Green Knight, Sir Gawain’s mentor is actually the beast who teaches Sir Gawain the importance of chivalry and honesty through a series of tests and trials. Beowulf departs on his journey to Daneland to prove his strength to defeat Grendel to Hrothgar (Beowulf, lines 210-228). While on his journey to Daneland a guard stops him asks, “What kind of men are you who arrive rigged out for combat in coats of mail, sailing here over the sea-lanes in your steep-hulled boat?”(Beowulf, lines 236-240) where Beowulf replies,”We have arrived here on a great errand to the lord of the Danes”(Beowulf, lines 270-271). Hrothgar, Beowulf's mentor, accepts Beowulf's request to defeat Grendel, however teaches the importance to resist being boastful because it will lead to a life that is not gracious (lines 1419-1420). The writings of the Anglo-Saxons in Beowulf, portrays pagan religious beliefs that fate will unwind as it must (line 455), compared to the Middle English writings which conveys Christianity beliefs connected to