6 minute read
Hopper Beowulf and Gawain: Different Stories, Similar Endings – Zachary Hopper
Beowulf and Gawain: Different Stories, Similar Endings
Zachary Hopper
Although six centuries separate Beowulf from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the endings to these alliterative poems are not unlike. While the poems themselves are unique, telling different tales and sharing few common themes or philosophies, the resolutions are quite similar. In both poems, the hero embarks upon a journey culminating in a final confrontation and victory (in one form or another) for the hero and those he serves. Gawain and Beowulf themselves represent traits valued by their respective cultures, many of which are identical. However, many readers fail to notice these likenesses and instead focus on the more apparent differences between the poems, such as the final challenge and outcome of the hero or the obvious cultural differences. I maintain that, while the resolutions of Beowulf and Gawain are seemingly dissimilar, they actually share many things in common. The contrast most evident in the resolutions of Beowulf and Gawain is the outcome of the hero. In Beowulf, a dragon has been terrorizing Geatish lands and Beowulf battles it to protect his people. This is his most challenging fight yet, as the text makes clear: “No quarter was claimed; no quarter given… So for the first time fortune was failing / the mighty man in the midst of a struggle …the blade he brandished / had failed in the fray thought forged from iron” (Beowulf lines 2254-2280). Additionally, the fact that Beowulf, a solitary fighter in the past, needs assistance from Wiglaf, and dies in spite of this help, tell us that this is the most brutal and difficult battle that Beowulf has ever fought. Gawain’s conflict, while every bit as serious as Beowulf’s, is much less intense. The beheading game is more refined than Beowulf’s harsh battle with the dragon, so much so that it even has rules and expectations for both Gawain and the Green Knight. We see how civilized this contest is when the Green Knight delivers his blow to Gawain’s neck: “Lightly his weapon he lifted, and let it down neatly / with the bent horn of the blade towards the neck that was bare; / though he hewed with a hammer-swing, he hurt him no more / than to snick him on one side and sever the skin” (Gawain lines 2310-2313). The Green Knight means no harm to Gawain, as the real game is the exchange of winnings between Gawain and Bercilak. The main difference between Beowulf’s and Gawain’s battles is the high intensity of one and the cordial atmosphere of the other. However, if one pays attention to them, the similarities between the two fights abound. The battles in the resolutions of Beowulf and Gawain share three things in common: victory (of some sort) for the hero, service to others, and a journey leading up to a final challenge. Beowulf’s journey begins when he embarks upon a voyage to “offer Hrothgar, with honest heart, / the means to make an end to this menace [i.e. Grendel]” (Beowulf lines 244- 245). Beowulf’s desire to help others is the motivating force behind his three major battles, and culminates in his defeat of the dragon at the cost of his own life; he says, “…still in old age I would see out strife / and gain glory guarding my fold” (Beowulf lines 2213-2214). Gawain, too, is motivated by helping others, and accepts the Green Knight’s challenge on behalf of King Arthur. He says,
aegis 2008
aegis 2008
“…I find it unfitting, as in fact it is held, / when a challenge in your chamber makes choices so exalted, / though you yourself be desirous to accept it [the Green Knight’s challenge] in person, / while many bold many about you on bench are seated…since this affair is so foolish that it nowise befits you, / and I have requested it first, accord it then to me! (Gawain lines 348-351).
In order to serve Arthur, Gawain decapitates the Green Knight and, according to the rules of the game, begins his journey in one year and one day’s time. Like Beowulf, Gawain travels a great deal and faces many challenges, such as resisting the temptations of Bercilak’s wife or playing the exchange of winnings game. In the end, Gawain is shamed because he did not give up the green girdle, thereby losing the game, so he wears it around his neck as a reminder of his weakness. But when he returns to King Arthur’s court to tell of his journey, the lords and ladies of the court make a law stating that, “…every knight of the Brotherhood, a baldric should have, / a band of bright green obliquely about him, / and this for love of that knight [Gawain] as a livery should wear” (Gawain lines 2518-2520). Although Gawain falters in his knighthood by accepting the girdle from Bercilak’s wife, he earns the respect of the Green Knight and of the people of Arthur’s court for fulfilling his knightly duty of service to his lord. This duty is part of Gawain’s knightly code, and it is but one of the values that he shares with Beowulf. One of the most overlooked connections between Beowulf and Gawain is the strict code of values followed by the heroes. Beowulf’s warrior culture values qualities such as courage and loyalty. These values are especially important in the face of defeat, because victory does not guarantee superiority; how one conducts battle is more important than winning. Therefore, warriors can and should boast of their deeds in battle, which not only prove their worth but also help to build their name. Beowulf demonstrates this when he arrives at Hrothgar’s court and says,
“They [Geatish earls and elders] have seen me / return bloody from binding five brutish giants, / a family of foes destroyed in our strife; / and under the surf I have slain sea-monsters, / nightmarish nixies noxious to Geats. / Hardship I had, but our harms were avenged, / our enemies mastered” (Beowulf lines 372-378).
Not only does he prove that he is capable of defeating Grendel, but he also achieves glory through performing heroic deeds. Gawain follows a code as well, although his varies slightly. As a knight, he is bound by duty to serve his lord, King Arthur. The Knights of the Round Table can be compared to Beowulf and his men serving Hrothgar. Kinship bonds are present in both cultures, but Gawain’s culture focuses more on the individual. It regards loyalty and courage highly, as Beowulf’s does, but it values additional qualities in knights, such as generosity, fellowship, chastity, chivalry, and piety. Gawain is the embodiment of these five characteristics, and he is described as “gold refined, / devoid of every vice and with virtues adorned” (Gawain lines 633-634). Although Gawain possesses characteristics not found in Beowulf’s culture, and vice versa, it is apparent that they share some of the same qualities, and that their values are not as different as they first appear. I have shown that the resolutions of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight appear to be radically different, but are actually quite similar. Both Beowulf and Gawain are
motivated by others and ultimately achieve victory against their enemies. They share many of the same traits, and one can see that their dissimilarity is only surface deep. Most readers miss the similarities between these two heroes, and instead focus on their obvious discrepancies. How the poems end, both in terms of character traits and plot outcome, are not unlike one another, and for those that cannot see their likeness, perhaps a more critical reading is necessary.
Works Cited
Damrosch, David, and Kevin J.H. Dettmar, ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. 3 rd Edition. Volume 1A: The Middle Ages. New York: Pearson Longman, 2006. Beowulf. Damrosch and Dettmar 27-92. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Damrosch and Dettmar 200-258.
