A Comparison of Perfection in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knig

Perfection in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the unripe KnightThe heroes of both Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight be fighters. However, the traits they have in common are far less numerous than those that set them apart. As each of the deuce is dubbed perfect by his contemporaries, it should be possible to ladder the picture of both the model warrior and the paragon knight by analyze Beowulf and Gawain. The first question to arise is that of leadership. In Beowulf, the hero is referred to as prince*, the helmet-of-Weders**, or master-friend***. This is not without reason in the times of the epic, might did literally custodytion right. Therefore, he who was to be an accomplished warrior had to display a leader s qualities as well as combat prowess. As for the knights, they had their appointed ruler, world-beater Arthur, and none thought of challenging him. Neither did any of the knights distinguish himself as a general all their exploits were done single-handedly. N ow, let us revolve about on combat. Beowulf fights a big many battles during his life, and while some of these are only briefly mentioned (the famous sea-monsters, for instance), the really titanic ones are set forth fully and with abundance of detail. The clash between the Geats and Grendel may serve as an example here   Now many an earl of Beowulf brandished blade ancestral, ( ) The outlaw majestic Took mortal hurt * And so it continues for fifty-one verses. And this is but one of the heroe s armed encounters Clearly, one has to fight much to be a great warrior The matter is quite different when it comes to knights. While Gawains skill with sword and despatch is highly praised throughout the poem, his battles are only hinted at as... ...e himself notices, nothing is tell of Beowulfs wife in the poem, but Bugge surmises that Beowulf finally accepted Hygds offer of earth and hoard, and, as was usual, took her into the bargain*** - which reflects the lac k of concern a true warrior should march when dealing with women. There is, however, a trait common to the warrior and the knight the two have a set of rules they should obey. And though the regulations that force Beowulf to come to Hrothgars back up are not nearly as neatly organised as Gawains chivalric code embodied in the pentangle****, the idea of being compelled to subprogram in a way dictated by generally accepted rules appears in both poems. We have thereby drawn the pictures of the ideal men of two different ages, and proved in the process how much the tone of perfection has changed from Beowulf to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.