- - - How is the beginning of Gawain different than the beginning of Beowulf? How is it similar? Explain.
- - - Why does Gawain describe himself as the, "weakest," of all of the Knights?
- - - What is the significance of how the Green Knight is introduced and what he says about those gathered for the feast.
In the beginning of both Gawain and Beowulf, each poem provides background infromation of that time period. Neither introduction gives any detail as to how the poem is revealed. They both mention important groups of people or people of that time period to catch the reader's attention at the time the poem was written as it could be very benefical to them. Although they might start off similar, they also differ in the events that are described. In the poem Beowulf, Scyld was described as a good leader who later died and his people sent hi body away on the boat along with his treasure. On the other hand, Gawain tells the tale of Aeneas and his men taking over land in Britan and by doing this they gained riches.
ReplyDeleteGawain describes himself as the weakest of all the knights because he does not want to sound too modest of himself especially when there are other knights much stronger than him. By him stating that he is the weakest it might trigger one of the other knights to risk their lives for the challenge and prove to their king they are worthy of their name.
Although the Green Knight is introduced as being "perfect" and intimidating he is not at all. He tells the king he has heard that his kingdom is the best in the world and how he comes in peace. As the Green Knight mentioned about the challenge, he also told them that he would willingly let them take the first shot at him. He isn't as intimidating as described but yet many of the nobles are still timid of him and don't accept the challenge for their king..
1.) The beginning of both poems give a back story of the history behind the plots. In Gawain, the narrator explains the new rising cities in England and introduces King Arthur. In Beowulf, the narrator similarly explains some of the history of the Danes leaders and how each came to power. The beginnings are different because the narrator in Gawain explains he will be telling a story about "outstanding action of Arthur's wonders" whereas the narrator uses first person and subtle transitions to lead into the story of Beowulf.
ReplyDelete2) Gawain describes himself as the weakest of knights as apart of chivalry. It is his knightly code to be modest and to recognize his weaknesses which he does by saying "I am the weakest, I know, and of wit feeblest."
3) The significance of the Green Knight's introduction is the detailed description that the narrator provided. Commenting on the size and "thickness" of the knight was meant to show the strength he must have contained while the neatly groomed qualities and jewels represented his power status. The color green noted many times is a medieval symbol for nature and hope. At the feast, he calls out Arthur's knights saying "Now is the revel and the renown of the Round Table overthrown with the word of a wanderer's speech, for all duck down and dread without a dint of a blow!" The knight is saying that Arthur's knights reputation fails them and they are all cowards for not accepting his challenge. This could be significant foreshadowing of events to come.
1. Beowulf, draws on Christianity to rationalize some of its supernatural elements, turning the myth into a lesson on faith. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight uses mysticism and magic to explore popular ideas and stories of the Catholic belief. Similarities between Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is, both communicate the same point: trust and rely on the Christian God, or fail.
ReplyDelete2. Gawain views himself beneath the other Knights and not as valuable.Since he's the nephew of King Arthur, he feels that he has a responsibility to protect his uncle and the king.
3.The Green Knight mocks the King at the feast and challenges him , but Sir Gawain takes a leap and accepts the challenge to protect King Arthur. Sir Gawain conquers the challenge by cutting off the Knights head.
1. The beginnings are different because in Gawain everyone is celebrating and feasting but in Beowulf everyone is together because their great king died and they are giving him a funeral at sea. They are similar because all the towns people are gathered together for the same cause.
ReplyDelete2. Gawain does not think highly of himself. He does not seem to have a lot of courage aside from the fact that he took Arthur's place in the challenge. Gawain probably feels like he is only a knight of Arthur's court because he is Arthur's nephew and he does this challenge to prove himself to himself and everyone that he is courageous and brave and worthy of his title. His courage for taking the challenge is clearly not how he truly feels about himself since he stated he is the weakest.
3. The Green Knight presents himself as an extraordinary knight that is extremely talented. This is significant because he stands out among the rest of Arthur's knight not only because he is completely Green but because of his size as well. He is described at huge sitting on his even larger horse. He is described as being larger than life almost. Although he says he has heard Arthur's knights are superior, he brands Arthur's knights calling them inexperienced and childish. This is significant because he seems to take offense to this which gives us some insight about the Green Knight. He seems to think he is the best and no one can defeat him so he came to inspect these "superior" knights, no doubt looking for a battle or challenge that he was given.
Both Beowulf and Gawain start with a little back round about the countries and ancestors of the main characters the reader will come to know. In both stories both ancestries and main characters come from well known empires. Beowulf and Gawain are warriors, Gawain just has the title: Knight In the different stories, it is different family relations that bring the main characters to greatness.
ReplyDeleteKing Arthur is an important man, and should not be at risk for a challenge of strength. Gawain, however, is a slow minded person who, if killed, would not be a big deal. He is just a knight. King Arthur's life is invaluable at his point because he is king.
When the green knight enters, he realizes he owns the room. He is a green skinned giant, which has never been seen before. He realizes he intimidates everyone there. He laughs and insults the reputation of the knights to at least get a reaction of some sort out of them.
The beginning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight differs from Beowulf because Beowulf accepted the task of defeating Grendel for fame and fortune. Sir Gawain however, accepted the task for honor and protecting his king from the challenge. The warriors of the time of Beowulf searched for ways to improve their own lives. The knights of King Arthur followed the chivalry code for integrity. They are similar in the fact that they both establish the culture of the time. In Beowulf, the author tells about the beloved rulers and when they died, they were buried with all of their treasures from their life on Earth. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the author tells of how Guinevere is surrounded by jewels and has beautiful gray eyes. This was a cultural tradition that the queen was showered with wealth and the gray eyes symbolize she was the prettiest of all the women. These are both cultural traditions that are a part of the ancient societies.
ReplyDeleteGawain describes himself as the weakest of all the Knights because he could be following the codes of chivalry by being modest and not boasting. Another possibility could be that he truly believes he is the weakest of all the Knights meaning that he could have much to prove by accepting this challenge for his uncle and king. By participating in this game he could prove himself to be a better knight than what had been previously thought of him.
The significance of how the Green Knight is introduced has to deal with the symbolic meaning of the color green. Green symbolizes nature, fertility, bountifulness, and hope. It also symbolizes freedom from bondage. His armor is also laced with gold which symbolizes trickery. He challenges the people at the feast to a game but when no one speaks up he calls the people gathered at the feast cowards. He challenges the knights because he had heard they were suppose to be superior to other knights. He wants test the might of the knights of the round table.
The beginning of Gawain is similar to the beginning of Beowulf in a way because both stories start out by giving background stories on the history of the time period they are discussing. This was done as a Greek tradition to let people know that they were about to read an epic poem.They are different though because Beowulf gives more history on the people and spends more time discussing this rather than telling the story. Gawain gives the events of where the story is set up and is rather short compared to Beowulf.
ReplyDeleteGawain describes himself as the weakest of all the Knights because he says he is not the boldest and definitely not the strongest. He describes himself as feeble which shows how he thinks of himself. He also says that he is the least loss if anything were to happen to him.
The significance of the Green Knight is introduced when he comes into the castle and everyone is amazed and cant't believe their eyes when they see the green color that he and his horse are. The significance of the green color in those times was that it meant love and at times joy. It shows a new side to what the Green Knight is about. He says that he has heard about the Knights of the Roundtable and calls them basically cowards when no one refuses to step up. He wants them to reveal their leader unless they are the cowards he assumes them to be.
The beginning of Gawain is different than that of Beowulf. In the begging of the Gawain poem, King Arthur is mentioned to attract the attention of the reader. The Gawain poem also uses more poetic devices than Beowulf. The two poems are similar because both start with a reiteration of an event of the past. That past event mentioned sets the poem up to be an epic poem.
ReplyDeleteHe describes himself as the weakest because he is a blood relative of King Arthur. He is only praised as a knight because of his relation to Arthur. Assuming because Gawain is a relative and praised as such, he would not have had to accomplish what other knights have in order to become an official knight. He was grandfathered into knighthood because of his relationship.
The Green Knight is introduced as peace bearing. This is significant because the game that the Knight proposes to play is deadly to himself, because he is a bearer of peace it can mean that no harm or war will come onto the kingdom of Arthur. After he is beheaded, he speaks to Gawain in the presence of all the knights. This is significant because it shows how Gawain is now bound to complete the task that was given to him by the Green Knight, and he has witnesses to prove what was said.
1. The intro of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is similar to Beowulf's intro as both relate a tale of how the setting of the literature came to fruition. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight opens with how Camelot came to be,whilst Beowulf states how the Scylding Kingdom came to be. A major difference between the two, however is that Arthur does not run from an enemy's challenge, whilst the Scylding king does.
ReplyDelete2. He states he is the weakest due to his wit being feeble, and how he feels his life is the least valued of all in Camelot. Gawain also states that the only reason he is welcomed is because King Arthur is his uncle.
3. The introduction of the Green Knight is very significant. The Green Knight comes into the hall unannounced. He is imposing among the crowd gathered in the hall, and is described with detail. He calls everyone gathered at the table too weak to fight him, causing an altercation, and causing Gawain to declare his will to protect the King.
--- The beginning of the poem is different compared to the beginning of Beowulf because there is no description of a royal line. In Beowulf, the ancestry of Beowulf was discussed, but in Beowulf, the founding of Britain, Rome, and Tuscany is presented. This introduction is similar between the two poems because great kings are introduced, King Arthur and King Sheafson. Also, each of the poems establish a sort of background for the poem. In Beowulf, it is established where Beowulf originated and why Beowulf is traveling to help Hrothgar. In Gawain, the source of the story is mentioned.
ReplyDelete--- Gawain might have described himself as the "weakest" of all the knights because boasting of his power might be against his chivalric code as knight. Having respect for your fellow knights would have been important and ranking yourself among the rest may not be the right thing to do.
--- The Green Knight is introduced by a full description and we learn that the knight wears a green outfit and rides a green horse. Back in the Middle Ages, the color green sometimes represented the devil. He also calls the crowd "beardless children" and "weak" compared to him. He could be trying to lead them into a trick about his "game". Calling the crowd weak may entice them to accept the challenge.
1. The poems differ in several ways. We can already see that Gawain is a more realistic, human hero than Beowulf. Both serve kings but the distinction is in the fact that Beowulf did it for honor, and Gawain did it out of genuine concern for his uncle. Gawain feels his king should not be the one to bear a challenge. The similarity in these two beginnings is the rise of a hero to complete a difficult task. In both cases, the battle for the protection of a king is essential to the plot (though possibly not the motive).
ReplyDelete2. Gawain describes himself as the weakest of the knights because he believes the only reason he has a position in the hall is because his uncle is King Arthur. In his own words: "Only inasmuch as you are my uncle, am I praised: No bounty but your blood in my body I know." Gawain does not think himself worthy because his lack of physical might and wit.
3. The Green Knight is introduced with an olive branch in one hand and an ax in the other, perhaps as a sort of irony or to indicate the concept of retribution. He comes in peace but intends to bring possible death to Arthur's court. Another archetype is the color of his namesake, which is typically used to symbolize growth and life, but in this case death. His introductory remarks are meant to shame Arthur or his followers into accepting a seemingly harmless challenge. He knows that those of supposed honor or valor would never turn down a chance to display these traits.
1. The poems differ in several ways. We can already see that Gawain is a more realistic, human hero than Beowulf. Both serve kings but the distinction is in the fact that Beowulf did it for honor, and Gawain did it out of genuine concern for his uncle. Gawain feels his king should not be the one to bear a challenge. The similarity in these two beginnings is the rise of a hero to complete a difficult task. In both cases, the battle for the protection of a king is essential to the plot (though possibly not the motive).
ReplyDelete2. Gawain describes himself as the weakest of the knights because he believes the only reason he has a position in the hall is because his uncle is King Arthur. In his own words: "Only inasmuch as you are my uncle, am I praised: No bounty but your blood in my body I know." Gawain does not think himself worthy because his lack of physical might and wit.
3. The Green Knight is introduced with an olive branch in one hand and an ax in the other, perhaps as a sort of irony or to indicate the concept of retribution. He comes in peace but intends to bring possible death to Arthur's court. Another archetype is the color of his namesake, which is typically used to symbolize growth and life, but in this case death. His introductory remarks are meant to shame Arthur or his followers into accepting a seemingly harmless challenge. He knows that those of supposed honor or valor would never turn down a chance to display these traits.
1) Gawain is based off of more christian related values. The beginning of Gawain really focuses of other characters like Arthur and Guinevere. It goes into great detail about the people, places, and scenery. Beowulf mainly gets to the point of his quest to seek glory. At the beginning, both poems share the history of the land and of the people. In the beggining everything started off with prosper. Explaining who all was related and the importance of the characters.
ReplyDelete2) He believes he has the least importance compared to the others. Not entirely in the aspect of his physical strength, but that the loss of his life would not be a great loss compared to the others.
3) The Green Knight is introduced in such an awe manor. His presence came as a suprise. He gleamed with such great jewels and armour. Presented as perfect head to toe. The Green Knight was a giant including his horse. The most improtant feature was that he was green. Green symbolizes growth, harmony, and fertility. Gathered at the feast he challenges all of the people. When no one speaks up he says the silence shows they do not live up to what they are known to be. He calls them out as cowards rather than the brave kingdom percieved by others.
1. The beginning of Beowulf and Gawain are both different and alike. In the beginning of Gawain, it is explaining a story that had been passed down. The narrator is telling of a story he once heard. The beginning of Beowulf is not described as a story that has been passed down. They are alike, however, because it is an account of the history of the people in the story. Each of the stories starts out explaining how the leaders and places the people live in came to be. Beowulf talks a lot about the past rulers and how successful they were. It explains the Danes and the Scylds. Gawain talks about how the Romans came and established a government. The two differ in topics, but the overall scheme of the beginning of the book is to establish a background for the reader of the time period and the people living in it.
ReplyDelete2. Gawain describes himself as the weakest of all knights because he does not know or believe in his own abilities. He does not look at himself as a good knight and shares this with King Arthur. He also loves his King so much that even giving up his life is worth it for the sake of the King. He looks at himself as so weak that his life doesn't matter and he takes this challenge on for his King.
3. The Green Knight is introduced so powerfully that no one dare to mess with him. The way he is dressed and the essence he brings shows that he is not a man to be messed with. He mocks the people in the feast and demands to only speak to the leader, King Arthur. This is significant because it shows the power that the Green Knight has, or at least thinks he has. His class is so high above the others that he demands to only speak to King Arthur. Whatever this Green Knight is brining to King Arthur is sure to be elaborate and of high cost to his people. He poses as a threat to King Arthur and his people.
In the begining of Beowulf they start out talking about their great king. He had just died in the book and they send him off to sea when he dies just as his life began. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, they begin with the discussion of many founding fathers of different countries and how the countries came to be. These two are similar because, in Beowulf, they talk of their great founder. This is also discussed in Sir Gawain but they talk about many.
ReplyDeleteThe green knight is introduced in a very serious manner. He barges in crashing the feast and demands to speak to the lord or leader. As everyone stares in silence, King Arthur finally speaks and invites him to join their feast. The knight remains mounted on his horse and says that he is there for a combat challenge. He describes Arthur's knights as puny and weak. He proposes that since his Knights seem to be completely inferior to him and his skill, one of Arthur's men get to strike the green knight with his own ax. After this has been done he says, he will return the blow in 1 year and a day. After the knight says this the court becomes silent again. The green knight questions the reputation of Arthur's followers and says that their failure to speak makes them cowards.
1. The beginning of Gawain is similar to the beginning of Beowulf, by people being harassed by and unexpected enemy. In Beowulf, the Danes were being harassed by Grendel. In Gawain, people are having their land being conquered by a greater power. They differ because in Beowulf, the Danes are being attacked and that is the focus of the beginning. But in Gawain, the focus is on the group conquering the land.
ReplyDelete2. Gawain considers himself the, "weakest," of all the knights because he feels as if he were lost no one who care for him. He thought the game stated by the Green Knight was beneath the King, and should be for someone who is weaker. That is why he volunteered.
3.The significance of the the Green Knight's introduction can be described by the color green. Green symbolizes evil in this time period. This is very odd because he said he came in peace and wanted no harm. But after he challenges the King they realized that someone was going to die.
The beginning of Gawain differs from that of Beowulf by coming off as a happier occasion. Towards the beginning of Gawain, it is Christmas time, and King Arthur and his subjects have gathered for a gluttonous meal and are having an all around good time. Beowulf on the other hand starts off as gloomier, because of the damage caused early in the story. Grendel is introduced early in the story, and he has caused nothing but great havoc among multiple nations in Europe.
ReplyDeleteGawain describes himself as the "weakest" of all of the Knights because he wanted to show respect to King Arthur. Back in medieval times, it was noble of other Knights to put others before themselves, especially their king. King Arthur is also introduced before Gawain, as a sign of respect, and to get the reader's attention because Arthur was a hero of England.
The Green Knight is introduced in the sense that no one has ever seen anyone like this man before. Not only was he completely green, but he was also the largest person they had ever seen, and no one could compare to his size. This is significance because the Knights are not just scared, they are also amazed at the shear size of this person. What he says about everyone is even more interesting. He calls out King Arthur to say that he had come all that way to see how great of a king he was but also to challenge him to see just how great he was. This is significant because kings of the day were not tested because it was a sign of disrespect, but this Green Giant comes out of no where and calls out King Arthur to a challenge.
The first difference between the two is the time period. Gawain is much later when they have recorded history. Another difference is that the protagonist of "Beowulf" is Beowulf, a single lone hero that travels to a kingdom to fight a great beast. The green knight however is the antagonist and is the one traveling to Arthur's kingdom. Some similarities however are that they both do have a main character present themselves to a king. Another is that they present themselves with peace to the kingdoms.
ReplyDeleteHe describes himself as the weakest because he could never live up to his uncle's legacy as king Arthur. It would not be such a loss if he died as if Arthur would although he is the rightful heir to the throne. He states this to the court in the 16th stanza.
The Green Knight introduces himself with no armor as a sign of peace and Arthur sorta presents him with a statement that says well if you do want a battle we will not back down. Green color represents the symbol of death and decay as he tries to take down the Knights. The Green Knight says in stanza 21 that he will eventually take down all keen men that serve Arthur one by one.
The beginning of Gawain is different from Beowulf because in Gawain, the setting is introduced with a brief lesson on it's history and how it came to be. Also, in Beowulf, Beowulf was introduced with not much in formation given about him but in Gawain, The Green Knight is explained deeply.
ReplyDelete- Gawain describes himself as the weakest knight because he knows of his social status and importance and he doesn't want to brag at all. By saying that he is the weakest knight, he is not bragging.
- The Green Knight was introduced in a manner that represented aw. When the Green knight arrived at the feast, all the people there were amazed at the beauty and size of the knight. When the Knight spoke, he said he was on good terms, but he wanted to challenge someone. When finding the right opponent, he described the knight of King Arthur as weak and just children. Eventually, Arthur is the one to take the challenge until Gawain stood up to accept the challenge instead.
-The beginning of Gawain is different than the beginning of Beowulf because it's a whole different start to a whole different story. Sure they have similar structure but they are completely different. The characters are introduced as weak in Gawain and the character are introduced as strong in Beowulf.
ReplyDelete-Gawain describes himself as the weakest of all the knights because he beloved that the other knights are more advanced than he is. Like Beowulf, he wants to work to his potential and soon be as advanced as the others.
-The Green Knight is introduced as a bold person and explains to those gathered at the feast where his place is an where their place is. He explains to the people what they should know and what will happen in the near future. Compared to the others the Green Knight is very important and is a character to pay attention to in this story.
The beginning of Gawain is different than the beginning of Beowulf because Beowulf introduced with a story. In the beginning of Gawain, they give you an introduction of what the story is going to be about. They were similar because they were both introduced by mentioning another character that is attention grabbing. In Gawain, the story was introduced by mentioning King Arthur to gain peoples attention.
ReplyDeleteGawain describes himself as the weakest of all the knights because he doesn't want the people to be feared by how big he is.
The way the Green Knight is introduced is significant because in shows his importance and gives us an idea of who he is. The poem states "he fared as a giant were made, and over all deepest green". It makes him seem important. Then the poem talks about how even though he's big and scary he is perfect and his horse is perfect as well. An example of that is "He looked as lightning bright". Green in medival times represents joy and hope. So maybe the Green Knight came to provide hope and joy to the people.
1.)The beginning of beowulf is different because beowulf is not introduced as a hero until later int the story. For Gawain he is already known as a great hero because of his family.
ReplyDelete2.)Gawain discribes himself as the weakest of all lights because he knows he is the strongest and wants to remain somewhat humble through the process of being such a well know hero.
3.)The way Gawain is introduced shows that he is a true hero for taking Arthur's place when fighting the green knight. He say that he would not sit down until promised the tale of great adventure.
Both the beginning of Beowulf and the beginning of Gawain introduce the history of the story through some background information. In the beginning of Beowulf, the story begins with a brief history of royal lineage. The first couple of chapters summarize the kings that have ruled Geatland, and how the lineage has led to where it is when the story begins. In Gawain, the history being presented is a background of England, how it was formed and what it is like as the story begins with the Anglo-Normans and their ruler, King Arthur.
ReplyDeleteGawain decides to present himself as the "weakest" of all the knights, because he knows that if the other nobles think he is of least worth, they will give him the challenge. Losing the weakest link would affect nothing, so if they give the challenge to Gawain, the "weakest" link, it will not matter if he loses. Also, presenting himself as this weak knight gives him an advantage to make himself look stronger than he really is when he defeats the green knight. The people of the round table were nearly speechless when they saw this "weakest" knight defeat the giant.
The Green Knight is described very thoroughly when he is introduced. It is made quite apparent that he is cloaked in green, which will serve as some type of symbolism later on in the story. Also, the descriptions take note of his stature, size, and apparel. He is described as a giant because of his size, he sits tall on his horse, showing his power and nobility, and his clothing is covered in jewels, representing his wealth. He calls the people at the feast cowardly and weak, showing that he thinks very highly of himself, but his comes back to bite him, as he is defeated by the "weakest" knight of the round table.
1) The beginning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight starts out differently than Beowulf. The narrator uses an abundance of alliteration when describing the setting and characters. The beginning of Gawain also gives some background of the time period and what was currently going on. However, the beginnings of Beowulf and Gawain are similar in a way that both narrators boast about one of the main characters (Beowulf and the Green Knight). The readers learn that the stories' main characters are very strong and and loyal beings.
ReplyDelete2) Gawain describes himself as the weakest knight because he wants to protect himself. He knows that he truly is one of the greatest knights to be known and that is why he loves his life so much. He will do anything and say anything to protect him precious life.
3)The Green Knight is introduced in a very bold way. He is dressed head to toe in the color green and is covered in gems and jewels. He is made out to be very powerful and intimidating. He tells those who are gathered at the feast about a game he would like them to play and he laughs at them for being scared of just the words he spoke.
-In both stories, the main character is comes into a town that he is unfamiliar with. He is mysterious to the people in each story. Everyone was impressed with Beowulf's arrival and the green knight's. They are different, because Beowulf did not come in on a horse. He was not as noticed upon his arrival. There is no real problem yet in the beginning of Sir Gawain.
ReplyDelete-He is introduced as a very tall and intimidating knight. He is scary and strong. This sets the tone and shows that he is capable of being a hereo.
Both stories are similar at the beginning of the stories because they are both in halls and have leaders at the table. They both are getting ready for a great feast and have some kind of sculpture hanging on the wall such as Grendel's arms and the green knights axe. A leader in both protected his people by killing someone in the great halls. These stories are different because Grendel was harming the town for years and Beowulf came to the town to kill Grendel, but in Gawain the green knight came to the hall and the leader was from the town to kill the knight. Also in Beowulf, Grendel wanted to kill the people, and in Gawain the green knight was holding a holy stick. The final difference was that the green knight did not put up a fight with the leader.
ReplyDeleteGawain did not have to put up a fight to win the battle against the green knight and was disappointed that there could not be a better story to start off the feast of eating. The green knight is introduced as coming through the doors of the great hall and right as the feast was suppose to start. He had a axe in one hand and a holy stick in the other, but was killed by the leader.
1.) The two stories are similar in that they both establish a historical backstory. They tell about what has happened in the past, that could effect the events that will take place in the story. Beowulf tells how Grendel became a problem after the building of the great hall and his first slaughter. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight tells about the invasion of Britain and the previous battles and rivalries. They are different however, because Sir Gawain's history is true about the invasion by the Normans. Beowulf's history never happened.
ReplyDelete2.) Sir Gawain does this, because he is a honorable knight. Honorable knights are chivalrous. This means that they are courteous and honorable, so they do not boast of many triumphs as Beowulf had done. He is being a humble knight of the round table.
3.) He is introduced as being huge and intimidating. He addressed those at the feast as honorably as he could, but he still challenged them to a fight. Nobody accepted at first and he called them cowards. Since he is green which symbolizes someone who was good became evil and became good again it means that he can be quite the bad egg.
The difference between the beginning of Beowulf and Gawain is that Beowulf starts with the lineage of Beowulf and his adventures and Gawain starts with the history of the land. Beowulf is more Anglo Saxon while Gawain is more Norman Saxon
ReplyDeleteGawain is very humble and thinks poorly of himself. He thinks the only reason he is noble is because he is aurthers cousin.
The green knight is presented god like and he challenges Arthur but e doesn't at Te same time. He also had a lack of respect for Te other knights by seeing if anyone would challenge him except for Arthur.
1) The beginning of "Gawain" is different from the beginning of "Beowulf" in several ways. For one, the author of "Gawain" tricks the audience by saying the story will be about King Arthur, whereas "Beowulf" begins with a description of who the story is REALLY about. Another difference is that Grendel has already been harming the Scyldings in "Beowulf," whereas the green monster comes and introduces himself DURING the opening of the story.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of Gawain is similar to the beginning of Beowulf because both begin with a history of some sort. "Beowulf" begins with the stories of kings of old, "Gawain" begins with the description of beginning of the Norman conquest: "on many banks all broad Britain he settles then."
2) Gawain describes himself: "I am the weakest, i know, and of wit feeblest" out of reverence t to King Arthur. He also describes himself that way to compare the loss of his life to that of Arthur's: Gawain's life costs nothing, compared to the noble King Arthur's.
3) The fact that the knight is dressed in green symbolizes his connection with nature. The fact that he rides right up to the main table at the banquet, shows that he is not afraid of conflict. The fact that he explains to the people that he comes "in peace," he's carrying a holly branch and axe! "You may be sure by this branch that I bear here/that I pass by in peace and no plight seek." He challenges any man to do something, which demonstrates his arrogance.
Beowulf began with the introduction of a funeral; a prelude or precursor to the events and fate to come. By contrast, this poem began with a segment of history pretaining to setting and such. This shows the differences in tradition, between Saxon and Greek tradition. Both are similar in the fact that they both examplify components of their real life, era comparisons.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons that I believe Gawain described himself as the weakest of the Knights is because he wanted to prove his own worth to his liege and his fellow Knights. The reason for this is because on page 16 he says, "least worth the loss of my life, who'd learn the truth/ only inasmuch as you are my uncle, am I praised." By this, he wishes to make a name for himself and prove himself and stature without just inherently being respected by of his relationship to the King. It is also because he feels that the King should not even have to deal with the Green Knight. I gather this from the line, "And since this thing is folly and naught to you falls," meaning it is of little significance to you King; let me handle this.
The significance in the Green Knight's introduction lies in his assertiveness and confidence. The being walks straight up to the dias and confronts the King and his men, choosing to not even acknowledge their ranks until they display it for him. This is important: he did this on purpose, I believe, in order to draw out the strongest willed of his men, who would be so willing to help, which ended up being Gawain. This scene is also important because it explains the shock of the men about the Knight and his colors. Green, in medieval times, was by turns a symbol of love, and the serpant. This is just like how the Green Knight bears both a Holly branch for peace, and an Axe in the other for violence.
“Beowulf” was written through Saxon culture, with some Anglo-Saxon belief incorporated in the poem. However, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” is written through Anglo-Norman culture. These two kinds of people’s beliefs and language differed largely, indicating the difference between the two kinds of people in which these poems were written by. The syntax of Sir Gawain seems much harder to understand because it’s written in more of a structured and poetic form. These two poems are similar in the sense that each began their tales with a brief history of the time period, geography, and rule. They both do this to establish what kind of poem will be read and in what context. Although these differ, they are used for the same reason.
ReplyDeleteSir Gawain refers to himself as “the weakest, I know, and of wit feeblest.” Not only do I think Sir Gawain is trying to gain respect from the Arthur, but I also believe that he does it as a silent boast to his uncle for future praise. Gawain wants to seem noble by taking on the Green Knight in his uncle’s place. He asks if he can take on the duty and calls himself weak to appear braver in the face of danger. He tells his uncle he is “praised” to even share the same bloodline and that this alone is enough to satisfy his life. He states that it will not matter to him that he could die because he would be doing it for his uncle. I believe that Gawain would not have taken on this responsibility if he did not think he could defeat the Green Knight, therefore, I find Gawain’s motives highly questionable.
He is introduced as some horrifying green giant who has such perfect features. This contrast in one character becomes intriguing to the people gathered at the feast. He comes to the feast extremely calm and comments on how the city is supposedly the best around. I believe this is just an act to make the giant seem less intimidating others. No one would have taken on the challenge had the giant came into the cave and started breathing fire. However, the relaxed personality the giant brings to the table leads the leaders to believe he is not as threatening as he seems. However, when he takes that axe’s blow without fear and then picks up his severed head and walks out with it, he petrifies the people at the feast, exposing his threating qualities.
1. In the beginning of both poems, background and introductions are very prevalent. Both introduce characters, setting and plots. But the general aspects of the poems are where the similarities stop. First, you get the sense that Sir Gawain was written with a Christian background in mind. The celebration being held in the dead of winter can be related to Christmas/Thanksgiving, and gluttony is very heavily introduced. An observant reader will realize that gluttony one of the seven deadly sins. Beowulf starts off with a different tone. In the beginning of Beowulf, background and setting is still laid out, but the focus is more on the individual of Beowulf. It outlines his achievements and what he has done to make him a noble and strong warrior. This is contrasting from Arthur AND his Knights of the Roundtable.
ReplyDelete2. I believe Gawain describes himself modestly to gain respect from Arthur. He achieves this by contradicting what he is saying and what he does. He says he is the weakest knight, but when Arthur accepts the Green Knights challenge, Gawain steps in for him, showing extreme loyalty to Arthur.
3. He is a walking contradiction of many kinds. First, he calls out the Knights gluttony because of this great feast and how they should be ashamed. But he is adorned in green silks and golden jewelry that also covers his horse. He represents unnecessary extravagance, which is frowned upon just the same as gluttony.