Beowulf, The Green Knight, and Influences on Modern Day Super Heroes

Although written in different time periods, the two stories, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf show many similarities. Both of these stories share the same common ideas, such as the type of qualities that heroes posses. Each of the two stories also has a main character that exhibits these qualities of bravery, honor and truth. In addition, similarities between Beowulf and a modern day superhero are evident in the famous Batman character. Beowulf was one of the earlier, more significant epic hero stories and, therefore, set the path for super heroes to come.

     In the story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the main character, Sir Gawain continually showed bravery throughout the book. One of the first places we see his bravery is right at the beginning of the book, when he is dining in King Arthur's court. When the Green Knight entered the court, he presented a challenge to all of King Arthur's knights assuming that they would rise to the occasion. Instead, all of the knights sat in their seats dumbfounded, but the minute King Arthur was about to accept the challenge, Gawain bravely stood up and did what no other knight wanted to do, accept the challenge and save the kingdom from anarchy. By doing this, Gawain not only showed his love for King Arthur, but also for his kingdom.    

In the story Beowulf, the main character, Beowulf is an incredible person who was willing to defeat anyone to keep his people safe. When Beowulf heard about the evil monster Grendel that was terrorizing King Hrothgar's town, he stepped up and agreed to fight Grendel without hesitation. By doing this, we see that Beowulf lacked no bravery and that he had a great love for human kind.

Sir Gawain does not pass his test in honesty completely, however, his does not fail it either. While on his way to the Green Knight's Chapel, Sir Gawain stopped off at a palace for lodging. It was here that Gawain was tested for his honesty. While staying at the palace, Gawain was placed in an awkward position when he found out that his host's wife had feelings for him. Gawain, however, was strong and did not fall for her attempts to seduce him. In the end however, his host's wife offered him a sash, which he accepted since she had fooled him into thinking that it had the power to protect him from any harm. When it was time for Gawain to leave the palace, he did not mention to his host about the sash even though he was supposed to, and in the end Gawain ended up facing the consequences of not telling by being nicked on the back of his neck.

Beowulf showed honesty throughout the poem, however one place where it can be seen undoubtedly occurs when Beowulf promises to help King Hrothgar with his problems with Grendel. Before fighting Grendel, Beowulf told the King that he would fight the monster without any weapons. When Beowulf came face to face with the monster, he kept both of his promises to the king. Not only did he kill Grendel, but he also did it without the need for weapons or armor.

Similarities between the Anglo-Saxon hero Beowulf and other famous heroes continue onto modern day figures. For example, similarities can be seen through the comparison of Beowulf and the modern day Batman. Both Batman and Beowulf have a strong code of ethics. Batman often releases criminals after a fight instead of killing them. The criminals were not an immediate life threat, so Batman did not feel it was right to kill them. His code of ethics does not allow for murder, therefore Batman kills only when absolutely necessary. Beowulf reveals his adhesion to a code of ethics in his argument with Unferth. Beowulf condemns Unferth, saying “You murdered your brothers, your own close kin. Words and bright wit won’t help your soul; you’ll suffer hell’s fires, Unferth, forever tormented.” Batman and Beowulf share the same code of ethics: one that condemns murder. The heroes are true to their ethics and only kill when absolutely necessary.

Both Sir Gawain and Beowulf exhibited many of the same qualities that made them worthy of the title, hero. Not only did both characters show off their great qualities, but they also showed how much they cared for other people. They both helped people when people needed them, and treated them with great respect. Similarly, Beowulf and the modern day Batman went about their crime fighting with a code of ethics and upheld their respect for others even if it were an opponent. Beowulf set the bar for many later super heroes to come and that is why similarities can be made between Beowulf and many of these stories and characters.