What makes a hero? To be a hero, one must go willingly out of their comfort zone to defend others and show great courage in all circumstances. A hero is a leader, a strong independent being who is not afraid to stand on their own. In the epics, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf, the heroes are Sir Gawain and Beowulf. Sir Gawain and Beowulf show these qualities in many ways, even though there are some ways in which they differ, when talking about heroic acts they are very similar.
Beowulf and Sir Gawain are strong warriors. In Beowulf, Beowulf was known for fighting monsters and anything that would try to harm his people. He shows his strength and courage when Beowulf went to fight Grendel. For example, “Fastened those claws in his …show more content…
The Green Knight came into the town hall of King Arthur and gave the challenge to allow anyone to use his axe to strike his neck, but in one year and one day the Green Knight would have his turn to use the axe on whoever accepted the challenge. When the Green Knight first declared his challenge no one accepted the challenge, but the brave Sir Gawain accepted because he did not want the Green Knights request to make King Arthur look weak. “And Gawain rose and came quickly to the king, and kneeled, and accepted the green man” is an example of this (366-368). Likewise, Beowulf sailed the seas to Denmark and took on the test to fight Grendel and Grendel's mother later on in the epic, this shows how brave Beowulf was to take them on. For example, “Then they sailed, set their ship out on the waves”(125-126). These warriors took on the toughest of tests to show their bravery. Although Sir Gawain and Beowulf are similar in many ways they also have some differences. Beowulf was a pagan, he believes in fate: “Fate will unwind as it must”(285). On the other hand, Sir Gawain has Christian beliefs. Unlike Beowulf, Sir Gawain shows a few moments of being scared in his hiding of the girdle that Lady Bertilak gives him as she tries to seduce him. Beowulf never showed signs of being scared at all through the whole