Warrior Ethic                        Chivalric Ethic

Beowulf                                               Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Heroic ideal                                                                Romantic ideal

Masculine                                                                    Feminine

Primary virtues:                                                           Primary virtues:

Bravery (exhibited by strength)                                 Bravery (exhibited by courage)

Loyalty (fealty)                                                            Honor (trouthe, covenant, word bonds)

Strength/brutality (king)                                            Courtesy (gentilesse: "gentle knight," humility)

Duty (lord - thane)                                                      Courtly love (knight - damsel)

Women as subordinate/objects                                Women as delicate/needing love

comitatus                                                                     Individual knight

God is feared and worshipped                                  God as bride/lover -  intimate theology

 
 Both works display some similar features:

•           Journey into unknown to confront "monster"

•           Frame (funeral in Beowulf, banquet in Sir Gawain)

•           Central character must prove heroism (following hero's journey: separation/initiation/return)

•           Use of alliterative storytelling--repeating sounds are emphasized more than rhyme

•           Ambiguous ending

•           Celebrate personal honor, loyalty, and lord-thane relationship

•           Poet may be presenting a critique of the subject as much as telling a story

 But Sir Gawain has some key differences (in addition to cultural ethic):

•          Four parts (vs. 2 or 3) in its structure

•          Stanzas with bob & wheel (vs. unbroken two half-lines with caesura)

•          Timeframe (New Year to New Year vs. over 50 years)

•          Christian (or NT) elements (grace, forgiveness, redemption) much stronger in Sir Gawain than in
           Beowulf (OT ethic: law, vengeance) and woven into the fabric of the poem rather than "tacked on,"
           as they seem to be in Beowulf