Gawain Questions (fit 2)

1. The first three stanzas are about the passing of time from the Green Knights appearance and challenge in the castle. They describe the change in scenery as the season changes; then Gawain decides it is time for him to leave.

The next two Stanzas show the motif of the arming of the warrior; they describe his armor in detail.

The next two describe his shield with the pentangle and what it represents, and also the Virgin Mary on the other side of the shield.

Stanzas 8-11 talk about Gawain’s travels through the country, the obstacles he had to overcome, such as the creatures he had to kill.

In the 13th and 14th Stanzas he finds the castle after praying for it; the castle is described. And he calls out to the porter, his intentions to ask if he can stay there.

In 15 through 17 He is met and greeted by the Duke who gives Gawain a servant and has him taken to his room. He is given a nice room, treated with much respect from everyone in the castle, and they feast with him.

In Stanza 18 he notices the Lady and how beautiful she is, and he notices an old lady that is with her, he sees she is of great honor. This stanza shows the motif in literature of the description of ugly women.

19 through 23 show the relationship between Gawain and the Lady, and Gawain and the Duke, he convinces Gawain to stay longer and rest and feast with them.

In the last Stanza Gawain makes a bargain with the Duke that whatever the Duke wins while hunting he will give to Gawain, and whatever Gawain earns he will give to the Duke.

2. When Gawain stays at the castle, on his way to the Green Knights Chapel the Duke and his Lady play a game with him. They make a deal that whatever the Duke wins while out hunting he will give to Gawain, and whatever Gawain wins while staying at the castle, he will give to the Duke. This in a way shows that the Duke is setting Gawain up, while he is hunting he has something to win honestly, whatever he manages to kill. But Gawain, staying in his castle has nothing to win that can be done in an honorable way. He is getting attention from the Duke’s Lady but trying to remain respectful so he cannot give in to the temptations of the Lady because that would not be an honest thing to do. In a way he might feel that he has to have something to give to the Duke because he made a deal.

3. While Gawain is on his journey he comes across many different creatures that he knows are violent enough that he must kill them. In the Christian faith, creatures such as dragons (which Gawain fights) can be symbols of Demons. Gawain fighting these creatures relates to the theme of Good vs. Evil; Gawain as a warrior, and on his way to uphold a deal which is Good, while these creatures, or demons are trying to destroy him. Because Gawain is fighting the Evil creatures, he has the help of God on his side.

4. In the first section Gawain is very modest. He doesn’t let Arthur take up the deal, instead he does because he says he is not as important as Arthur. “I am the weakest and the least in wit; Loss of my life is therefore of little account.” Line 354. He is acting as if his life is of no importance, when in fact it is. He is a great, known warrior of the round table but he is not acting like it. Warriors in general have confidence and are somewhat cocky.

In the second fit while he is staying at the castle he acts differently. He lets the people take care of him and treat him like a noble Warrior. He takes advantage of everything they offer him, such as a well-known knight should. He does not have the mind set that he is not important and his life means anything which he perhaps either only gets when he is around Arthur because he is King; or he only pretends while around Arthur to make Arthur feel more important. Gawain may be trying to be a good knight to his king by making himself seem so much lower in comparison. “I am, by birth, your nephew; besides that, nothing. My one virtue, your blood that runs in my veins.” Line 356 Gawain may say these things to his King to seem as a noble Warrior who is put in his place, but when he is at the castle on his journey he cannot act as if he has no confidence because he will not be respected which is very important for a warrior.

5. Arthur’s castle, where Gawain lives is a place where Gawain knows he is respected because he is a knight of the round table. It would have been easy for him to not take the challenge from the Green Knight, because Arthur accepted it. Gawain might have felt that it was his duty to take the challenge instead of Arthur because he is related to Arthur, who is King. He may feel like if he didn’t take the challenge he would not be worthy to be related to the King. For Gawain, Arthur’s castle could be a place of comfort because he knows he is respected, but also a place where he feels not good enough.

Gawain’s journey to the Green Knight could represent the second part of the challenge. The first being him taking the challenge; but the hardship of he journey showing that it would be easier for him to just go home. During his travels he comes across many creatures he must kill, he has to sleep in his armor on the ground, in the cold. Gawain does not have to even go to the Green Knight, it was a deal and the Green Knight left it up to him to see if he would show up. Him going would prove that he was honest in upholding a deal, and noble. His travels showed that if he were a coward and a wimp he would just turned back because he was not forced to follow through.

The castle that he finds is the third part of the challenge. The Duke treats him so well by letting him stay and feast every night and being overly hospitable to him. He is also getting extra attention from the Lady who claims she Loves him and sneaks into his room at night. The Duke convinces Gawain to stay more then he planned and tried again but Gawain said no. It would have been easy for Gawain to give in to the temptations of the castle. He felt very important with the attention he was getting for his quest, and he was constantly being tempted by the extremely beautiful Lady.

Beowulf Comparisons

The Finnesburh Fragment

This story appears in Beowulf. It is about Finn, king of the Friesians, Hnaef, king of the Danes, Hildeburh, Hnaef's sister and Finn's wife, and Hildeburh and Finn's son. It is simialr to Beowulf if you think of Hnaef as Beowulf, he goes to another kingdom where he and his men are attacked in their hall when trying to sleep. Beowulf is there to fight Grendal while Hnaef is there to visit his sister who was given to Finn as a peace pledge after a feud between the two kingdoms. But Beowulf is attacked by Grendal while Hnaef and his men are attacked by Finn's men. Hnaef is killed and his men are left without a king, Beowulf was in fact not killed during his first battle in the hall but he was killed, leaving his men kingless. Both kings are burned in a Pyre with gold and treasure. Both share the theme the Roles of Warriors while in Beowulf only the one warrior went back to help him and fight for him when the others ran away and all of Hnaef's men fought for him in battle and avenged their king by killing Finn.


Widsith

Widsith the warrior can be compared to Beowulf in multiple ways. First he is a great warrior, he is known everywhere. He goes and fights with other leaders and is given treasures for his success. He is not king material just like Beowulf because he is obsessed with his own fame and glory. He fights battles so people will know his name, and continues to keep his reputation. "He who wins fame has lasting glory under the heavens." This quote is the last sentence in the poem, much like the last sentence in Beowulf "...kindest to people and keenest to win fame."


Grettir the Strong

This story is very much like Beowulf. Grettir goes to Eyjardalsa to fight the troll woman. The troll is killing all the men that live there. She represets the motif that women are evil. This is just like how Beowulf travels to kill Grendal who is also killing men while they're sleeping. He ends up ripping off her arm and the troll runs away. The troll could represent all the three monsters that Beowulf fought because after that he fights the troll under a waterfall and kills it, much like Grendal's mother. He then finds a treasure hoard she had in her lair just like the dragon. He even brought back the troll's bones to prove she's dead.

Dialectical Journal

Pg. 139 Line 2029 "But generally the spear is prompt to retaliate when a prince is killed, no matter how admirable the bride may be."
After the feud between the Shieldings and the Heathobards, the Shieldings gave them Ingeld as a peace pledge. But at the wedding when the Heathobards see the Shiedlings in their men's armour the old flame of battle is going to be rekindled. It won't matter how beautiful she is, it won't stop the men from being angered again and want revenge. This foreshdows another feud.

Pg. 203 Line 3003 " In days gone by when our warriors fell and we were undefended he kept our coffers and our kingdom safe. He worked for the people, but as well as that he behaved like a hero."
Beowulf kept his people safe always, but the problem was that he fought all the battles. Every time something was a threat Beowulf him self would take care of it so his warriors had no experience fighting. He was a hero when it came to battle, not a king. A king leads his men and trains them to be the best. Beowulf was a hero because he wanted the fame and the boasting of winning the battles by himself. He was a good warrior but was he a good king?


Pg. 203 Line 3023 "...but the raven winging darkly over the doomed will have news, tidings for the eagle of how he hooked and ate, how the wolf and he made short work of the dead."
The raven is a symbol of death and evil and the Eagle is a symbol courage and heroism. The dragon could be seen as the raven because it is causing doom and death around the kingdom and it kills Beowulf, and Beowulf is the eagle, he is couragous and fights the raven but is killed.

Pg. 209 Line 3120 "Next the wise son of Weohstan called from among the king's thanes a group of seven: he selected the best and entered with them, the eighth of their number..." Wiglaf thoses these seven men and he becomes the eighth of them to enter "under the God-cursed roof" to dispose of the Dragon and collect the tresure to burn it with Beowulf. The number eight is said to symbolizes man's ability to transcend the limitations of physical existence. This could represent the idea that Beowulf because he was blessed by God, was able to go beyond the limits of men so these eight men going down to honor Beowulf could represent the power that he had.

Pg. 211 Line 3153 "...her nation invaded, enemies on the rampage, bodies in piles, slavery and abasement." This is a foreshadow that their nation will be taken over. The people know that once word gets out that Beowulf is dead, the other countries will invade them. Beowulf, as a King did not train his warriors to be true warriors. After all the men ran away they know that they will be taken advantage of. Their men will be killed and their people taken and forced to be slaves.

Pg. 213 Line 3169 "Then twelve warriors rode around the tomb, chieftain's sons, champions in battle, all of them distraught, chanting in dirges, mourning the loss as a man and a king."
These twelve men could represent the twelve diciples, who were picked, named, and trained by Jesus to be sent on a mission and spread "good news". The men in Beowulf rode on their horses and chanted out Beowulf and told about all his heroic sxploits and shared memories of him with people to make them aware of everything he did.

Dialectical Journal

Queen Modthryth represents a bad Queen. She killed men just for looking at her. She had a strange relationship with her father as her Lord. She represented evil until she was finally married away, which may represnt the fact that women are natrually evil until they are married to a man because men are "good". Modthrthy is also a dynamic character.

Pg. 159 Line 2345 "Yet the prince of the rings was too proud to line up with a large army against the sky-plague."
Beowulf had to much pride to let his men fight with him against the Dragon. He has accomplished so much on his own, won all of his battles by himself. Even though he is old and knows this will be his hardest battle and there is a good chance of his not surviving he still risks it for his pride and his reputation. He represents a good king.

The one man from Beowulf's army the stays while the others run away, and helps Beowulf kill the Dragon represents the theme of a Good Warrior. He is the only one that is loyal to Beowulf. The others run away which will give them a bad reputation. Afterward he is a son-like figure to Beowulf because he gives his armour to him and he becomes king which is what Beowulf's son would have gotten.

Beowulf is related to a figure of Jesus when he fights the Dragon. He sacrifices his life to save his people from the Dragon who is wreaking havoc on them.

Beowulf did not use a weapon against Grendal because Grendal was cursed and the weapons did not work on him. When Beowulf fought against Grendal's mother his sword failed him and he ended up using a magic sword he found in her lair. Then when he fought the Dragon, his sword failed him again. It was not powerful enough to pierce the dragons skin. This represents the failure of swords in the story. Possibly the reason why Beowulf's swords do not work is because he is blessed by god and not meant to use weapons because god has to weapons but himself.

Lit Terms

Allegory- A narrative that serves as an extended metaphor. Allegories are written in the form of fables, parables, poems, stories, and almost any other style or genre. The main purpose of an allegory is to tell a story that has characters, a setting, as well as other types of symbols, that have both literal and figurative meanings.
Example- Dante’s The Divine Comedy

Alliteration- A pattern of sound that includes the repetition of consonant sounds. The repetition can be located at the beginning of successive words or inside the words.
Example- Sir Phillip Sidney's Astrophel and Stella, the poet states: "Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite"

Allusion- A reference in a literary work to a person, place, or thing in history or another work of literature.
Example- Dante’s Inferno. Dante alludes to the Greek mythological figures, Phaethon and Icarus.

Ambiguity- An expression who’s meaning cannot be determined from its context.

Antagonist- a character in a story or poem who deceives, frustrates, or works again the main character, or protagonist, in some way.
Example- An antagonist in the story of Genesis is the serpent. He convinces Eve to disobey God, setting off a chain of events.that leads to Adam and Eve being banished from paradise.



Analogy- A comparison between two things, typically on the basis of their structure and for the purpose of explanation or clarification.
Example- In Beowulf they compare the ocean to a road.

Apostrophe- Words that are spoken to a person who is absent or imaginary, or to an object or abstract idea.
Example- Macbeth

Archetype- An original that has been imitated.
Example- Beowulf

Dialectical Journal

I think that Beowulf is a symbol of God. Or at least he symbolizes a god to his people and Danes. He comes in and kills all three beasts that were causing trouble when no one else can kill them. He is the greatest fighter anyone had ever known. He is the savior of the people. Many times when they refer to Beowulf in the story they also refer to god. Pg. 63 line 928“I suffered a long harrowing by Grendal. But the Heavenly Shephard can work His wonders always and everywhere.”

Pg. 63 Line 941 “Whoever she was who brought forth this flower of manhood, if she is still alive , that woman can say that in her labour the Lord of Ages bestowed a grace on her.”
Hrothgar says this about Beowulf’s mother. This is basically saying that Beowulf was blessed from birth. He was born to be a great fighter and then only one that can kill Grendal and his Mother who have been cursed by god.

Grendal’s mother remains nameless, and so does Hrothgar’s sister, she is the only one of her three siblings who they don’t tell us her name. And even though Grendal’s mother is an important character she still doesn’t have a name. This represents the role of women. The women’s name’s don’t matter because they are just used as people to serve men. But Grendal’s mother represents what a woman should not be like because she collects Wergild and is evil but yet, she still is nameless. Women have no respect.

Pg. 89 Line 1259 “Grendal’s mother, mostorous hell-bride…”
Grendal’s mother, cursed by god, evil, symbolizes a devil-like figure. Her lair, at the bottom on the ocean is hell. She is like the devil’s bride.

Pg. 95 Line 1355 “They are fatherless creatures…”
This is referring to the creatures that are the offspring of Cain. They have no God. God will not accept them, in fact he has bashished them and cursed them. They will never go to heaven. They live in hell while on earth, and will go to hell when they die.

Dialectical Journal

Pg. 35 line 517 "You vied for seven nights; and then he outswam you, came ashore the stronger contendor." "No one has ever outlasted an entire night against Grendal."

Unferth says these things to Beowulf, the first one about a seven day swim against someone else. He says Beowulf lost. And the second one shows that he has little faith in Beowulf or just that he is jealous. Both times he is taunting, or flinting him. Beowulf then shuts him down and proves he is a pathetic liar. Unferth shows what a warrior is no supposed to be; a liar, envious, a coward, and a kin killer. Beowulf is the oppposite of Unferth.


Pg 41 lines 607-631

Even though Wealtheow is the Queen of the Danes she still has to serve the men in the mead hall. This represents the theme of The role of Women. It doesn't matter that she is the queen, she is still treated worse that other people. She is also a peace pledge which makes her a symbol of peace.


Pg. 53 line 801 "no blade on earth, no blacksmith's art could ever damage their opponent."

Grendal has the mark of Kain, he is cursed by god and cannot be killed by the men's arms. This represents the theme of good vs. evil. Kain was evil and his offspring payed the prince by being cursed by god who is "good" and is trying to make justice.


Pg. 45 line 669 "And the Geat places complete trust in his strength of limb and the Lord's favour."

Beowulf is not worried, he has trust in the strength God gave him.
Grendal was cursed by god, and weapons cannot kill him. If Grendal cannot be killed by anything except Beowulf, does that mean Beowulf is blessed by god?


Pg. 57 line 850 "...drowned out his life and his heathen soul: hell claimed him there."

Grendal lives at his swamp because he is a cursed monster. He lives his life like that, not being able to enjoy regular human things. He goes back to his swamp to die and is taken to hell, his swamp could represent a hell on earth. Where the cursed, condemned monsters live until someone finally kills them.