ime period. The characters, although in different stories, all portray the heroic tradition in British Literature.The character Beowulf, “a man of great strength and bravery” (Magill 388), is a hero in the way he defends his neighboring country, Denmark. When the word that a hostile creature, known as Grendel, was killing tons in Denmark, Beowulf set sail to help defend the people and rid them of the hideous monster. When he arrives, he is taken to Hrothgar, King of Denmark, and presents his proposal of assisting them in killing the monster. Hrothgar agrees and they feast in honor of the deed Beowulf has proposed the do. Beowulf, with neither sword nor shield, destroys Grendel. He goes without using these tools to exaggerate to others how great of a hero he is. The next night Grendel's mother terrorizes the kingdom and forces Beowulf to also kill her. He swims to the bottom of her home in the marsh and destroys her with a magical sword hung on the wall. Many people now look up to him. Many years later, he is called back to battle yet again, although this time is his last. He has to kill a dragon that is terrorizing his kingdom. After killing the dragon, his warriors discover treasures form the dragon’s home but his people have him in such high regards, they bury him with the gold. Although Beowulf does his many heroic deeds for the reason of fame and glory, he is overall a hero because he does do them and his people are safe from any harm.Sir Gawain is also a major heroic role in British Literature. He “begins his rise to greatness when, he takes a challenge given by an ominous figure known as the Green Knight”(Sera 1). Sir Gawain is at King Arthur’s hall dining when the Green Knight approaches and presents a challenge. The challenge consists of any one in the dining hall chopping of the Green Knights head only then to return in one year for the Green Knight to do the same upon the first player. Whe...
