Promises and Pledges in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and The Green Knight - Essay Example

Promises and Pledges Sir Gawain and the Green Knight The story takes place in Camelot on the first day of the year. In King Arthur’s castle, it is a joyful scene as everyone is exchanging gifts and having a good time. During this party a strange big Green Knight enters and proposes a strange game to anyone present in the court. It is a game that he wants to play which has a pledge that the players have to make. He challenges anyone to strike a blow with his axe to his head and in return he would do the same in one year and day later.

To this challenge, King Arthur’s nephew, Sir Gawain rises and takes up the challenge. He strikes a blow to the Green Knight’s head and cuts it off but the Knight doesn’t die. Instead he picks up his head and tells Sir Gawain to meet him at the Green Chapel in exactly one year and a day later. When the time draws near to fulfill his promise, Sir. Gawain takes on the journey to find the Chapel. After many journeys and adventures he gets very tired and is almost starving to death when he finds a huge castle and meets the lord of the castle Bertilak and his lovely wife.

They both greet the stranger with affection and give him food and shelter. Sir Gawain tells them of his promise and of the Green Knight. The lord tells him that the Chapel is less than two miles away so he can rest a few days in the castle. The next day, the lord goes out hunting but before leaving he makes a pact with his guest he asks him to take a pledge that whatever he will get while he is away he will give it back to him and makes the promise that whatever the lord will hunt during day will be given to him.

The next day, the lord sets off to hunt food and Sir Gawain is left alone with his wife who comes into his room to seduce him but is unable to give anything more than a kiss. The lord returns with a deer as his hunting bounty and gives it to the guest and in return receives a kiss which Sir Gawain doesn’t reveal from where it comes. The next day he brings in a wild boar and in return receives three kisses. On third day the wife comes to seduce again but the guest resists then she makes him an offer to take a gold ring but the guest refuses at this she asks her to choose between her shawl and her girdle.

He takes the girdle and she tells her that it will act as a shield against an attack. When Bertilak returns he gives Sir Gawain his fox and return receives three kisses but not the girdle. The next morning Sir Gawain goes on his quest of the Chapel and finds it. He enters it where that green Knight is sharpening his axe. He gets into position to be beheaded but the Green Knight only gives him a scar on his neck and removes his helmet to reveal he is Bertilak. Bertilak explains that it was a trick he was managed to with the help of her sister.

Sir Gawain returns home after fulfilling one promise and breaking one promise. He gets the reward of life by keeping one and gets a scar by breaking the other. Beowulf Hrothgar is the king of Danes and rules wisely. He builds a hall Heorot where hi soldiers eat and celebrate. But this merrymaking doesn’t sit very well with a troll named Grandel. He hates it when people sing. He lashes at the people in the hall and eats them. He causes havoc every time a celebration takes place in the hall.

The stories of his troubles at Danes reach the kingdom of Geats where Beowulf lives. He is the bravest man in that kingdom. He is a man of principle and pledges to keep his principles. He decides to help the king Hrothgar and in return the king promises to give him everything if he kills Grandel. He arrives with his men at Danes and asks for specifics. The king gets very happy at his arrival and decides to celebrate once again in that hall. Beowulf and his men are ready for Grandel and as expected the troll arrives and wreaks havoc.

Beowulf watches him as he devours one of his men. Brave as he is and with the burden of fulfilling his promise to the king, he decides to take care of the beast without weapons and grabs him by his arm. He grabs him so firmly that the beast is unable to free himself. In this struggle the troll manages to free his arm only by breaking it and he runs off back to his layer only to die. The arm stays with the people of Danes, where they nail it to the wall as a trophy and call Beowulf their greatest hero.

As promised, Hrothgar gives Beowulf and his men a lot of riches and celebrates another party in the honor of this great warrior. During that night Grendel’s mother comes for revenge and cause a lot of destruction and bloodshed. Seeing this that a bigger beast is upon his friend, Beowulf chases the mother out and asks Hrothgor to help him find the place where she lives. Beowulf pledged to help his friend, despite the fact that he killed Grendel and fulfilled his promise, his pledge to his own rules and principles is still unfulfilled.

The king takes him to the moors and mentions the place where creatures like Grendel live. It is a lake and Beowulf dives into the lake to reach the bottom where Grendel’s mother awaits him. They both fight each other and soon Beowulf realizes that his sword is useless against his enemy, he throws it away and grabs another one which rests nearby and beheads the monster. On his way up to the surface of the lake, he comes across the dead body of Grendel; he cuts off his head and carries it with him as a trophy, fulfilling his pledge, keeping his promise.