A hero is a man of distinguished courage or ability. It is someone who is admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities. Many heroes have different personalities that constantly change within each culture, but in the end, they all go through some sort of heroic journey. In the books Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, we are able to trace the hero cycle journey from warrior Beowulf to chivalrous knight Sir Gawain. Although the heroes lived in different cultures, they both portrayed ideas such as honor, nobility, success, and faith. The Anglo-Saxon Beowulf displays a warrior of true honor and bravery. He not only fights to protect himself, but to protect his kingdom. He is willing to fight Grendel and risk his life to prove that he is a coherent warrior worth keeping around. Despite his true bravery he constantly hints the idea of death: "'And if death does take me, send the hammered/ Mail of my armor to Higlac, return/ The inheritance I had from Hrethel, and he/ From Wayland. Fate will unwind as it must!'" (455). Although his ultimate goal is to defeat Grendel and prove himself worthy, he…show more content… Gawain is under the chivalric code and Beowulf, of course, is not. Sir Gawain practices the five social graces of generosity, brotherly love, chastity, pure manners, and piety. When the Green Knight asks for a challenge, Gawain shows his bravery and humbleness by proclaiming that he is the weakest and the most expendable: "I am the weakest [of your knight], I know, and the dullest-minded, So my death would be the least loss, if truth should be told; Only because you are my uncle am I to be praised, No virtue I know in myself but your blood." (354 - 357). The idea that a person’s virtue might reside in their blood was a medieval one that justified systems of familial succession. Gawain uses this “weakness” tactic to show his true bravery and
