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Theme Of Honor In King Arthur And Beowulf

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Theme Of Honor In King Arthur And Beowulf
Many different traits and characteristics are thrown together to create the heroes of a story. They are usually the brave, noble types, not out for greed or glory, hoping for love, but living through chivalry. Heroes are also seen as the most honourable character in the tale. But what exactly is honour? To be truly honourable, a man must embody three main characteristics: loyalty, compassion and the willingness to forgive. Two protagonists that portray these traits are King Arthur and Beowulf, each of whom plays the prime role in their self-titled tales.
Acts of loyalty appear multiple times in both tales as the characters are tested and tried through each event. In Andrea Hopkins's compilation the Chronicles of King Arthur, Arthur's loyalty to the Camelot and the ideals that built it are constantly scrutinized as his wife, Guinevere, has an affair with his noblest of knights, Lancelot. He knows of this happening, but chooses to ignore the acts, knowing that the public attacks from it could internally lead …show more content…
While Arthur never enjoyed the fact that Guinevere and Lancelot betrayed him, until he was openly confronted with the situation and forced to determine an outcome, he never willingly acted hostile towards either party (p. 164). After the pair ran away to Joyous Gard, Arthur spoke directly with Lancelot, at which point he "would have been reconciled with Sir Lancelot and would have taken back Queen Guinevere and forgiven all charges against her," (p. 171) had not Sir Gawain again stepped in to force Arthur's hand. Beowulf's relationship with Unferth also portrayed a level of compassion when Unferth gave his sword, Hrunting, to Beowulf to aid him in his battle with Grendel's mother. Beowulf was willing to forget the past confrontation between the two, and accept the sword, promising its return
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