Sir Gawain steps forth to accept the challenge, cutting off the knight’s head with one swift slash. If the assailant survived they would keep his prized axe. The Green Knight had offered a challenge to Arthur’s court, that anyone may step forth and strike him on the condition that he would return in a year and a day to return the blow. The romantic tale features Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur’s Round Table, who embarks on a quest to find the mysterious Green Knight. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late-14th century text written by an unknown author, widely known as ‘The Gawain Poet’, or ‘The Pearl Poet’ owing to another work titled Pearl. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Unknown (Late 14th century) He is slain in the service of his subjects, whilst also managing to deliver the ‘deadly wound’ that kills the dragon – a true hero’s demise.īeowulf is a tale of bravery, honour and adventure, with thrilling depictions of the supernatural and otherworldly as man’s ultimate enemy. The interesting intertwining of paganism and Christianity also reflects the melting pot of Anglo-Saxon religion that was emerging in the medieval period, with ideas of both God and the Bible appearing alongside pagan ideas of fame, heroism, and glorious death. Despite now being an aged warrior, Beowulf again embarks on this deadly quest, eventually fighting the beast at the poem’s climactic end. Mustering courage befitting an epic hero, Beowulf triumphs over evil and returns to his native home of Geat, in time becoming king.įollowing 50 years of glorious rule, Beowulf’s bravery is again tested when a terrifying dragon lays waste to his beloved kingdom. Image Credit: British Library, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commonsīeowulf embarks on his quest to Heorot, encountering not one but two vicious monsters in the form of Grendel and his mother. His is called upon by the Danish king Hrothgar to defeat a fiendish monster named Grendel, who relentlessly attacks his mead hall in Heorot. The story centres on Beowulf, a hero of pagan Scandinavia in the 6th century. Will dim and darken and death will arrive,īeowulf, written between 700 and 1,000 AD by an unknown author, is an Old English epic poem renowned as one of the most important pieces of its time. Do not give way to pride.įor a brief while your strength is in bloom
‘O flower of warriors, beware of that trap.Įternal rewards. These 4 exceptional works of Medieval English literature not only enthralled their contemporary audiences, but have continued to do so up to the modern day, inspiring retellings from generation to generation. Hundreds of years before Shakespeare arrived on the scene however, a rich culture of literary tradition had long been established in England, with epic deeds of heroism, romantic tales of chivalry and bawdy banter abound.
England’s medieval period is often viewed as a time of bloodshed, religious fervour, and relative barbarism a somber ‘dark age’ awaiting the explosion of arts and culture that was the Renaissance.
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