Throughout time, man has struggled with a few select questions: "Why am I here?", "What is the nature of the Universe?", "How can I attract members of the opposite sex?", "What, exactly, are twinkies made of?", and, of course, "What happens to me when I die?". The answers to these questions vary from society to society; in answering these questions, a society defines itself. The real answers to these questions, in no particular order are: "Cheese", "42", "An extraterrestrial substance that fell to earth roughly two million years ago", and "To discover a really good cheese pizza". This, of course, leaves the question "What happens to me when I die?" unanswered. It is this question -- and the effects of the answer to this question -- that the remainder of this essay is dedicated to. Just to make the essay interesting (and to make it an appropriate essay for English class), we'll explore the answer, not in respect to our society, (that would be boring -- the answer is obviously "The designated hitter rule") but rather in respect to the societies' of Beowulf, as presented in the Old English poem "Beowulf", and Sir Gawain, as presented in the Middle English poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". Both Beowulf and Sir Gawain's actions are heavily influenced by their beliefs of afterlife, or the lack thereof.
In order to give a reasonable accounting of this subject, it is necessary to first discover what the beliefs of each of our heros are. In Beowulf, this is somewhat harder than it appears at first glance. The first problem we encounter in this search is that of separation; Beowulf was written circa the 8th century AD, but the story takes place in the 6th century AD, nearly two hundred years earlier. The author seems to be literally between two worlds: the world that he inhabits, where Christianity has taken hold, and the world that was, where pagan beliefs and practices dominated. The desired effect at the time may have been to show the reader that the world of Beowulf is mainly Christian (thus breeding understanding through familiarity), and at the same time harken back to an age gone by where things were much simpler (sparking the flame of remembrance). Though this was probably extremely effective in the recently Christianized 8th century England, it seems somewhat disjointed today.
This practice also leaves us with a less than clear understanding of Beowulf's society. After Scyld Scefing's death, his thanes "carried him down to the sea-currents", outfitted his boat with all manor of riches, and then set it adrift. Note that it said that they carried the dead king down to be entombed on the boat, and not the kings body. This implies the lack of belief in a immortal soul (or more specificly, the lack of belief in a soul that outlives the body.) Because the person is the body, the death of the body is the death of the person.
In this sort belief structure, the only way of gaining any sort of immortality is by being remembered. The more people who remember you, the less chance there is of being completely forgotten. If the memory of you dies, the very last trace of your existence is wiped from the world, and your death is complete. So how can you prolong other's memory of you? Great deeds, of course. If there is a solid collection of stories surrounding your life and times, then at least some of your life will be remembered for as long as the stories are told.
Beowulf excels at great deeds. As "Beowulf" opens, Beowulf is at home in Geatland. He hears of Grendel and immediately sets off to confront the monster. Upon reaching Herot he explains his presence; "In my youth I have set about many brave deeds." Apparently the killing of Grendel qualifies as a brave deed. He goes on to give a sort of hero's resume', "I came from the fight where I had bound five, destroyed a family of Giants, and at night in the waves slain water-monsters, suffered from great pain, avenged an affliction of the Weather-Geats on those who asked for trouble -- ground enemies to bits." From Beowulf's own account, he has already accomplished several great feats. Just killing Grendel may well be a great feat, but Beowulf will attempt to do so unarmed. "I have also heard say that the monster in his recklessness cares not for weapons. Therefor, so that my liege lord Hygelac may be glad of me in his heart, I scorn to bear sword or broad shield, yellow wood, to the battle, but with my grasp I shall grapple with the enemy and fight for life, foe against foe." So what possible reason could Beowulf have to impose these restrictions on himself, or for that matter, to show up in the first place? It all adds to Beowulf's heroic stature.
But you can't just go around bragging about past deeds. You need some reason to brag, otherwise you'll be classified as a braggart and die and early death in history. Beowulf does enumerate some of his previous great deeds when he introduces himself to Hrothgar, but that is just to show Hrothgar that he may have a chance against Grendel. It is only after a challenge by Unferth, a thane of Hrothgar, that Beowulf really gets going about his swimming contest with Breca. This challenge allows Beowulf to tone down his modesty, in the interest of truth. By only fully recounting the tale in defense of his honor, Beowulf gives the impression that this tale could possibly be one several thousand similar tales, that Beowulf just hasn't recounted because no one has had the poor judgment to question Beowulf about them.
Another wonderful device employed by Beowulf is the gathering of trophies. Beowulf's initial engagement with Grendel leaves Grendel an arm short, and mortally wounded. Beowulf "set the hand up under the curved roof -- the arm and the shoulder: there all together was Grendel's grasp." Later, after Beowulf slays Grendel's Mother, he doesn't take a trophy from her; rather he takes Grendel's head and the hilt of the sword that killed Grendel's mother. These trophies become reminders and conversation pieces. As long as Herot bears the trophies of Beowulf, people will look to the trophies and think of Beowulf's greatness.
One might think that death, at least, is secure from Beowulf's manipulation; that after a long life Beowulf might be secure in the knowledge that the memory of his deeds will live on past him. This is not the case. Beowulf uses his grave, itself, to remind his people of his greatness. "Bid the battle-renowned make a mound, bright after the funeral fire, on the sea's cape. It shall stand high on Hronesness as a reminder to my people, so that sea-travelers later will call it Beowulf's barrow, when they drive their ships far over the darkness of the seas."
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written considerably later, circa the 14th century. This later work is much more throughly Christianized, both in act and in word. For Gawain, immortality has two faces. He can (and does) participate in immortality of reputation, but he also has another avenue. He believes in the immortality of his soul, and his ascension to heaven on his death. In order to gain this sort of immortality, Gawain must follow the chivalric code, a set of five fives. There are the five senses, his five fingers, the five wounds of Christ on the cross, the five joys (The Annunciation, Nativity, Resurrection, Ascension, and Assumption), and finally the five qualities of a knight: "beneficence boundless and brotherly love and pure mind and manners, that none might impeach, and compassion most precious".
When the green knight comes and visits Camelot, he presents a challenge. The obvious challenge is to the game of strokes, where the contestants each take a turn at delivering a single stroke to their opponent with an ax. This game seems ridiculous, because it is. If the result weren't already predetermined, the game would be short, indeed. As it is, the Green Knight is shown to be a supernatural being, and he does not die. This leaves Gawain with the real challenge: To be a man of his word and go seek out the Green Knight in a year, and certainly die, or to abandon his chivalric code and continue to live. Gawain conquerors his own fears and passes his first test by seeking the Green Knight at the appointed time.
The journey to find the Green Knight is the first and only physical test that Gawain is involved in. On his journey he faces many physical hardships and enemies: "Now with serpents he wars, now with savage wolves, / Now with wild men of the woods, that watched from the rocks, / Both with bulls and with bears, and with boars besides, / Had he not borne himself bravely, and been on God's side, / He had met with many mishaps and mortal harms." He finally happens upon a isolated castle where his challenges are to be much more subtle and dangerous.
The next challenges are to Gawain's honor. Gawain makes a bargain with the host of the castle, where the host ventures out into the nearby forest and goes hunting, and Gawain stays in the castle and sleeps in. The following evening, both parties meet and exchange their earnings. Each morning for three days the host goes out on the hunt, and Gawain stays at the castle. Each morning the host's wife comes to Gawain's room and tries to seduce him. This provides Gawain with a delicate task. He must apparently remain oblivious to the wife's advances, for to acknowledge them would be dishonorable. He must also upkeep his agreement with the host. In doing so, he must give the host anything that the host's wife gives Gawain during the course of the day. For the first two days, Gawain successfully performs the delicate balancing act before him. On the third day he fails the final test when he accepts a green silk girdle from the host's wife that supposedly has the property of making the wearer of the girdle impossible to kill, and then does not surrender the girdle to the host during that evening's exchange of winnings.
Gawain's challenges are of a very different nature than Beowulf's. This difference finds its foundation in the different goals of the two. Whereas Beowulf is only looking for fame so that he will be well remembered, Gawain is trying to constantly uphold his code of ethics so that he will be accepted into heaven. Beowulf's conflict is actual physical conflict, and Gawain's is an internal ethical conflict. Where Beowulf finds his undoing in his inability to surrender the hero's guise, Gawain finds his in his inability to surrender his life for honor's sake. Both heros attempt to perpetuate themselves in their own way, resulting in very different challenges and very different responses; each with their own way to eternity.