The Seven Deadly Sins In Beowulf And Lanval

Greed, lust, gluttony, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. Ever since the Middle Ages the Roman Catholic Church has portrayed flaws within humanity as the seven deadly sins. While this concept isn’t new, sins represent how evil can come in many different forms. True evil comes from within and is defined by an action committed with disregard for other living beings; or in other words self-interest. Self-interest is something all humans are born with and often synonymous to the seven deadly sins.

Six Deadly Sins: There are six deadly sins that are shown and represented by characters in the book of Beowulf. Beowulf, who gains fame and prosperity as a young man by vanquishing the monster, “Grendel” and “Grendel’s Mother.” As an aging king, he kills a dragon but dies soon after, honored and lamented. (Saketh) Greed: The hero, “Beowulf” has a fair amount of greed in him.

In the opening scene of Chretien De Troyes Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart the knight is not present. King Arthur and Kay are tricked into giving away the Queen in order to have knights, ladies, and damsels who belong to his dominion returned. As Lord Gawain goes on his adventure he is greeted by the knight. His name is not yet revealed and his identity is not immediately known to Lord Gawain. He does not speak of the King or is mentioned in relation to the King.

Questions of Honor: Beowulf Beowulf’s honor and integrity can be questioned throughout the entirety of the epic poem, Beowulf. Whether or not his actions are inspired by his own pompous arrogance or confidence, one can argue that he is a hero nonetheless. Evidence and experience prove that Beowulf is more of a fearless hero than an excessively prideful man, and his hubris is more than justified due to the formidable duties he is able to execute. Throughout the poem, Beowulf expresses his intense strength and courage to the fearful people in the poem. His daring sense of self-assurance is backed by his victories against all three monsters, (even though he suffers a tragic death after facing the dragon, it is a defeat nonetheless).

The third and final evil Beowulf must face is the dragon. At this point in the poem, Beowulf has been the “ring-giver” or king for half a century (Beowulf 2207). The role of a king in Germanic times included rewarding warriors with treasure captured in battle; however, the dragon keeps his treasure to himself. This greediness is in direct opposition to the qualities of a good king, and the dragon becomes the representation of selfishness and destruction. Beowulf takes on the role of a warrior once again, and defeats the dragon.

Before all of this happened, the queen made a deal with the knight. She told him that he had one year to go out into the world and come back to tell her what women most desired, and if he did not have an answer, then he would die. Throughout that time of his journey, he was panicking because he did not find an answer to the queen 's question. At this time, the knight became desperate and decided to go look for help from an old witch. When he arrived at the old witch’s house, he found himself making another deal

Characters such as Thor, Harry Potter, and Katniss Everdeen are considered as prime examples of heroism. As for the story of Beowulf,

From all this, we know that the perception of a hero from Beowulf’s time differs from our perception today. As we feel that the intentions define a hero while in Beowulf’s time the reputation and accomplishments are what makes a

The film ‘The way’ by Emilio Estevez shows viewers examples of the seven deadly sins through the main characters Tom, Joost, Sarah, and Jack as they all walk El Camino de Santiago for different reasons. Tom does it to honor his son, Joost does it to lose weight, Sarah does it to quit cigarettes, and Jack does it to cure his writer's block. They start the movie off deep in their own deadly sin but the more they go on the more it seems like they’re healing from their sins. By the end of their journey the group has helped each other overcome their problems by supporting each other and becoming a family. Throughout the film Tom shows the deadly sin of pride.

The Seven Deadly Sins are known cardinal sins that are unforgivable, but according to the Bible they are forgivable. The characters of Beowulf represent the Seven Deadly Sins either by character or in actions. Some characters show the characteristics of multiple sins. These flaws overcome the characters in mass amounts. Greed is wanting too much of something.

When he spurns her love, refusing to betray his King, the Lady goads him into breaking the one rule given to him by Queen Semiramis, lest he never see his beloved again. Lanval announces to Arthur’s Queen “any one of those who serve her / the poorest girl of all / is better than you, my lady queen,”(298-300). This upset the Lady who complained to King Arthur, claiming that Lanval dishonored her, and the king was angered and “he swore an oath / if Lanval could not defend himself in court / he would have him burned or hanged” (326-28). By standing by his boast as truth, and through the efforts of Queen Semiramis, Lanval overcame the Supreme Ordeal of the trial by his King and as a reward “He was set free by their decision” (629). From there Lanval left the court to await his Queen on a marble stone and “When the girl came through the gate / Lanval leapt, in one bound / onto the palfrey, behind her.”

With the battle to protect the city against the dragon, even though Beowulf was king he fought the dragon. He fought the dragon because no one else could. No one was as selfless as he was to risk his life to protect the city. Without Beowulf these monsters would over power good and there would be no balance between good and evil.

The story of Beowulf isn’t just any ordinary story, but a story that has been told for centuries. A story of a hero who’s legacy has been told for so long. Beowulf’s life shows the characteristics of a true epic hero. He showed bravery, he used his strength against his enemies and in the end gave the ultimate sacrifice for his people.

As a payment to the king of the Danes, he decides to fight the dragon, just as he fought Grendel. Then he was a warrior and now he is a king responsible for his people. Beowulf’s decision is courageous but inappropriate for a king. His foolish but courageous decision causes him to die in the end. Before he fought the mighty dragon, he said “I’ve never known fear; as a youth I fought in endless battles.

Flaws by Contrast Comparisons and contrasts play a huge role in literary works, especially between characters. Not only do they show similarities and differences between various characters, but they also bring out specific qualities that make a character unique and help guide the readers towards a common conclusion. In the popular Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, the protagonist and hero, Beowulf, is emphasized for his extraordinary greatness. Throughout his story, he, as an advocate of good, encounters many opposing forces in the form of other characters. In a society where heroism and bravery are honored as essential aspects of culture, the contrasting values of these characters, or foils, help define Beowulf as the model hero.