Comparing Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Song of Roland Essay

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Song of Roland           In mythological Europe, chivalric heroes abounded whereever one could choose to roam.  There are hundreds of tales of knights who embodied the c formerlypt of chivalry, drop off huge dragons, slew legions of foes in single combat, and still made it sign of the zodiac in clock for dinner.  Of all these tales, ballads and poems, a few have lift to the fore front of the genre as an utilisation for the rest of the stories to follow.  I will be comparing the positive and negative personality traits of deuce heroes from the famous poems Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Song of Roland.           On the lighter side, both Gawain and Roland had more positive attributes than they did negative.  Both men were honorable, almost to a fault.  For example in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Gawain agreed to be on time for his own execution               Nor I know you not, knight, your name nor your court.             But announce me truly thereof, and teach me your name, and I             shall fare forth to find you, so far as I may, and this I say             in close certain, and swear upon oath.             (G&GK, pt.1, ln. 400-403)           Gawains agreement might have been honorable, but it doesnt hold me ... ...ght when it came to politics, apparently.  All of these attributes might be considered undesirable in a knight.           though the characteristics of honor, fearlessness, and poor people skills might seem to be perfect for a knight, a perfect hero just doesnt seem realistic to a listener o r a reader with out some sieve of a vice or flaw.  It makes them seem closer and more gentle to who the reader.  This is important to a good story, simply because if a hero is on the whole unbelievable the ballad becomes more of a tall tale or a story to be laughed at.  And while it might be shimmer to laugh at a B ballad every once in awhile, it just doesnt compare to a good action diagram line.  As a result, Gawain and Roland each flaws.  Rolands just happens to be terminal.