The Medieval Hero: Beowulf and Sir Gawain According to Joseph Campbell's interpretation of a hero, “The hero travels through the dream world of adventure where he must face a series of trials” (Monomyth). In “Beowulf” and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” the reader encounters two completely different heroes, both reflecting the culture of their respective time periods: Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman. Both of these characters face various challenges, just as Campbell says a hero must. Beowulf must first face Grendel's defeat; after his victory, he discovers that he must also eliminate the threat posed by Grendel's mother. The reader is told that Beowulf continues to face one challenge after another throughout his life until his final encounter with Beowulf. In "Beowulf", Beowulf never shirks his duty in a fight. After killing Grendel, Grendel's mother becomes a threat. Beowulf takes it upon himself, because of his promise to restore peace to Heorot, to defeat her as well: “Let us immediately set / on the trail of this troll dam. / I assure you: he will not escape, / neither to the underground lairs nor to the mountain groves / nor to the bottom of the ocean” (“Beowulf”, 1390-1394). Beowulf recognizes that his act of killing Grendel has brought this new threat to Heorot, and as such, it is his responsibility to resolve the situation. Beowulf encounters a similar situation when the dragon plagues his people. He is their leader and must face the enemy. However, the narrator says, "He [Beowulf] was sad at heart, / Restless but ready, perceiving his death" ("Beowulf," 2419-2420). Beowulf feels deep down that the dragon will be his downfall, yet he faces his opponent anyway. He knows he cannot allow the dragon to terrorize his people, so he faces his death and goes to welcome it as he knows he must. In a similar form, Gawain chooses to face his almost certain death in the most honorable way possible. When the green knight issues his challenge, no one is willing to accept it, however, King Arthur feels he must accept it to maintain the pride of his court. The narrator states: “Then Arthur takes up the axe, “Beowulf” was written for the Anglo-Saxons while “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” was written for the Anglo-Normans, both descended from the same geographic location. The main difference would appear to be that the Anglo-Normans were less warlike than the Anglo-Saxons, largely due to the advance of time. As a result, the Anglo-Norman hero placed more emphasis on chivalrous conduct than on winning countless wars and battles. However, when looking at the similarities between Beowulf and Sir Gawain, one can see the similarities between the two cultures reflected in the honor, weaknesses and struggles the two characters face.