Compare and contrast Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

There are a number of similarities and differences between the protagonists in the heroic stories of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Beowulf is a hero known for his prowess in battle; he has heard tales of Grendel from traveling seamen and has come to the aid of Hrothgar and his people:

Fame a plenty
have I gained in youth! These Grendel-deeds
I heard in my home-land heralded clear.
Seafarers say how stands this hall,
of buildings best, for your band of thanes
empty and idle...
So my vassals advised me…
O sovran Hrothgar, to seek thee here,
for my nerve and my might they knew full well.

Gawain is a hero who enjoys a reputation of bravery as well, and he is also a member of King Arthur's court and the Knights of the Round Table. Arthur's knights were called to follow the chivalric code. According to the article "Medieval Chivalry,"

Medieval chivalry, or at least the nineteenth-century understanding of it [promoted] romantic conceptions of honor, especially military honor.

The chivalric code (a collection of ideals or guidelines by which to live) was constructed by the Church to control the often-vicious behavior of knights as seen during the crusades. A knight was expected to be a gentleman. Other characteristics were loyalty, faith, prowess, and kindness. It was “designed as a system of values and conduct for courtiers in noble courts.”

According to the code by which the Arthurian knights were said to live, Gawain takes the challenge of the Green Knight when he arrives at Camelot one year at the New Year's celebrations. His behavior complies with his code when the Green Knight fails to die when Gawain removes his head and demands that they will fight again in a year's time: Gawain, honor-bound, must comply.

Both Beowulf and Gawain are brave warriors. Their reputations are well established. (Even the Green Knight has heard stories, he says, of Gawain's sterling reputation.) Both face supernatural (beyond the natural) foes.

However, the men are vastly different. First, they come from eras that are quite dissimilar. Beowulf ostensibly lived during the Early Middle Ages, while Gawain's story was written during the Late Middle Ages. For this reason, Beowulf and his society are seemingly less civilized than Gawain. Gawain and the Arthurian knights are considered more refined, while Beowulf is more rustic, perhaps even barbaric.

Ironically, Beowulf is actually more honorable than Gawain. Beowulf fights Grendel with his bare hands because the monster will not have a weapon—he insists that it be a fair fight. Also, he comes to Hrothgar's aid simply because he hears that the king and his people are in need. He wants no payment but offers himself honorably to live or die, as God decrees, to rid the mead hall of the creature that has murdered scores of people and caused the hall to remain empty for twelve years.

While Gawain is quick to take the Green Knight's challenge—it seems it will be an easy win—the story takes an unusual twist in that the Green Knight does not die after Gawain cuts off the other knight's head. A year later, to honor his word, the young knight travels to meet the Green Knight again. However, Gawain's fear prompts him to deceitfully wear a magic belt to protect him from harm, rather than to honorably and bravely face the Green Knight simply with sword and shield.

Consequently, Beowulf appears the braver of the two, while Gawain seems less noble.

Before I looked at your attachment, the compare/contrast ideas that sprang to my mind were the similarities in how the verse is written: They both use alliteration--repetition of (usually) consonant sounds three or four times per line--instead of rhyming)*; a difference is that Gawain stanzas end with a "bob and wheel," the short two-syllable line followed by four short lines, while Beowulf does not. Also, Beowulf bridged the transition from the old Anglo-Saxon superstitions and religions to Christianity while Sir Gawain's religious backdrop was Christianity only. 

* Example from Sir Gawain: 

Reckoning of the Round Table all the rich brethren,

with right ripe revel and reckless mirth.

And an example from Beowulf: 

Swore by his sword, and young men swelled....

(A lot of Beowulf translations don't preserve the alliteration, though. Too bad, because it's cool.)

But to the bits you're asking about: 

Appearance of halls: 

• Hrothgar's hall is huge, "a hall that would hold his mighty / Band and reach higher toward Heaven than anything / That had ever been known to the sons of men." It's strangely reminiscent of Solomon's wealth, which is described as having "surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches." Hrothgar's hall is also adorned by orders for work sent to all peoples, suggesting that it has samples of the art of various cultures all around (this bit is from the Seamus Heaney version, but doesn't necessarily appear in all versions). 
• King Arthur's hall is also immense. It's large enough for all the court--and we're led to believe there were huge numbers of lords and ladies and knights--as well as tons of food and bands and players. It's also large enough for the green knight, himself described as huge, to ride in upright on horseback. Arthur's hall is richly adorned, as well. Queen Guenevere is 

Seated on the upper level, adorned all about; 
Fine silk surrounding her, a canopy overhead
Of costly French fabric, silk carpets underfoot
That were embroidered and studded with the finest gems
That money could buy at the highest price
         anywhere.

Entertainment: 

• Hrothgar: In the short reading assigned here, the only entertainment mentioned is that he dispensed riches to his subjects (72). If you read ahead a bit through line 90, though, you will see that he also has poets and singers and great feasts with happiness and merry-making loud enough to wake the beast Grendel. 
• Arthur: "Rich revelry and carefree amusement" (40); tournaments and jousts (41-2); "dancing and song" (43); feasting and merry-making (45); dancing (47); Christmas service in the chapel (63); exchange of gifts (66-70); and Arthur himself will not eat until someone tells him "a curious tale" or he sees a good joust (93, 96-7). 

Who was present/absent: 

• Hrothgar: All we're told in this tiny bit of Beowulf is that the hall is open to "old and young," to whom Hrothgar gives out treasures to reward them for their bravery in battle. This could include women, but wouldn't include children. His company wasn't limited to nobles and lords, clearly; the bounty and the honor here went to the brave and valiant. 
• Arthur: The hall is peopled by the lords and ladies of the court and his knights, as well as the necessary servers and performers. The image is of the the rich and beautiful, as well as the men who were brave and skilled enough to become members of his Round Table (39). 

Mood/Atmosphere: 

• Hrothgar: Festive, clearly. He hands out rich gifts to all who have earned them, but there's also (as I mentioned before) a great uproar from the feasting and merry-making, which suggests happiness, music, dancing, and laughter. 
• Arthur: Mostly festive and joyful (48), but also pious (as they finish their Christmas worship and leave the chapel). Like Hrothgar's mead-hall, Arthur's is a din of merry-making and feasting. 

The classic literature pieces Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight were written centuries apart, but have many similarities.  Both include tragic heroes with tragic flaws – pride or hubris in this case.  The main characters’ journeys lead them each to learn much about themselves.  Both include elements of bildungsroman, or a coming of age story as they both deal with young warriors proving themselves as they grow up throughout the course of the text.  Also, both titles include monsters that must be conquered, both physical monsters and mental/ emotional monsters.

What are the similarities and differences in appearance, entertainment, attendance, and atmosphere between Heorot in Beowulf and Camelot in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?

In both Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf, the main halls are places of community and celebration. While both welcome visitors, the two halls are very different in structure and function, as described below. In preparing your graphic organizer, note similarities and differences.

In Gawain's tale, Camelot is in the midst of Christmas celebrations. Everyone is dressed in their best clothing.  There is caroling and a great deal of laughter. During the day the celebration can be heard clearly; at night there is much dancing. The knights take part in sporting events, such as jousting, and it is a joyous place.

This king lay at Camelot upon Christmas tides 
With many loyal lords, lads of the best, 
Renowned of the Round Table all those rich brethren, 
With rich revel aright and reckless mirth. 
There tourneyed troopers by times full many, 
Jousted full jollily these gentle knights, 
Then came to the court carols to make, 
For there the feasting was the same for a full fifteen days 
With all the meals and the mirth that man could devise; 
Such gladness and glee glorious to hear, 
Dear din upon day, dancing on nights...

Camelot is decorated for festivities and feasting. There is a high table, and Arthur and his most celebrated guests are eating on the dais. Placed nearby are sideboards with food, and servants are bustling about. Banners of many colors hang from the walls. Trumpets, drums and pipes are being played, while voices join together in song. The noise echoes off of the walls while food is being served, so it must be enormous in size. 

Described as taking place during the Middle Ages, there is a sense of civility and elegance in the Arthurian tales.

Beowulf, however, lives during a much earlier time—a time when life was brutal, battle was a way of life, and death was always lurking close by. 

The mead hall, Heorot, is more like a medieval castle than Camelot is. It is stoutly built based on Hrothgar's specifications:

It came in his mind

to bid his henchmen a hall uprear,

a master mead-house, mightier far

than ever was seen by the sons of earth...

Wide, I heard, was the work commanded...

It fell, as he ordered,

in rapid achievement that ready it stood there,

of halls the noblest...

the rings he dealt,

treasure at banquet: there towered the hall,

high, gabled wide...

It takes the work of many men to complete the mead hall. It is built swiftly. Banquets are held, and treasure is distributed here. We can assume that the hall is rough-hewn, with wooden benches and tables, not glamorous in the least. Rather than jewel-encrusted goblets that we might imagine in Camelot, a "carven cup" is described.

However, while the cup may be carved from wood, the furniture in Heorot is decorated with gold. The hall is towering (high), and wide. Most probably the hearth dominates the room, which is where Hrothgar first greets Beowulf and his contingent of men. 

Heorot is strongly built, like a fortress. The main hall is large enough to house Beowulf's men as they sleep and wait for the monster to attack. When Grendel attacks, he rips heavy doors attached to door frames by iron hinges and moves heavy furniture that is attached to the floor. 

What are the similarities and differences between Heorot and Camelot in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?

Both halls are seats of power in their respective cultures.  Heorot is Hrothgar's hereditary mead hall, and Camelot serves the same purpose for King Arthur and his court.  In one sense, they serve the same function--a gathering place of splendor and (relative) comfort for the king and his retainers or court.  But they are very different places in the context of the two poems.

Heorot, despite its central place in Hrothgar's kingdom, is under siege by the monster Grendel, and it has become the opposite of a place of splendor and comfort: rather than joy and celebration, Hrothgar's retainers find nothing but death while they're in Heorot.  In fact, the more they celebrate in Heorot, the worse the revenge visited upon them by Grendel.  Camelot, on the other hand, is a peaceful, beautiful hall in which Arthur and his court celebrate Christmas, another significant difference from Heorot, which is a pagan mead hall.  And instead of being threatened by a monster whose implacable hatred makes the hall uninhabitable, Camelot is visited by a magical personage who, rather than destroying Arthur and his knights, challenges them to what is, in effect, a sporting proposition.

Even though the two halls ought to function the same way for both groups, they are, because of the respective threats hanging over them, very different places--one is a hall of light, joy, camraderie, and the other is a grim, dark, life-ending setting.

What similarities exist between Herot and Camelot in Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?

The two mead halls share similarities that help illuminate the desires and values of medieval life across the centuries. Grendel's great transgression is invading and smashing not just human lives in the mead hall, but Herot itself, drawing Beowulf to defend this famous center of civilized life. Herot and Camelot are both places of warmth and good food, where a cold, hungry knight can find a fire, light, meat and mead, all flowing generously throughout the hall. The emphasis on hospitable bounty shows what a medieval person desired: access to warmth, light and ample nourishment, refuge from a dark, chilly, hungry life in nature. Further, both places exemplify community and belonging. A visitor, ideally, finds acceptance, human warmth and conviviality here. Stories are exchanged, and people show curiosity about each other. Both halls are cultural centers that people long visit or return to. They show the extent to which medieval society valued community and story telling, and they show the life-giving quality that acceptance in a community bestowed. In both mead halls, there is a sense of a cold, harsh, uncertain world "out there," full of monsters to be kept at bay, versus the beauty and glory of being inside a protected world—and one that needed protection of strong knights to survive.

Both halls are built by warrior kings to honor their brave soldiers. Both halls are gathering places for the court, sort of like the kings' headquarters. Both halls become famous across Europe and are well-known by name. Inside both of the halls, challenges are issued that question the bravery of the knights inside; in Herot, Grendel rampages and sparks fear into the hearts of all of Hrothgar's men; in Camelot, the Green Knight rides in and issues a brazen challenge to King Arthur and all of his knights.

How are the descriptions of Heorot in Beowulf and Camelot in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight similar and different?

The two poems are written in very different genres, with one being an Anglo-Saxon epic and the other a medieval romance. The two cultures described also differ, with that of Beowulf being poorer and more warlike and that of Arthurian Romance being wealthier and more courtly.

The first main difference is that although Hereot was considered magnificent within the context of the poem, that context is one of a society in which people lived in simple wood or peat longhouses. Hereot was a wood building, probably a large longhouse, with some gold ornaments. The main furniture would have been benches lining the long walls of the hall. It was part of a culture in which most wealth consisted of jewelry and limited stores of precious metals. Ordinarily, such a building would have been home to the king and his family and served as a center and meeting place for government business, where warriors would gather and people visit to petition or conduct business with the king. One can assume that due to the depredations of Grendel, women, children, and all people not capable of fighting were sent elsewhere, and that Hereot became a sort of armed camp under siege.

Camelot was a palace with extensive grounds and outbuildings. It would have been constructed of stone and had many separate rooms, including a great hall and a chapel. The walls were covered with tapestries, and tables and chairs would have been used for dining. We get an impression of great wealth. Surrounding the main building were outbuildings and grounds. We get the impression of a large town with many families as permanent residents and a vast horde of visitors staying in large tents erected for the festivities.

For King Arthur, Camelot was not only his kingdom, but a place of worship; whereas, the Hall Heorot was what the poet calls a "mead-building." Mead is beer, so basically Heorot was a pub or bar. King Arthur's hall, though, had a chapel and a place for feasting. Both buildings were considered large and able to accommodate many guests. Heorot is described as "tall, high and wide-gabled" as well as a "tall house" used for "beer-drinking" (p. 2-3 of Donaldson's translation). For Camelot, descriptions not only mention the chapel, but a "high dais" or stage, upon which the King and Queen sat with other high-ranking officials to oversee the rest of the feast's company. Camelot also had a canopy over head and embroidered tapestries flowing from the ceilings. The description of each hall can also be discovered by what type of guests assembled there. In Heorot, only warrior men went there to have a drink with their buddies. Camelot's hall, on the other hand, received noble guests, male and female, for the purpose of public entertainment and merriment. They probably drank and got drunk there, too, but that was not anything noble to note. The Gawain poet also took time to address what everyone wore and to list all of the riches and fine food that were available at Arthur's feast. This suggests that high ranking people of noble birth took great care for this event and that it wasn't a place for war--only stories of gallant battles. Heorot, meaning heart, was a casual place of socializing, but again, only men of the time went there and shared their brave stories as well. The two halls, similarly, though, both have a great event take place right before their eyes. In both events, the lines of war or magic are crossed which set the stages for great stories.

Compare courtly life in Beowulf (lines 64-98) and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (lines 37-106).

The kinds of courtly life described early in both Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (in the Heaney and Boroff translations, respectively) reveal a number of interesting similarities and differences, including the following:

• Both Hrothgar and King Arthur possess courts that are physically impressive.  Hrothgar deliberately contructs a

. . . great mead-hall
meant to be a wonder of the world forever . . . (69-70)

Similarly, Arthur is surrounded by opulence, including

. . . a dais well-decked and duly arrayed
With costly silk curtains . . . (75-76)

In both cases, the richness of the surroundings may suggest a kind of materialism as well as a kind of pride in worldly possessions that may both be open to criticism, especially from a Christian point of view.

• Despite exhibiting some of the pride that is unfortunately natural to human beings, both Hrothgar and Arthur seem to be good kings. Hrothgar shares his goods with his loyal thanes (71-72), and Arthur seems generous in providing his courtiers with food and in waiting until everyone else is served before he himself eats (85).
• Christianity is an explicit presence in both courts, as in the public retelling of the Genesis story in Hrothgar’s hall (89-98) and in the celebration of Christmas at Arthur’s court (64-65). However, it is possible to argue that neither court is as wholly devoted to Christian ideals as it should be at the outset.
• Women are a much more obvious presence at Arthur’s court than they are at Hrothgar’s, at least at this point in Beowulf.
• A sense of foreboding and doom is much more obvious at this point in Beowulf (81-85) than it is in the initial description of Arthur’s court.
• Music is a presence in both courts, as in the reference to the harp in Beowulf (89) and in the reference to dancing in Sir Gawain (43).
• In both cases the youth of the courtiers is mentioned (Beowulf 66; Gawain 54-55), an important fact since both poets may be suggesting the courtiers are still a bit immature and need to be taught some sobering lessons.
• In both cases, members of the audience who knew the stories to follow (a group that would include most listeners) would realize that the opening descriptions of both flourishing courts are just ironic preludes to the mayhem that is about to ensue.

Compare and contrast life in Heorot and Camelot in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Beowulf.

The second section of SIr Gawain and the Green Knight (trans. Jessie L. Weston) opens with a description of Camelot:

King Arthur lay at Camelot upon a Christmas-tide, with many a gallant lord and lovely lady, and all the noble brotherhood of the Round Table. There they held rich revels with gay talk and jest; one while they would ride forth to joust and tourney, and again back to the court to make carols; for there was the feast holden fifteen days with all the mirth that men could devise, song and glee, glorious to hear, in the daytime, and dancing at night. Halls and chambers were crowded with noble guests, the bravest of knights and the loveliest of ladies, and Arthur himself was the comeliest king that ever held a court. For all this fair folk were in their youth, the fairest and most fortunate under heaven, and the king himself of such fame that it were hard now to name so valiant a hero.

If Camelot is characterized by "rich revels with gay talk and jest" (in other words, lots of joking around, happiness, and all that), what is Heorot like? Are people in that court laughing, joking loudly, and partying still? They aren't, of course, and the reason is Grendel, who's particularly sensitive to and offended by the sound of merrymaking.

Other points of comparison and contrast might be the presence and role of women as well as the use of competitions (e.g. jousting or storytelling) and the heroic challenge.

I would suggest calling the two places "courts" rather than "mead halls." Heorot is certainly a mead hall, but Camelot is not (as far as I know).