Beowulf

Both are foundational epic poems of their civilizations. Where Odysseus uses cunning and survives, Beowulf uses strength and dies — the Greek and Germanic heroic ideals in direct contrast.

The other great medieval English poem. Both test a hero's adherence to a code — Beowulf's test is physical and fatal; Gawain's is moral and survivable.

Both poems grapple with the heroic code, the warrior's relationship to death, and the question of what glory costs. Achilles' choice of short life and eternal fame haunts Beowulf's final stand.

Tolkien was the foremost Beowulf scholar of the 20th century. Smaug the dragon, the barrow treasure, and the arc of Thorin Oakenshield all derive directly from the poem Tolkien spent his career studying.

Retells Beowulf from the monster's perspective, giving Grendel existentialist philosophy and a sympathetic inner life — the most famous literary response to the poem.

Both depict a warrior culture from within, both feature a hero whose strength is also his limitation, and both end with the collapse of a world that the hero's death cannot prevent.