The Role Of Unferth In The Epic Of Beowulf

Unferth says this these after talking about how Brecca won the battle between him and Beowulf. Beowulf answers to this by reminding Unferth that he got swept away in the water and that he stayed with Brecca by choice. Beowulf then tells Unferth that he is the greatest, trying to prove to him that he is the man for the job, killing Grendel. “Beowulf answered, Edgetho’s great son:/ “Ah! Unferth, my friend, your face/ Is hot with ale, and your tongue has tried/

Throughout the poem, Beowulf’s deeds seem marvelous and good, yet in end his deeds are shown to be done solely out of lust for glory. The first indication of this occurs when Unferth interrogates Beowulf on Beowulf losing a simple race. Beowulf immediately counters this criticism with a boast stating he lost the race to save sailors, “From now on sailors would

In Grendel’s first encounter with Unferth, he finds out that Unferth can understand him leading to Grendel mocking Unferth in all chances he can get. This power of language lowers Unferth’s heroic quality and thoughts in a matter of a few lines and reactions. Unferth is further buried by Beowulf’s words in their little spat of insults. Unferth attempts to belittle Beowulf’s reputation through talk of how he lost a swimming match, to which Beowulf retorts with the sharp dagger of words that is the line, “... I don’t recall hearing any glorious deeds of yours, except that you murdered your brothers.” (Gardener 162). Finally, Beowulf’s words get to sting one last time in his fight with Grendel. Beowulf talks to Grendel as if he were nothing, creating thoughts in Grendel’s mind of loss and of an unwinnable battle. Beowulf’s words may have had a stronger effect on the fight than his strength did, for his words crippled his opponent making him weak and

In Grendel’s cave, Unferth stumbles in wishing he “had a chance. That [He] knew [He] had no more than that. It’s all a hero asks for,” (Gardner 89). Unferth believes that it does not matter if he lives or dies, or whatever the outcome would be, he just wants a chance to be a hero. He then speaks of what a true hero is; “The hero sees values beyond what’s possible. That’s the nature of a hero. It kills him, of course, ultimately, but it makes the whole struggle of humanity worthwhile,” (Gardner 89). In Anglo-Saxon times, it was normal for that to be the one goal of people’s lives. Unferth tells Grendel that he knows he is a hero, not by his successes or failures, but his dedication to the heroic craft . Unferth is very comfortable with his suicide for he knows he is a hero before the rewards and glory that come along. Unferth’s intentions are pure, but his actions are not. There is a clear hypocrisy between these characters where Beowulf acts like he wants to help, but has negative intentions. Unferth has the right intentions, but his actions are

I have chosen to portray Unferth as a drunken mess to make his attacks towards Beowulf seem less truthful because Beowulf says that he will “tell the truth” (532) about incomplete story that Unferth has told. Beowulf portrays many desirable heroic characteristic in the poem such as courage and leadership, and I believe that my choice of making Unferth unable to collect his drunken thoughts into a accurate story further boosts the heroic traits of Beowulf. My use of description and powerful imagery such as “skull crushing waves” and (sea monsters lurking below) is to create a feeling that Beowulf has accomplished such massive feats in only this one section of his life. This further creates the heroic persona that Beowulf so greatly delivers.

Beowulf then responds by saying that both he and Breca were neck in neck during the entirety of the contest but during the final stretch to the coast of Finland Beowulf was pulled into the water by a sea monster. In the book, it is said that he then killed that monster and nine other monsters but by the time he finished dealing with them Breca had already won. Whilst in the movie after Beowulf deals with the first few monsters he is confronted by a mermaid but then it turns out to be Grendel’s mother. Finishing off his story by rebuking Unferth saying that if he was as good a warrior as he says, Grendel wouldn’t still be alive creating chaos in Heorot of which Unferth had no answer. Beowulf’s pride really revealed itself when he defended his feats against Unferth’s claims, that even though he didn’t win the swimming match against Breca he defeated the monsters of the deep, how even though he didn’t win the match he had won in some other sense. His final insult to Unferth shows a taunting tone which heavily contrasts how Beowulf addresses Unferth with respect after defeating Grendel’s mother thanking Unferth’s ancient sword Hrunting when in reality the sword was completely useless in the

Beowulf is superior to the average person in many areas, among them physical strength. Throughout the poem, Beowulf accomplishes feats that no other man would be able to survive and proves his boundless might. Beowulf is described to Hrothgar, king of the Danes, by a messenger as "...a mighty warrior, powerful and wise" (line 370). Beowulf himself challenges the insults of Unferth by saying, "...no strength

Beowulf shows both wit and patience in his swift retort after Unferth challenges his skill. Later, after proving himself by dismembering Grendel, he accepts Unferth’s sword to face Grendel’s mother. This offering can be seen as an act of

Unferth wanted to remain the hero for his people, and felt challenged by the arrival of Beowulf

In the book, Beowulf boasted about why he lost the swimming match against Breca that Unferth brought up (Unknown, 530-558). While Beowulf does have a few moments of humility, he does get carried away when angered. This shows

After he has finished Beowulf fires back at Unferth saying “Neither you nor Brecca have yet dared such a deed with shining sword in battle-I do not boast because of this-though of course

His weapons gave him strength and a beginning to his journey. Fighting against the wicked, frightening, spine-chilling mother beast with only his sword, his sword starts to represent himself. Unferth, Beowulf’s minor foil at the beginning of the

One Dane by the name of Unferth challenges Beowulf reputation from when he swam with Breca. Unferth was sure that Beowulf was foolish to do the contest and that Breca was stronger, defeating Beowulf. Unferths point was that if Beowulf could not win the swimming race, then he was no match for Grendel. Nevertheless, Beowulf is challenged to stay the night in the mead-hall and goes to tell everyone that he will fight Grendel without any armor or sword, only his bare hands, because Grendel has neither a sword nor armor. This would be the right way to defeat the monster.

In the real world there are brave men and women such as soldiers and firefighters, sacrificing their all for others everyday. Beowulf is portrayed as the alrighty, fighting off the monster Grendel. While he earns respect as a hero, we are left to wonder if there is a side we do not know about. In the story, Unferth questions Beowulf’s heroism.

Not only is Beowulf extremely courageous but he is the mold that hero's model themselves after he is noble, true to his word and his unquestionable trust in his skills. When Beowulf gets to Heorot and they begin to feast, Unfearth goes up to Beowulf, and questions the race that he and Brecca had in the fierce open sea saying that no matter what he had done before that he would not be able to defeat Grendel because many great warriors had come before him and his fate would be no different; however, Beowulf has trust in his skills that God has graced him with just as he did when he raced Brecca in the open sea. By Beowulf saying this, he is letting Unfearth know that now as well as when he raced Brecca he is the best and will not be beaten. Beowulf then begins to challenge Unfearth's skills by saying if he was really as courageous as he has been saying he is, then Grendel wouldn't be