Unferth's Courage In Beowulf

Unferth is considered less of a man because he is more intelligent than masculine. He may be intelligent, but he is neither a strong warrior nor a brave one. Beowulf recalls that fact that Unferth has been a warrior for Hrothgar the entire time that Grendel has been attacking, and he has done nothing towards defeating the monster. Beowulf states, “Now I cannot recall / any fight you entered, Unferth, / that bears comparison. (lines 582-84) Unferth may have been an intelligent man, but his lack of a high degree of masculinity causes his worth to be lower than that of Beowulf or any other brave warrior. Unferth’s inability to kill Grendel causes Hrothgar and the other warriors

For example, after Grendel’s arm is stole and Aeschere is killed, Hrothgar accuses, “Unferth! Unferth killed Aeschere while he slept… acts as a beast would, blindly. He’s at the mercy of his own evil, and hardly knows what he does,” (Nye 100). Unferth’s jealousy and envy lead him to his vengeful motivation. Unferth’s anger and vitriol blocks his mind and leads to his consequential and illogical actions. In this case, when Beowulf sets out to kill Grendel’s mother, he finds out how Unferth has been killed, “Dangling from the only branch that grew on the tree was a gory head. It was Unferth’s,” (Nye 108). Unferth’s vengeful motivation ushered his own death and shows how sore he is, just like how today people try to retaliate just for small accidents or mistakes. Unferth is characterized by his actions as an eccentric and distraught character is this novel. The author sets an important theme of revenge being a self-destructive method of

Beowulf first displays his courage during his fight with the evil monster Grendel. In the poem, Beowulf challenges the beast to duel and says that he will fight him with no weapons and armor to show his courage. “No weapons, therefore,/ for either this night: unarmed he shall face me if face me he dares” (Heaney 683-685). This shows how much courage Beowulf has because he is fighting a descendent from Cain and is taking him on without any weapons and armor. Secondly, Beowulf does not hesitate for one second and takes on the beast without any help, this shows how courages the hero is.

Beowulf first displays his courage during his fight with the evil monster Grendel. In the poem, Beowulf challenges the beast to dual and says that he will fight him with no weapon and armor to show his courage. “No weapons, therefore,/ for either this night: unarmed he shall face me if face me he dares” (Heaney 683-685). This shows how much courage beowulf has because he is fighting a descendent from cain and is taking him on without any weapons and armor. Secondly, Beowulf does not hesitat for one second and takes on the beast without any help, this shows how courages the hero is. “He was bearing in/ where he lay on the bed: he was bearing in/ wiht open claw when the alert hero’s/ comeback and armlock forestolled him utterly” (764-750). Beowulf then defeats the evil monster grendel by tearing off his arm and killing the beast. In the poem the poeple are celebrating over this victory while Beowulf is dissapointed in himself because he thinks that it would be better if he had the head of the beast rather than the arm. “If you could have seen the monster himself/ where he lay beaten, I would have been better pleased” (960-961). Beowulf does not realise that he was the only one who could defeat this monster and no one else could because they do not have the courage.

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

Beowulf has confidence when he battles. Beowulf announces that he will fight Grendel, the evil that has been lurking them for a long time. However; Beowulf says he will fight with his bare hands instead of using weapons (Lines 400-490). This shows how he is brave enough to challenge Grendel with a single combat with only hands and in the end, he wins. Another example is when Beowulf boasts, Unferth interrupts him and insults him. Then Beowulf replies, “The fact is, Unferth, if you were truly as keen and courageous as you claim to be Grendel would never have got away with such unchecked atrocity, attacks on your king, havoc in Heorot and horrors everywhere” (590-595). This is an example of where he shows courage because he corrects Unferth and makes him look as a fool for not stating the truth of what actually happened. Also, this explains while they were swimming he was fighting off sea creatures along their swim, which is why he lost. According to Heaney, Beowulf shows courage when he believes he can defeat the dragon. During when Beowulf fights the dragon, it states, “Yet the prince of the rings was too proud to line up with a large army against the sky-plague. He had scant regard for the dragon as a threat, no dread at all its courage and strength, for he had kept going often in the past, through perils and ordeals of every

In John Gardner’s book, Unferth is portrayed as heroic, a characteristic for the brave, due to his lack of care

Theme is the matter of a subject within a piece of writing. Throughout this essay examples of mesopotamian literature, old english poetry and ancient greek literature are brought up. The central theme throughout all these epics is bravery. I chose bravery because each one of these characters risks their lives to save others. The ability to take on life threatening battles is an extreme form of bravery.

Beowulf is a prime example of what it means to be courageous. In his fight with Grendel, he chooses “[n]o weapons, therefore, / for either this night: unarmed he shall face me / if face me he dares” (683-84). Beowulf has never encountered Grendel before. He has only heard the stories of the beast’s evil doings, so going into a fight with no protection requires great strength and bravery. Beowulf is the only man to dive into the waters to fight Grendel’s Mother. He goes into the fight believing “life doesn’t cost him a thought” (1536). The outcome of the battle does not faze Beowulf because a warrior should

Unferth is presented halfway through the book Grendel. His presence is significant as it is the first sign of mental equality with Grendel and another person. He is a hero of his own land and personally believes this. Unferth is seen as a character of nobility, however he is also a foolish human which shows through his actions when he challenges grendel, his personal definition of a hero, along with his character during battle.

Beowulf’s first act of courage is when he battles the sea currents and its monsters in a swimming competition against Breca. After Beowulf travels across the ocean to rid the Danes of their problems, Unferth jealous of Beowulf points out that he lost the challenge to Breca. Beowulf explained that he was shoulder to shoulder with Breca for five nights but soon cold winds brought sea beasts. Beowulf tells Hrothgar prince of the Danes he did not lose his courage during this episode when saying, “ ‘Time and again, foul things attacked me, lurking and stalking, but I lashed out” (559-560). Beowulf held courage by refusing to let his “flesh [be]…fest[ed] on, [for] there would be no monsters gnawing and gloating over their banquet at the bottom of

The scene with Unferth in Beowulf is to show Beowulf’s ability to overcome troubling challenges. As Beowulf explains however, “Other monsters crowded around me, continually attacking. I treated them politely offering the edge of my razor sharp sword.” (Beowulf 292-294) This shows that Beowulf can survive great odds, proving that he is the hero of this story.

Beowulf exemplifies heroic qualities that convey his nobility and courage. The poem named Beowulf has no known author. The author of the poem is known to be a Anglo-Saxon poet. The poem, "Beowulf", is an Old English epic poem. The character, Beowulf, is a noble hero who offered to help King Hrothgar by fighting a demon named Grendal. He fought many enemies before and while becoming a king. Beowulf is a loyal and noble hero to the people of Geats and Danes. Epic heroes are defined with specific qualities that this particular literary epic hero fits into. Many literary heroes are described with particular characteristics, and Beowulf fits those standards in order to be considered a hero. Beowulf expresses many heroic qualities that depict him as a noble and loyal leader.

There’s a point when Unferth tries questioning the knowledge as well as the courage of Beowulf, yet it’s investigated immediately. He says, “but you vied for seven nights; and then he outswam you…so Brece made good his boast upon you and was proved right.” (516-524). Beowulf does not let Unferth disregard his the aspects of his name. He replies, “Now I cannot recall any fight you entered, Unferth…. the fact is, Unferth, if you were truly as keen or courageous as you claim to be Grendel would never have got away…” (582-590). Beowulf causes Unferth to acknowledge the strength he is in denial Beowulf has. Although Unferth denies, others acknowledge. For example, Beowulf’s plan of sailing the swan’s road resulted trust from Hrothgar and an additional courageous title to his name. After an action so delicate, Hrothgar gives Beowulf control. “Never since my hand could hold a shield have I entrusted or given control of Danes’ Hall to anyone but you” he says (655-657). His initiative to accomplish all missions given and confidential strength emerged his courage to grow

The book Grendel, written by John Gardner, and the poem Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, both have very distinct opinions on what role each character plays. The translator of Beowulf and the writer of Grendel follow the idea that everyone has a story. A story is the writer’s perspective on a character’s personality, the way people in the story see and treat the character, and the way it ties the ideas together. There are many examples in these two writings of this concept, but the main instances connect with the lives of Grendel, Beowulf, and Unferth.