Beowulf 1

• Blog – At the opening of this excerpt, Unferth tries to tarnish Beowulf’s reputation by discussing his swimming match with Breca. Why would Unferth do this? How does Beowulf respond? How does his response contribute to his persona as a hero?


During the celebration, Unferth (one of Hrothgars retainers) interrupts the celebration to insult Beowulf’s reputation. Unferth talks about a swimming match when Beowulf was young, with another boy whose name was Breca. Unferth asserts that Beowulf was foolish to enter such a dangerous contest. Unferth also emphasized that Breca was the stronger one by beating Beowulf in seven nights. (Pg. 35) Unferth is telling everyone this story because Unferth concludes that if Beowulf couldn’t win a swimming match, then Beowulf could not possibly be any challenge for Grendel, who lives at the bottom of a lake. So swimming may prove to be an important part in the fight if Beowulf concludes to fight Grendel. Beowulf responds by first isolating the problem. Beowulf goes on to say that it “was mostly beer that was doing the talking.” (Pg. 37) Beowulf then went on to correct parts of Unferth’s story. Beowulf tells that each of them had a sword and body armor for protection from the monsters at sea. Beowulf also stated that the two swam together for five nights, not seven. Beowulf told about how the two of them were eventually pulled apart from each other by the rough seas. Beowulf told stories of how sea monsters tried to attack him and he is eventually saved by ‘fate’ after hilling nine monsters. Beowulf then goes back to addressing Unferth by saying that he has not heard of any such an achievement by him and that Unferth had killed his own brothers. Beowulf then says to Unferth that if his battle spirit were as sharp as his words Grendel may not have been so successful against King Hrothgar. This response to Unferth has shown how Beowulf is a hero. He showed admirable restraint without backing down, and Beowulf’s verbal attacks focused on Unferth.