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The Shaper
One of Hrothgar’s men, Unferth is a strong, proud hero. When he attempts to fight Grendel, though, he is humiliated. Grendel mocks his ideas of heroism and refuses to allow Unferth to die a heroic death. Grendel’s toying with Unferth reveals that a hero needs a cooperating monster in order to be heroic. By refusing to play the part of the monster for Unferth, Grendel denies him his heroic identity and robs Unferth’s life of purpose.
Unferth Quotes in Grendel
The Grendel quotes below are all either spoken by Unferth or refer to Unferth. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
“It will be sung,” he whispered, then paused again to get wind. “It will be sung year on year and age on age that Unferth went down through the burning lake—” he paused to pant “—and gave his life in battle with the world-rim monster.” He let his cheek fall to the floor and lay panting for a long time, saying nothing. It dawned on me that he was waiting for me to kill him. I did nothing. I sat down and put my elbows on my knees and my chin on my fists and merely watched.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Grendel LitChart as a printable PDF.
Unferth Quotes in Grendel
The Grendel quotes below are all either spoken by Unferth or refer to Unferth. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
“It will be sung,” he whispered, then paused again to get wind. “It will be sung year on year and age on age that Unferth went down through the burning lake—” he paused to pant “—and gave his life in battle with the world-rim monster.” He let his cheek fall to the floor and lay panting for a long time, saying nothing. It dawned on me that he was waiting for me to kill him. I did nothing. I sat down and put my elbows on my knees and my chin on my fists and merely watched.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
