Prompt: How does the elegiac epic poem, Beowulf, represent the philosophies, beliefs, cultural reflections, and behaviors of this particular set of Germanic people during 400-800 A.D., particularly focusing on their heroes and their monsters? What purpose or purpose does an epic have in a particular culture?
Area of Discussion: What role does Unferth play in the drama, how does Beowulf treat him, and is Unferth a character that is a foil? Does he change his tune — why?
Find specific examples, passages, quoted lines, and actions/events to illustrate statements of what you discovered in the reading.