Essay On Minor Characters In Beowulf

“From where he crouched at the king’s feet, Unferth, a son of Ecglaf’s, spoke contrary words.” (Beowulf 34). This is the first mention of a notable minor character in Beowulf. In Beowulf, Translated by Seamus Heaney, originally written circa 1000 ad., many minor and seemingly unimportant characters still have drastically driving effects in the story. Beowulf tells the story of a hero who has to fight demons and a dragon throughout the course of his life while aided by many minor characters. One of these particular characters is Unferth, an individual, who is introduced as a type of minor adversary to Beowulf early in the story. Unferth is shown to be a character who evolves during intervals of Beowulf’s story, from an annoyance to an aid. Unferth is a character who is jealous of Beowulf, a hero of astonishing measure who has these wonderful tales written and told about him . Unferth is immediately characterized as a character who is be selfish and self-confident, as he calls out the holes in Beowulf’s stories, …show more content…
He was shown as an evolving character as well, the personalization of the characters in this story are truly remarkable. The characters all have individual points and purposes in the story to continue the plot but the way the characters are interacted with, not only by the main character, but with the other characters is amazing and often lacking in current books. It leads to a vibrant and realistic story, Unferth shows his purpose in antagonizing while also semi-supporting Beowulf, it leads to an interesting small Conflict/Resolution that makes the story feel realistic. Stories are meant to convey and teach messages, in a way that everyone can relate to, with these types of small realistic characters this story becomes relatable, and is an excellent way to convey messages to everyone in the