The Epic Beowulf is truly one of the greatest stories of all time and is still considered popular in today’s society. It is about a man by the name of Beowulf who is the world’s greatest Hero who has completed some of the most magnificent tasks. As the story goes on, Beowulf decides to go help out a king by the name of Hrothgar by slaying a monster by the name of Grendel who has been terrorizing the king and his people for 12 years. Primarily, Beowulf the epic does not have a known author (Snell). This is because of the fact that Beowulf was a poem that was passed down from generation to generation through tongue. However, what we do know is that Beowulf took place in 6th century Denmark and Sweden, and that Beowulf’s tribe was originally from the southern part of Sweden (History). Moreover, we also know that Hrothgar the king in the epic as well as Herot, the mead hall, the place in which Grendel slayed 30 men, was from the Danish…show more content… In the lines “"Art thou that Beowulf, Breca's rival, who emulous swam on the open sea, when for pride the pair of you proved the floods, and wantonly dared in waters deep to risk your lives” Unferth talks about a race between Beowulf and a royal boy, and says that if a royal boy could beat him in a swimming match in 7 days how could he possibly defeat Grendel. At this point, Beowulf could have simply beaten Unferth, however, instead of acting out, Beowulf chooses to stay composed and shows a sense of maturity, as he clearly states the facts. Unferth’s challenge towards Beowulf holds a great deal of significance due to the fact that it proves Beowulf is a man that is worthy to face this great challenge and is not one of the many other warriors that have fallen by Grendel’s hand. These are two of the many examples in which the recurring themes are shown throughout this epic, and shows how these themes allow us to relate with this epic even