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In the Old English epic poem ''Beowulf'', Unferth or Hunferth is a thegn of the Danish lord Hrothgar. The name ''Unferth'' does not appear in any Old English manuscript outside of the Nowell Codex, which contains ''Beowulf'', and the meaning of the name is disputed. Several scholarly theories about Unferth have been proposed. Unferth is also the name of a character in the modern novel ''Grendel'' by John Gardner, based upon the ''Beowulf'' epic. ==Etymology== Unferth's name can be understood in a number of ways. A common reading, by Morton W. Bloomfield〔''An Anthology of Beowulf Criticism'', University of Notre Dame Press, 1963, pp. 155-164.〕 among others, is to see it as ''un'' + ''frith'', "mar peace". Another reading, by Fred C. Robinson〔''Old English Studies in Honor of John C. Pope'', University of Toronto Press, 1974, pp.127-31.〕 among others, is to see it as ''un'' + ''ferth'', "no wit". Numerous other scholars have suggested that Unferth’s name should not be associated with ''frið'' (peace) but with ''ferhð'', which translates as “soul, spirit, mind, and life.” R.D. Fulk writes that it is difficult to assign significance to names in Beowulf because some of the characters involved are historical figures. However, Fulk argues that this can be done in the case of Unferth because the name ''Un-ferth'' is not known to appear in history, or in any manuscript other than the Nowell Codex. The first element of the name, ''un'', appears exclusively as ''hun'' in the sole manuscript of ''Beowulf''. There is some question as to why ''hun'' appears when the author means ''un'', and Fred C. Robinson suggests that this ''h'' is a Celtic scribal habit which indicates that ''u'' has a vocal function by adding an unpronounced graphic ''h''. Fulk argues, however, that this use of the letter ''h'' does not appear anywhere else in the ''Beowulf'' manuscript. In Old English, ''un'' usually means "not". However, some scholars have argued that it can also mean "very". (cf. German ''Untiefe'', un-depth, which means a place in the water of either very great or very shallow depth.) In Old English, ''unhar'' means "very old", and some argue that this use of ''un'' could also be attributed to Unferth. Despite the vast amount of research that has gone into the etymology of Unferth’s name, scholars continue to disagree on its true meaning.〔Fulk , R. D. "Unferth and His Name." ''Modern Philology'', Vol. 85, No. 2. (Nov., 1987), pp. 113-127.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Unferð」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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