Breca the Bronding American patois uses an accusation of ‘a particular form of incest’). Further in the saga, when Heriot is being attacked by Grendel's Mother, we shall see Unferth approach Beowulf in humility, offering his own family's heirloom sword. Breca the Bronding Breca (sometimes spelled Breoca or Brecca) was a Bronding who, according to the Anglo-Saxon poem "Beowulf", was Beowulf's childhood friend. Breca defeated Beowulf in what, by consensus, is described as a "swimming" match. While dining, Unferth alludes to the story of their contest as a reproach to Beowulf's impulsiveness and foolhardiness, and Beowulf then relates it in detail, explaining how
Beowulf its "popularity" took it). There are Scandinavian sources, international folkloric sources, and Celtic sources. 19th century studies proposed that "Beowulf" was translated from a lost original Scandinavian work, but this idea was quickly abandoned. But Scandinavian works have continued to be studied as a possible source. Proponents included writing in 1886 that an Old Norse original version of "Beowulf" must have existed, but that view was later debunked by (1914) who pointed out that "Beowulf" is fundamentally Christian and written at a time when any Norse tale would have most likely been pagan. The epic's possible connection to "Grettis saga"