Breca the Bronding

Breca (sometimes referred to as Breoca or Brecca) is a Bronding most well known for his appearance in the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. Breca's action is seen towards the beginning of the story in Seamus Heaney's translation (506-589) and in the Old English text (505-581). The poem alludes to a contest in which Breca competes with the story's main protagonist and his childhood friend Beowulf. The contest consists of a seven day and seven night swim through icy waters filled with sea monsters. The contestants also are depicted wearing heavy armor and carrying iron casted swords as they tread along their journey. Breca is the apparent victor of this match, reaching the shore first and boasting as he is brought back to his home territory in Bronding country.

It is important to note that Beowulf is not the first story in which Breca is mentioned. Breca is first seen in Anglo-Saxon literature in a poem known in Old English as Widsith, or The Traveler's Song. It was written in the early tenth century and is contained in an ancient compile of poetry known as the Exeter Book. In the poem, we get the true history behind Breca and his origins. Breca is the leader of a Germanic tribe known as the Brondings who was most likely located on the Swedish island of Branno, west of Gothenburg. The passage makes a very brief reference to many world leaders including Breca (line 25), showing his influence in the ancient Germanic world.

Etymology Although there is little known about the origin of the name Breca, some scholars go as far as to speculate that Breca's name stems from its backwards spelling of Acerb; a synonym for the Latin word Acerbic. Acerbic is often used to define someone who is harsh or severe in temper or expression. It is even described as a person being sour, bitter, and even rudely sarcastic. This definition is important in pinpointing exactly what kind of leader Breca was.

Today Breca's literal English translation is "Pandora". This is not in reference to the Greek goddess, but instead refers to a genus of fish which includes a species located by the Spanish coast called the Breca fish. The name of the fish actually stems from Breca's story in Beowulf due to the fish's ability to endure long and brutal journeys.

Character Strengths and Weaknesses The most protruding strength that Breca exhibits in the Beowulf legend is that of his physical stature. The author of Beowulf made sure to emphasis how difficult and dangerous the route for the swimming contest was. It is obvious that Breca is a character with incredible physical and mental strength to endure such a feat. The purpose of Breca's Godlike powers in the story is used by Unferth (a retainer of Lord Hrothgar) as a means to detest Beowulf and his own strength by mentioning his defeat by Breca. However, this mention of his strength also alludes to Breca's weakness. Despite being described as one of Beowulf's most beloved friends, he is also described as boasting heavily about his victory and returns to his homeland shortly afterwards, seemingly leaving Beowulf to die on his own. He is purposefully a stark contrast to Beowulf's more humble nature. This is consistent with the meaning of Breca's name. Both of these cases show us that Breca's weakness lies in his bitterness, arrogance, and selflessness which we can conjecture led to the downfall of his kingdom.

The Nature of the Contest The contest itself holds surprising significance to the Beowulf story. Unferth's mention of the contest is the first time it is seen in the poem where one tries actively to discredit Beowulf's strength. It is out of pure bitterness and envy that Unferth tries to detest Beowulf's claims. In the so-called "story within the story" Breca exhibits similar traits to Unferth, boasting in the disappearance of Beowulf and not giving a second thought to the safety of his friend. What is important about this is Beowulf's response to both Unferth and Breca. He still refers to Breca as a dear childhood friend despite his complete mistreatment of Beowulf in the swimming contest. His response to Unferth's detest is not one of bitterness or even anger, but rather, a calm explanation of his side of the story and the many more sea monsters he had to slay as opposed to Breca. This further exhibits Breca's mistreatment of his friend, how willing he was to let Beowulf die in the hands of horrible sea creatures for the sake of winning a contest. Again we see Breca's purpose here, serving as a visible contrast to Beowulf's admirable attitude. An antagonist such as Breca is key in developing a reader's love for Beowulf. His humbleness and willingness to not hold a grudge makes him charming and encourages readers to detest a character with a personality like Breca's. The poem would not have been near as popular if Beowulf's heroic qualities were not so emphasized.

Breca in Pop Culture Despite his story only having a single line in Widsith and eighty lines in Beowulf we still see some references made to Breca in modern times. Breca is depicted as a main character in the 2016 TV Show Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands. In this series, Breca and Beowulf's friendship starts when Breca is saved from a threatening lynch mob by Beowulf when he encounters the feud.

Breca also happens to be the name of a popular wine founded in Aragon, Spain. The wine's name and the fish scales printed on the bottle allude to the Spanish fish named after the Bronding lord. Breca is also the title of a popular swim run with contests featured in New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Sources


 * 1) Collins, Williams. "Origin of Acerbic." 2012, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/acerbic. Accessed 5 Feb. 2021.
 * 2) Heaney, Seamus. "Beowulf Translation by Seamus Heaney." 1999. https://www.sthelens.k12.or.us/cms/lib05/OR01000906/Centricity/Domain/218/beowulf-translation-by-seamus-heaney.pdf. Accessed 5 Feb. 2021.
 * 3) MIT. "Bilingual Beowulf." October 18, 2003. https://www.mit.edu/~jrising/webres/beowulf.pdf. Accessed 4 Feb. 2021.
 * 4) Red bull. "Breca Wanaka 2017-what on earth is a swim run?" YouTube, uploded by Breca Swim Run, 11 Aug. 2017, https://www.mit.edu/~jrising/webres/beowulf.pdf
 * 5) Faldix, Sharmila. "Who is Breca in Beowulf?" 22 Jun. 2020, https://findanyanswer.com/who-is-breca-in-beowulf. Accessed 6 Feb. 2021.
 * 6) Morris, Anthony. "The Original Action Hero is Back in 'Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands.' " 1 Feb. 2021, https://www.sbs.com.au/guide/article/2021/02/01/original-action-hero-back-beowulf-return-shieldlands. Accessed 4 Feb. 2021.
 * 7) Hostetter, Dr. Aaron. "Old English Poetry Project, Widsith." 5 Dec. 2020, https://oldenglishpoetry.camden.rutgers.edu/widsith/. Accessed 6 Feb. 2021.