" One of Scyld's descendants was Hrothgar, king of the Danes; and with him the story of our Beowulf begins.

Hrothgar in his old age had built near the sea a mead hall called Heorot, the most splendid hall in the whole world, where the king and his thanes gathered nightly to feast and to listen to the songs of his gleemen.

There is an excellent bit of ocean poetry here (ll. 210-224), and we get a vivid idea of the hospitality of a brave people by following the poet's description of Beowulf's meeting with King Hrothgar and Queen Wealhtheow, and of the joy and feasting and story-telling in Heorot.

Here is Hrothgar's description of the place where live the monsters, "spirits of elsewhere," as he calls them: They inhabit The dim land that gives shelter to the wolf, The windy headlands, perilous fen paths, Where, under mountain mist, the stream flows down And floods the ground.

The fight lasts five days, but the fragment ends before we learn the outcome: The same fight is celebrated by Hrothgar's gleeman at the feast in Heorot, after the slaying of Grendel.

The glee-wood rang, a song uprose When Hrothgar's scop gave the hall good cheer.

We read in Beowulf that in Hrothgar's famous hall "...ð=aer was hearpan sw=eg, swutol sang scopes.

Hrothgar's hall, near which the hero performed two of his great exploits, was probably on the island of Seeland.

Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, built a hall, named Heorot, where his followers could drink mead, listen to the scop, enjoy the music of the harp, and find solace in social intercourse during the dreary winter evenings.

For twelve winters he visited Heorot and killed some of the guests whenever he heard the sound of festivity in the hall, until at length the young hero Beowulf, who lived a day's sail from Hrothgar, determined to rescue Heorot from this curse.

The youth selected fourteen warriors and on a "foamy-necked floater, most like to a bird," he sailed to Hrothgar.

In honor of the victory, Hrothgar gave to Beowulf many presents and a banquet in Heorot.

The hero cut off the head of the monster and hastened away to Hrothgar's court.

As the first sight of land is important to the sailor, the poet used four different terms for the shore that met Beowulf's eyes on his voyage to Hrothgar: land, brimclifu, beorgas, saen=aessas (land, sea-cliffs, mountains, promontories).

It received its name from Beowulf, who delivered Hrothgar king of Denmark from the monster Grrendel.

Hrothgar, the king, beholding these, declared that they had been made by Grendel, a descendant of the giants, whom a magician had driven out of the country, but who had evidently returned to renew his former depredations.

Hrothgar received Beowulf most hospitably, but vainly tried to dissuade him from his perilous undertaking.

At dawn Hrothgar and his subjects also appeared.

While the men were feasting, listening to the lays of the scalds, and carrying the usual toasts, Wealtheow, Hrothgar's beautiful wife, the Queen of Denmark, appeared.

The blood pouring out of the cave mingled with the waters without, and turned them to such a lurid hue that Hrothgar and his men sorrowfully departed, leaving the Geates alone to watch for the return of the hero, whom they feared they would never see again.

Hrothgar king of, 9; Beowulf sails for, 12; Wealtheow queen of, 15; Ludegast king of, 56; Charlemagne defeats king of, 135; Ogier king of, 136; Krake queen of, 274.

Hrothgar builds, 10; Beowulf's experiences in, 13; Grendel's limb a trophy in, 15; Beowulf's triumphant return to, 18. HE'RAND.

Hrothgar a descendant of, 9; Skeaf sent by, 10; Loki comes north with, 246; Sigurd Ring dedicates himself to, 266; ancestor of Danish kings, 269. OF'TER-DING-EN, VON.

See Hrothgar.

Wife of Hrothgar, 15. WE'BER.