Although this hero had distinguished himself by numerous feats of
strength during his boyhood and early youth, it was as the
deliverer of Hrothgar, king of Denmark, from the monster Grendel
that he first gained wide renown. Grendel was half monster and
half man, and had his abode in the fen-fastnesses in the vicinity
of Hrothgar's residence. Night after night he would steal into the
king's great palace called Heorot and slay sometimes as many as
thirty at one time of the knights sleeping there.
Beowulf put himself at the head of a selected band of warriors,
went against the monster, and after a terrible fight slew it. The
following night Grendel's mother, a fiend scarcely less terrible
than her son, carried off one of Hrothgar's boldest thanes. Once
more Beowulf went to the help of the Danish king, followed the
she-monster to her lair at the bottom of a muddy lake in the midst
of the swamp, and with his good sword Hrunting and his own
muscular arms broke the sea-woman's neck.
Upon his return to his own country of the Geats, loaded with
honors bestowed upon him by Hrothgar, Beowulf served the king of
Geatland as the latter's most trusted counsellor and champion.
When, after many years, the king fell before an enemy, the Geats
unanimously chose Beowulf for their new king. His fame as a
warrior kept his country free from invasion, and his wisdom as a
statesman increased its prosperity and happiness.
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