thgar addressed Beowulf half joyfully, half sadly,
saying:

"Never before have I since I held spear and shield
Given o'er to any man this mighty Danish hall,
Save now to thee alone. Keep thou and well defend
This best of banquet-halls. Show forth thy hero-strength,
Call up thy bravery, watch for the enemy!
Thou shalt not lack gifts of worth if thou alive remain
Winner in this dire strife."

Thus Hrothgar departed, to seek slumber in a less dangerous abode,
where, greatly troubled in mind, he awaited the dawn with almost
hopeless expectation, and Beowulf and his men prepared themselves for
the perils of the night.

Beowulf and Grendel

The fourteen champions of the Geats now made ready for sleep; but
while the others lay down in their armour, with weapons by their
sides, Beowulf took off his mail, unbelted his sword, unhelmed
himself, and gave his sword to a thane to bear away. For, as he said
to his men, "I will strive against this fiend weaponless. With no
armour, since he wears none, will I wrestle with him, and try to
overcome him. I will conquer, if I win, by my hand-grip alone; and the
All-Father shall judge between us, and grant the victory to whom He
will."

The Geats then lay down--brave men who slept calmly, though they knew
they were risking their lives, for none of them expected to see the
light of day again, or to revisit their native land: they had heard,
too, much during the feast of the slaughter which Grendel had wrought.
So night came, the voices of men grew silent, and the darkness
shrouded all alike--calm sleepers, anxious watchers, and the deadly,
creeping foe.

When everything was still Grendel came. From the fen-fastnesses, by
marshy tracts, through mists and swamp-born fogs, the hideous monster
made his way to the house he hated so bitterly. Grendel strode fiercely
to the door of Heorot, and would fain have opened it as usual, but it
was locked and bolted. Then the fiend's wrath was roused; he grasped
the door with his mighty hands and burst it in. As he entered he seemed
to fill the hall with his monstrous shadow, and from his eyes shone a
green and uncanny light, which showed him a troop of warriors lying
asleep in their war-gear; it seemed that all slept, and the fiend did
not notice that one man half rose, leaning on his elbow and peering
keenly into the gloom. Grendel hastily put forth his terrible scaly
hand and seized one hapless sle