is flesh, leaving naught but the head, hands, and feet
of his unhappy victim. This ghastly repast only whetted the fiend's
ravenous appetite, however, so he eagerly stretched out his hands in the
darkness to seize and devour another warrior. Imagine his surprise and
dismay when he suddenly found his hand caught in so powerful a grasp that
all his efforts could not wrench it free!

Grendel and Beowulf struggled in the darkness, overturning tables and
couches, shaking the great hall to its very foundations, and causing the
walls to creak and groan under the violence of their furious blows. But in
spite of Grendel's gigantic stature, Beowulf clung so fast to the hand and
arm he had grasped that Grendel, making a desperate effort to free himself
by a jerk, tore the whole limb out of its socket! Bleeding and mortally
wounded, he then beat a hasty retreat to his marshy den, leaving a long,
bloody trail behind him.

"Soon the dark wanderer's ample shoulder bore
A gaping wound, each starting sinew crack'd,
And from its socket loosed the strong-knit joint.--
The victory was with Beowulf, and the foe,
Howling and sick at heart, fled as he might,
To seek beneath the mountain shroud of mist
His joyless home; for well he knew the day
Of death was on him, and his doom was seal'd."
_Beowulf_ (Conybeare's tr.).

As for Beowulf, exhausted but triumphant, he stood in the middle of the
hall, where his companions crowded around him, gazing in speechless awe at
the mighty hand and limb, and the clawlike fingers, far harder than steel,
which no power had hitherto been able to resist.

At dawn Hrothgar and his subjects also appeared. They heard with wonder a
graphic account of the night's adventures, and gazed their fill upon the
monster's limb, which hung like a trophy from the ceiling of Heorot. After
the king had warmly congratulated Beowulf, and bestowed upon him many rich
gifts, he gave orders to cleanse the hall, to hang it with tapestry, and to
prepare a banquet in honor of the conquering hero.

[Sidenote: Beowulf honored by the queen.] 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. She
pledged Beowulf in a cup of wine, which he gallantly drained after she had
touched it to her lips. Then she bestowed upon him a costly necklace (the
famous Brisin