A Book of Myths, by Jean Lang - Umnet

took place those things that are told in the story of Beowulf.
A mighty king and warrior was Hrothgar, and far across the northern
seas his fame spread wide, so that all the warriors of the land that he
ruled were proud to serve under him in peace, and in war to die for him.
During his long life he and his men never went forth in their
black-prowed ships without returning with the joyous shouts of the
victor, with for cargo the rich spoil they had won from their enemies.
As he grew old, Hrothgar determined to raise for himself a mighty
monument to the magnificence of his reign, and so there was builded
for him a vast hall with majestic towers and lofty pinnacles--the finest
banqueting-hall that his skilled artificers could dream of. And when at
length the hall was completed, Hrothgar gave a feast to all his thanes,
and for days and for nights on end the great rafters of Heorot--as his
palace was named--echoed the shouts and laughter of the mighty
warriors, and the music of the minstrels and the songs that they sang. A
proud man was Hrothgar on the night that the banquet was ended
amidst the acclamations of his people, and a proud and happy man he
lay down to rest, while his bodyguard of mighty warriors stretched
themselves on the rush-strewn floor of the great room where they had
feasted, and deeply slumbered there.
Now, in the dark fens of that land there dwelt a monster--fierce,
noisome, and cruel, a thing that loved evil and hated all that was joyous
and good. To its ears came the ring of the laughter and the shouts of
King Hrothgar's revellers, and the sweet song of the gleemen and the
melody of harps filled it with fierce hatred. From its wallow in the
marshes, where the pestilent grey fog hung round its dwelling, the
monster, known to all men as the Grendel, came forth, to kill and to
devour. Through the dark night, across the lonely moorland, it made its
way, and the birds of the moor flew screaming in terror before it, and
the wild creatures of the desolate country over which it padded clapped
down in their coverts and trembled as it passed. It came at length to the
great hall where
"A fair troop of warrior thanes guarding it found he; Heedlessly
sleeping, they recked not of sorrow."