Hrothgar was successful in war, and had a great mead-hall built named Heorot (Heort), where he held court, doling out rings, neck chains, and other bounty. The celebrations and carousing in the new hall provoked envy in Grendel, a grim demon descended from Cain and condemned to be an outcast, living mysteriously in the nearby fen and heath. On his first attack, he hauled off 30 men to his lair, and gruesomely killed more the next night. The men took to sleeping in huts away from the hall, and for 12 years their king lived in humiliation as Grendel took over the hall and continued his ambushes. The plight of the kingdom became known far and wide.
No comments:
Post a Comment