XVII - Page 2

we did in his helpless days
of gift and grace to gain him honor!"
Then she turned to the seat where her sons wereplaced,
Hrethric and Hrothmund, with heroes' bairns,
young men together: the Geat, too, sat there,
Beowulf brave, the brothers between.

[1] That is, these two Danes, escaping home, had told the story
of the attack on Hnaef, the slaying of Hengest, and all the
Danish woes. Collecting a force, they return to Frisia and kill
Finn in his home. [2] Nephew to Hrothgar, with whom he
subsequently quarrels, and elder cousin to the two young sons of
Hrothgar and Wealhtheow, -- their natural guardian in the event
of the king's death. There is something finely feminine in this
speech of Wealhtheow's, apart from its somewhat irregular and
irrelevant sequence of topics. Both she and her lord probably
distrust Hrothulf; but she bids the king to be of good cheer,
and, turning to the suspect, heaps affectionate assurances on his
probity. "My own Hrothulf" will surely not forget these favors
and benefits of the past, but will repay them to the orphaned
boy.