“And song after song the stop would recount
From his storehouse of stories, singing with wisdom,
Glorying in good words, the great, ancient tales.
One after another he eagerly sang them,
Weaving in wisdom, old words with new ones”
Hell’s Welcome
“Facing his death-fate, his fen then received him,
Lurking and luckless, from life he relinquished
His hard-hearted soul. Hell came then and took him”
Bloody Trail Home
“Doomed and despairing, he dragged bloody footprints.
The blood boiled in the water, bucking and seething,
Swirls of hot wound-slurry, surging in turmoil,
Oozing out envy and utter disaster”
A Gable Trophy
“The proof of proud victory, presented in gladness,
When the hard warrior’s hand held the grim trophy,
The talon he tore off, with the torn arm and shoulder,
And Grendel’s long grip to the gable was nailed”
Impervious
“They had not known, nearing their enemy,
These hardy friends, heroes, these high-hearted warriors,
Swinging their swords from several sides,
That the keenest blade could not kill the creature”
Heard Down in Hell
“That hellish howl was heard by everyone,
The cry of that captive, his clamor and pain
Was heard down in Hell. Beowulf held him,
Stalwart, stubborn, the strongest of men
Who ever earned honor under the sun”
Sin Shepherd
“Then that sin-shepherd soon saw far more trouble
Than he ever encountered in all middle earth.”
And Blood on the Floor
“His first prey, and fiercely he fisted the carcass,
Bit him down to the bone, his blood he drank greedily,
He grabbed him in gobs, and gobbled him down.
In one moment the monster had mashed and devoured him,
Both feet and both hands, and blood on the floor.”
Rejected and Ravenous
“Greedy and gluttonous, Grendel was ravenous,
And wanted his way, but wyrd put a stop to it.”
Grendel Approaches
“The bright-patterned pavers he polluted by walking,
He stood, then he strode, anger streamed from his eyes,
Flamed, then flashed, like fire it was.”