“
Time and again, when the goblets passed
and seasoned fighters got flushed with beer
they would pledge themselves to protect Heorot and wait for Grendel with whetted swords.
But when dawn broke and day crept in
over each empty, blood-spattered bench,
the floor of the mead-hall where they had feasted
would be slick with slaughter. And so they died,
faithful retainers, and my following dwindled.
”
”