_Beowulf_ (Conybeare's tr.).

The most ancient relic of literature of the spoken languages of modern
Europe is undoubtedly the epic poem "Beowulf," which is supposed to have
been composed by the Anglo-Saxons previous to their invasion of England.
Although the poem probably belongs to the fifth century, the only existing
manuscript is said to date from the ninth or tenth century.

This curious work, in rude alliterative verse (for rhyme was introduced in
England only after the Norman Conquest), is the most valuable old English
manuscript in the British Museum. Although much damaged by fire, it has
been carefully studied by learned men. They have patiently restored the
poem, the story of which is as follows:

[Sidenote: Origin of the Skioldungs.] Hrothgar (the modern Roger), King of
Denmark, was a descendant of Odin, being the third monarch of the
celebrated dynasty of the Skioldungs. They proudly traced their ancestry to
Skeaf, or Skiold, Odin's son, who mysteriously drifted to their shores. He
was then but an infant, and lay in the middle of a boat, on a sheaf of ripe
wheat, surrounded by priceless weapons and jewels. As the people were
seeking for a ruler, they immediately recognized the hand of Odin in this
mysterious advent, proclaimed the child king, and obeyed him loyally as
long as he lived. When he felt death draw near, Skeaf, or Skiold, ordered a
vessel to be prepared, lay down in the midst on a sheaf of grain or on a
funeral pyre, and drifted out into the wide ocean, disappearing as
mysteriously as he had come.

[Sidenote: Construction of Heorot.] Such being his lineage, it is no wonder
that Hrothgar became a mighty chief; and as he had amassed much wealth in
the course of a long life of warfare, he resolved to devote part of it to