![]() Tolkien’s famous translations and lectures on the story of two fifth-century heroes in northern Europe. Tolkien considers this oath-breaking to be a major reason for Hengest's "exile" to England. They carry off Hildeburh and many of his treasures back to Denmark. ![]() In the end, Hengest is compelled by his thanes to break this oath to Finn and kills him. Finn must have felt both guilty and ashamed that his feuding thanes had killed Hnæf, who was his brother-in-law and guest.The Danes were occupying his royal hall, and he was unwilling to burn it to get them out.Finn had lost so many men that he could not force his way into the hall again.As Tolkien states, it hardly was a bargain: It remains unclear whether Finn was involved in the fight. Both Hnæf and Hildeburh's son with Finn have fallen, along with most of Finn's knights. The perspective lies with Hildeburh, the sister of Hnæf, and the wife of Finn. ![]() In Heorot, a bard tells Hrothgar and his guests of the glorious Danes. This is a text incorporated in Beowulf (lines 1063-1159). ![]() The battle lasts five days, and only then, the first Dane dies. A fight ensues between the sixty men and the assailers, described as eotenas. Sixty men of his comitatus become trapped inside a hall. Hnæf, a young king, notices his troops are being assailed. The Fragment tells the first part of the story. ![]()
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