he most stout-hearted soldiers among the Danes offered to wait at night in the hall. Hrothgar tells what happened:

'It is a grief to my heart to tell it now. My hall-companions, see how few of them are left. The bravest boasted after cups of beer that they would wait here in the hall to face the foe. Their swords were ready for the enemy, they cried.

When morning came Heorot's floor,which is made in patterns of different coloured wood, had one colour only, the red of blood. It was soaked in blood, slippery and wet. Not one man survived. Grendel had them all.'