The Old English epic ‘Beowulf’ tells how Scyld, beloved King of the Danes, was committed to the ocean at his death — just as he had been at his birth.

Among the oldest surviving fragments of Norse poetry are some lines of rugged common sense which any age would do well to heed.

After driving the man-eating ogre Grendel from Hrothgar’s hall, Beowulf must now deal with Grendel’s anguished and vengeful mother.

The terrible monster Grendel, secure in the knowledge that no blade can bite him, bursts into Hrothgar’s hall expecting another meal of man-flesh.

The oldest surviving heroic legend in English begins with a wild creature of the fens that hunts men for prey.