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XX Hrothgar spoke, the Helm of the Sycldings: "Do not speak to me of pleasure! Sorrow is back for the Danish nation. Aschere is dead, Yrmenlaf's brother, my confidante and my chief counsel. In the skirmish he stood at my shoulder and watched my head when blows rained down. He was all that a man should be, deed-hard and noble. And yet in Heorot a monstrous death-spirit seized his life. I don't know where she took the carcass, glad of her feast. She paid back the death you dealt out yesterday, squeezing the life out of Grendel. But his head was forfeit for his long crimes against my people. And now this other has come, this ravager, wreaking revenge. She carries the feud too far, or so many a thane would say who weeps in his heart now for his ring-giver, for that stilled hand that once would grant all his desires. Bitter mind-grief! Wise men who live up-country sometimes tell me that they have seen two mighty figures, otherworldly border walkers, haunting the moors, treading together the tracks of exile. One was in the form of a woman, the other shaped like a wretched man, but more massive than any thane. Those land-dwellers named him Grendel long ago. No one knows who fathered him, or if more demons wandered out from those alien lands. They make their home in a secret region of wolf-ridden slopes and windy headlands, past treacherous fens, where a mountain stream pours its torrents from dark cliffs and vanishes underground. Not many miles from this hall, you'll find a mere overshadowed by frost-bitten trees whose roots gnarl on the slippery rock. And every night an uncanny marvel might be seen there: fire in the water. No living man knows its depth. The antlered deer, harrassed from the heath by hunting hounds, will seek the forest, but if he's baled up on the shore he'll rather die than leap in the water. It's a bad place. The wind stirs up vicious storms there, and then a black whirlpool heaves to the clouds, until the air darkens and skies weep. It's up to you. You don't know yet the treacherous land where you'll find this sin-stained creature. Seek if you dare. If you come back with this feud settled, I'll weigh you down with ancient treasures of twisted gold." -- Editor, Masthead: http://www.masthead.net.au Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com Home page: http://www.alisoncroggon.com