The king reminds Beowulf of a favor he once did for Beowulf’s father. Hrothgar's speech to Beowulf (1700 ff.) A Dane, the son of Ecglaf, and a follower of Hrothgar.Unferth is presented as contrast to Beowulf, providing a glimpse of a poor warrior in contrast to Beowulf's good warrior.Unferth is boastful, just as Beowulf is, but unlike Beowulf Unferth lacks the moral courage to back up his boasts (and unlike Beowulf Unferth never does anything to stand against Grendel). Hrothgar is a relatively static character, a force of stability in the social realm. For his part, Beowulf is now free from any stain that Unferth's comments might have left on him. Beowulf departs after a sorrowful goodbye to Hrothgar, who has treated him like a son. It opens in Denmark, where King Hrothgar’s splendid mead hall, Heorot, has been ravaged for 12 years by nightly visits from an evil monster, Grendel, who carries off Hrothgar’s warriors and devours them.Unexpectedly, young Beowulf, a prince of the Geats of southern Sweden, arrives with a small band of retainers and offers to cleanse Heorot of its monster. Many years earlier, Hrothgar paid money to the Wulfings to resolve a blood feud they had with Ecgtheow, Beowulf's father.

Hrothgar, the aged ruler of the Danes who accepts Beowulf’s help in the first part of the story, aids Beowulf’s development into maturity. Grendel is a man-eating demon (never a good sign) that lives in the land of the Spear-Danes and attacks King Hrothgar's mead-hall, Heorot, every evening.The narrator of Beowulf claims that Grendel's motivation is hearing Hrothgar's bard sing songs about God's creation of the world, which rubs his demonic nature the wrong way.. Whatever the reason, every night Grendel slaughters more Danes … During the time Beowulf visits the Geats in order to defeat Grendel and his mother, Hrothgar is an honorable man, but not a warrior. Beowulf falls into two parts. King Hrothgar therefore represents a serious problem for medieval Scandinavian tribes of warriors: the dire threat posed to an entire tribe by a king who … Hygelac. Unlike King Hrothgar, Beowulf does not shy away from danger, and aggressively pursues the dragon.
Hrothgar is the king of the Spear-Danes when Beowulf arrives in their land, ready to fight the demon Grendel. Hrothgar was the name of the legendary king of Danes featuring in the Anglo-Saxon epics, Beowulf and Widsith and various Norse legends (See Hrothgar). Reminding Beowulf of his father’s oath helps Hrothgar save face as he accepts the young hero’s help. As a "ring-giver," it is... Onela.
Beowulf, “indifferent to death,” prepares himself for combat by donning his armor and girding himself with weapons (1442). Unferth loans him the great and seasoned sword Hrunting, which has never failed in any battle. He returns to Geatland, where he and his men are reunited with their king and queen, Hygelac and Hygd, to whom Beowulf recounts his adventures in Denmark.

Beowulf then hands over most of his treasure to Hygelac, who, in turn, rewards him.

Hrothgar answered, helm of the Scyldings: / “I remember this man as the merest of striplings.

Onela, son of Ongentheow, is the king of the Swedes, the rival tribe to the Geats. Hygelac, the king of the Geats, is Beowulf's lord and ring-giver. The Beowulf quotes below are all either spoken by Hrothgar or refer to Hrothgar. Beowulf speaks, asking Hrothgar to take care of the Geats and return his property to Hygelac if he, Beowulf, should be killed. He is a respected leader who cares deeply for his men. In Beowulf, Hrothgar and Beowulf appear to be trustworthy, except that Beowulf breaks the biggest promise he makes to his people, which is to not die for the sake of glory.