Description and Symbolism
The anonymous author of Beowulf praises Heorot as follows:
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- Then, as I have heard, the work of constructing a building
- Was proclaimed to many a tribe throughout this middle earth.
- In time – quickly, as such things happen among men –
- It was all ready, the biggest of halls.
- He whose word was law
- Far and wide gave it the name ‘Heorot’.
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- The men did not dally; they strode inland in a group
- Until they were able to discern the timbered hall,
- Splendid and ornamented with gold.
- The building in which that powerful man held court
- Was the foremost of halls under heaven;
- Its radiance shone over many lands.
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The hall was large enough to allow Hroðgar to present Beowulf with a gift of eight horses, each with gold-plate headgear. It functions both as a seat of government and as a residence for the king's thanes (warriors). Heorot symbolizes human civilization and culture, as well as the might of the Danish kings—essentially, all the good things in the world of Beowulf. Its brightness, warmth, and joy contrasts with the darkness of the swamp waters inhabited by Grendel.
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