[{9a}] Murder.
[{10a}] Beowulf, -- the “one.”
[{11a}] That is, he was a “lost soul,” doomed to hell.
[{12a}] Kenning for Beowulf.
[{13a}] “Guarded the treasure.”
[{13b}] Sc. Heremod.
[{13c}] The singer has sung his lays, and the epic resumes its story. The time-relations are not altogether good in this long passage which describes the rejoicings of “the day after”; but the present shift from the riders on the road to the folk at the hall is not very violent, and is of a piece with the general style.
[{14a}] Unferth, Beowulf’s sometime opponent in the flyting.
[{15a}] There is no horrible inconsistency here such as the critics strive and cry about. In spite of the ruin that Grendel and Beowulf had made within the hall, the framework and roof held firm, and swift repairs made the interior habitable. Tapestries were hung on the walls, and willing hands prepared the banquet.
[{15b}] From its formal use in other places, this phrase, to take cup in hall, or “on the floor,” would seem to mean that Beowulf stood up to receive his gifts, drink to the donor, and say thanks.