Memory's Domain

Drakkenshel by J. Hazlett

Drakkenshel:  From the Time Before Heorot Was Rescued From the Evil Pillager,
Grendel, by the Strongest of Geats
Listen!
He was called Drakkenshel, son of Sudecgthen,
grandson of Drakkenzahen.  Their feats are well spoken;
Drakkenzahen, a fierce and bold warrior, fought skirmishing Geats
with courage; he was a brave soldier!  Sudecgthen, the Traveller,
went south to the lands which are warm, as if always
a fire were near; he prospered well in those lands, bearing great 
treasures home to the Scyldings.  Drakkenshel was born to the Traveller
soon after his return.  Drakkenshel, as a boy, moved with
agility and swiftness; many saw a fine hunter and a fine warrior in him.
			The son of Sudecgthen grew to be such.
When the beasts of the hunt grew thin to other hunters,
Drakkenshel and his companion Ecgthmar always brought
a mighty stag or bear to the tables of Heorot.
			Now it came that a terrible and vile creature
came down from the moors.  It burst into the great hall Heorot
and severed the life of all the sleeping warriors within.  Before the break
of dawn, this plunderer had left with a feast of strong and able men.
Night after night, he came to the feasting-hall, and night after night,
more men were devoured by the wicked ravager called
Grendel.  After each horrid banquet, he fled to the mist-encrusted moors
where fear grasps warrior's hearts.
			Drakkenshel, bold tracker, and Ecgthmar
sought a great bear for several days.  The bear, knowing of the pursuers,
fled towards the devil-lands so the fine hunters would be distraught by the
nature of the domain.  Drakkenshel and his companion fearlessly followed.
The She-Beast, worn from the chase, settled near a tall and lofty elm;
she received no rest.  The evil enemy Grendel pounced upon her,
wringing her neck until she waned.  Drakkenshel watched from afar.
			What a horrifying sight did he see!  Grendel
was as tall as the standing she-bear.  The demon
appeared as a man, in stature and form, but no man God created had the
features Grendel suffered.  His entire body was clothed in fur,
black as the new moon, and matted with the stains of blood of his victims.
His tail was as a rat's, hairless, and writhing like a viper.
His feet, hands, and face were hairless likewise, and Grendel's flesh
was gray, like a cadaver's; it, too, showed crimson from previous kills.
A smell of decay and death wafted the distance to
Drakkenshel.
			Grendel began to feed on the she-bear.
The brute ate quickly.  He did not rip at flesh, he did not gnaw on bone.
In one limber act, he spread his jaws, splitting them like a serpent;
the beast was engulfed by Grendel's maw in three heartbeats.
Ecgthmar gasped.  Grendel faced the two witnesses; Drakkenshel
beheld the fiend's countenance fully.  It was the face of no mortal man;
the gray flesh glowed.  The nose was pushed in, like a seal's,
the jaws manlike, but huge when viewed with the rest of the face.
The eyes shone red, with the fires of Hell, where he was destined
to go.  Those eyes pierced Drakkenshel's mind.
			Ecgthmar drew his bowstring, a fine
falcon-rod placed to fly.  The bow snapped, the arrow striking
the savage.  It bounced; not a single drop of vital liquid flowed.
Grendel howled, a sound as loud as thunder and as painful
as a bee's fury.  He raced to the two hunters, and with one strike
Ecgthmar, master of archers, greatest of bowmen, lost his
life.
			Drakkenshel drew his battle-steel
Zephyr, a light sword fitting the swiftest of Scyldings.  He struck
the ogre as it devoured Ecgthmar, but the blade failed to draw
blood as well.  Grendel flailed; his blow should have rended
the Ring-Dane, but Drakkenshel's corselet, made not from
mail or leather from a normal beast, but from the hide of a
dragon slain by Sudecgthen in the south-lands, saved the warrior.
			Grendel lunged again at the son of
Sudecgthen.  Quick in battle, Drakkenshel eluded each of his ferocious
attacks.  Zephyr, forged to slice, made no gash in the furred hide;
a spell prevented such attacks.  Drakkenshel knew that he could
not smite the fiend; no blade nor arrow could enter that enchanted
pelt.
			The quickest of Danes withdrew.  Grendel
now found his prey's strength was not in power or might, but in
agility and swiftness; Grendel had met a match for speed!  The
monster followed, and another man would have been in its clutches
in a moment, but not Drakkenshel, nimblest of men.
He left Grendel far behind.
			Upon the hunter's return to Heorot,
he spread the word to all:
			"The evil fiend, Grendel, has slain
Ecgthmar, brave in battle, a fine bowman.  I have fought him;
his hide took my blows like a flawless corselet.  No man in this
kingdom bears the strength to slay him; so, fellow warriors,
let word of our plight reach to far lands!  Strongmen from afar
shall have their hand at this plunderer.  One will succeed; he will
free the Ring-Danes from this monstrosity!  Let him come!"
			And the word spread far and wide, that
a monster thinned the ranks of the Scyldings.  In the lands of the
Geats, one man heard, and set out to take the powerful Grendel.
His name was Beowulf...
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