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WHEN Hrothgar, ruler of the Spear-Danes, decided to celebrate his victories by building a new healreced, simultaneously a royal residence and banqueting hall, it was not only the healaerna maest, "greatest of halls"; it soon became the foretmerost . . . receda under roderum, "the most famous building under the heavens."1 With its high gables (heah ond horngeap [82]), the long-hall towered over the landscape (sele hlifade [81], reced hliuade [1799]) and could be seen far and wide (ofer landafela [311]). It was named Heorot ("hart"), the stag being a familiar royal emblem.
The Anglo-Saxon poet's vision of Hrothgar's headquarters was based on familiarity with the traditional Germanic royal halls. These were invariably built of massive timbers, a structural feature that is underscored by the frequent references in historical and literary sources to their destruction by fire. In the course of the twentieth century, the written testimony was strikingly substantiated by archeological excavations in both Scandinavia and England.
Whereas Beowulf himself was Geatish and came from what is now southern Sweden, the king he set forth to rescue was the ruler of the Scyldings, a Danish people living on the island of Zealand. The stronghold of the Scylding dynasty was located at a place called Lejre, near modern Roskilde, at the very southern end of the Roskilde Fjord, and the settlement was inhabited uninterruptedly from the latter part of the seventh century to the conclusion of the tenth. The largest structure in the compound, of which only the foundations have survived, was a rectangular building 45.5 meters in length; its width ranged from 8 meters at the gable ends to 11.5 at the center. Evidence of occupation showed that this was where the Scylding kings feasted their thanes and entertained visitors. About 50 meters away was a second long-hall, 36 by 7 meters; it was used for storage and stabling purposes. There were several smaller buildings varying from 15 by 6.5 to 8 by 8 meters in size; one had been a smithy, and another held an oven.2 In addition to the ample evidence of daily living, the site revealed numerous personal ornaments, including some of high artistic quality; the absence of treasure was not surprising, since Lejre was not a burial complex.
In England,...