Lines 395-403 ~ You are free now to move forward to meet Hrothgar…the rest proceeded, led by their prince under Heorot’s roof.
Beowulf and his men go to meet Hrothgar and to make Beowulf’s proposition (to kill Grendel), but they must leave their shields and weapons, behind before entering Heorot. They oblige the request but leave a few of their men to watch the things. There is an underlying equal amount of distrust between the Danes and the Geats. The Danes want to hear what the Geats have to say but they don’t want to risk the possibility of an ambush. The Geats don’t want their things taken by the Danes.
Good - this is custom. File this under culture aspects of Beowulf. You must earn trust - also there are many ambushes in this story to suggest why this was necessary.
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