The battle comes.

Night fell on Hrothgar's Hall and one
by one all the warriors fell asleep.
It was a still night, and as darkness
settled, silence settled too. Suddenly
with an ear-splitting screeching, like
a thousand fingernails scraping down
a thousand blackboards, the door was
wrenched off its hinges. A huge shape
rose up in the space where the door
had stood, blocking out the stars in
the sky behind. Grendel was amongst
us. Men staggered back from the foul
stink coming through the door. But
they didn't stagger fast enough. Those
hideous claws flashed in the moonlight
and instantly a man lay dead sliced in
two. Grendel pawed his lifeless body,
saliva drooling from his mouth. But
before he could cram his face with the
poor man's flesh, he found his arm
caught from behind. By me. He whirled
round to face me and as he flung his
other arm to strike me I caught that too
and he were locked in a horrendous sort
of a hug. Grendel kicked out at me, but
I clung on. His talons scraped and cut
deep into my armour, drawing sparks,
but I didn't loosen my grasp. I grappled
with him, trying to pin him to the floor.