The battle-famed king, bulwark of his earls,
ordered a gold-chased heirloom of Hrethel’s
to be brought in; it was the best example
of a gem-studded sword in the Geat treasury.
This he laid on Beowulf’s lap
and then rewarded him with land as well,
seven thousand hides, and a hall and a throne.
Both owned land by birth in that country,
ancestral grounds; but the greater right
and sway were inherited by the higher born.
– Beowulf, Seamus Heaney (trans.)
Lines 2190-2199: Now that Beowulf has vanquished his foes, his king Hygelac gives him his own land to rule over along with a throne and a mead-hall.