CHAPTER VIII.
THE STORY OF BEOWULF Once upon a time there was a great--" "Father," interrupted Milly, "I shall soon be getting tired of 'Once upon a time there was a great king.'" "Don't cry till you're hurt, Milly; which means, wait till I get to the end of my sentence.

Well, once upon a time there was a great--hero." "What is a hero ?" asked Olly.
"I know," said Milly, eagerly, "it's a brave man that's always fighting and killing giants and dragons and cruel people." "That'll do to begin with," said Mr.Norton, "though, when you grow older, you will find that people can be heroes without fighting or killing.

However, the man I am going to tell you about was just the kind of hero you're thinking of, Milly.

He loved fighting with giants and dragons and wild people, and my story is going to be about two of his fights--the greatest he ever fought.

The name of this hero was Beowulf, and he lived in a country called Sweden (Milly knows all about Sweden, Olly, and you must get her to show it you on the map), with a number of other brave men who were his friends, and helped him in his battles.