The opening eighty-five lines of Beowulf continually foreground how ring-giving informs the construction of heroic society. For instance, Hrothgar, King of the Danes, builds his hall Heorot because of the military success (‘heresped’, line 64b) and glory in war (‘wiges weorðmynd’, line 65a) he receives from the loyal service of his kinsmen, a loyalty that Hrothgar earns and rewards by dispensing his treasure to young and old (line 72): ‘beagas dælde / sinc æt symle (lines 80b–1a; he distributed rings / treasure at the banquet).1 By giving out rings, Hrothgar cements the male bonds of his comitatus, but as the poem's prologue clarifies, in doing so, Hrothgar's actions directly replicate the behavior of his male ancestors Scyld, Beow, and Healfdene, all of whom solidified their kingships through attaining victory in war, having loyal retainers, and fathering sons. Scyld Scefing is a breaker of mead benches (‘monegum mægþum meodosetla ofteah’, line 5) and a dispenser of rings (‘beaga bryttan’, line 35a) who fathers Beow, himself a king using gift-giving to secure loyal thanes:

And in his turn, Beow does become a long-ruling, much beloved, and famous king who fathers Healfdene (lines 53–7), another king fierce in battle (‘guðreouw’, line 58a) and prodigious in his progeny, fathering four children, one of whom is Hrothgar (lines 59–63). The Beowulf-poet's placement of Beow in this catalogue between Scyld and Healfdene as a bestower of treasure subtly underscores the centrality of ring-giving as a bond uniting not only a king and his thanes but also a father and his son(s); comitatus-building in this family tree is itself an heirloom that fathers pass to their sons, at once an object and a mode of behavior that continually seeks to maintain and build upon the masculine bond that is heroic society.