[3] The name also appears as a genitive weak noun, in the half-line "þæt is Hrǣdlan lāf" ('that is Hrǣdla's bequest').
[6] Fostering was a common Germanic practice and does not indicate Beowulf's father, Ecgþeow did not want to raise him; indeed, the practice was intended to further improve relations between families and family members, and create close ties of obligation, affection and shared responsibility.
Iċ wæs syfanwintre þā meċ sinca baldọr, frēawine folca æt mīnum fæder ġenam; hēold meċ ond hæfde Hrēðel cyning, ġēaf me sinċ ond symbẹl, sibbe ġemunde; næs iċ him tō līfe lāðra ōwihte, beorn in beorgum, þonne his bearna hwylċ, Herebeald ond Hæðcyn oððe Hyġelāc mīn.
[7] I was seven winters old when the lord of treasures, friend of the people, received me from my father; King Hrethel nurtured me and kept me, gave me treasure and feasting, he remembered our kinship; I was in no respect more hateful to him in his life, a child in the cities, than any of his children, Herebeald and Hæthcyn, or my lord Hygelac.
Hreðel dies of grief when his oldest son Herebeald is killed by his own brother Hæþcyn in a hunting accident, a death that could not be avenged.