The Bleakness of Pagan Bravery

"Beowulf made answer, the son of Ecgtheow: 'Grieve not, O wise one! Better it is for every man that he should avenge his friend than he should much lament. To each one of us shall come in time the end of life in the world; let him who may earn glory ere his death. No better thing can brave knight leave behind when he lies dead. Arise, O lord of this realm! Swiftly let us go and look upon the footprint of Grendel's kin. This I vow to thee: in no refuge shall he ever hide, neither in the bosom of earth nor in mountain-forest, nor in the deeps of the sea, go where he will! For this day have patience in every woe, even as I know thou wilt" (J.R.R. Tolkien, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, 53).