When it comes to treasure, Beowulf is less laconic. His main points in telling about his treasure have to do with political relationships, though.
He wants to make two points very clear: he thinks Hrothgar did the noble thing and really treated him right, BUT he never intended to stay in Denmark, but always kept his loyalty to home. His clear statement (2149-51) that, “Still all my joys are fixed on you alone; I have few close kinsmen, my Hygelac, except for you,” seems to serve the same purpose as Wealhtheow’s speech stating that of course Hrothgar’s throne would go to his own nephew or sons.
Perhaps Hrothgar really did try to adopt Beowulf and was genuinely sad and sorry that he could not. Beowulf may have been tempted to accept, since his own people were much less powerful, but here he wants it understood that he never considered it at all. Beowulf, as a man rather than a hero, is very bonded to the family that raised him, the family of King Hrethel.
Only the first round of Danish treasures are brought out, the ones that Beowulf received after killing Grendel. Almost all of these become gifts for Hygelac’s family. Of the eight horses (1035), four go to Hygelac, and three to Hygd, leaving one for Beowulf. The war-gear of Heorogar, Healf-dene’s son (1020, 2158) goes to Hygelac, too. The shining necklace from Wealhtheow goes to Hygd. Beowulf seems to keep only the one horse and the twelve treasures he received on departure.
Why does Beowulf give the best treasures to Hygelac? They are “kings’ treasures,” and Hygelac is the King. If Beowulf kept them, it would look like disloyalty, maybe like an attempt to challenge his uncle’s power. Moreover, Beowulf is Hygelac’s “thane,” a sworn retainer. The economic relationship of the thane and his king was that any booty won in a war belonged to the king; from that hoard, the king gave out rewards. Although Beowulf has not been in any ordinary battle, he considers himself just as much Hygelac’s thane in his fight against Grendel as in any other fight. He won treasures, and they must go to his King. He gives them with no strings attached, confident that an exchange will be made.
Hygelac, in his turn, gives Beowulf another treasure-sword and a huge area of their territory to rule over. The text tells us that it was 7000 “hides.” A hide was an ancient measurement in Anglo-Saxon England that was roughly equal to the land it took for a large family to live, including their dependents. This may have been roughly 120 acres, but the size of an acre varied from place to place. The acre’s ancient rule of thumb was that it was about as much land could be plowed by a yoke of oxen in a day; a modern acre is 4840 square yards, about 200 feet by 200 feet. A modern square mile contains 640 acres. Assuming modern measurements (probably inaccurate), Beowulf’s new territory amounted to approximately 1300 square miles (probably a bit more since less fertile lands tended to count larger acres). This area is approximately the size of Rhode Island or Yosemite National Park; it is similar to a large US or English county.
In modern Sweden, the southern land of the historical Geats is divided into provinces. The two southernmost provinces, Skåne and Blekinge, are about 4,258 and 967 square miles, so Beowulf’s lands were probably somewhere between these two sizes. In a time when all travel was by water or foot, these were fairly large princedoms.
If Beowulf were subject to the expectations of the Anglo-Saxon Midlands region, he would be required to raise an army of 1400 foot soldiers from the population he now ruled. This gift made him a lord with significant strength in war. In later medieval periods, we see a pattern in which young knights proved themselves and only then were given houses and land, becoming landed lords. At this stage, they married a girl with a large dowry, which increased their power still more. We can speculate that all this would be in Beowulf’s near future.
But we won’t hear anything more about his near future. Instead, the poem will jump to the end of his life.