Beowulf and Grettis saga

Investigates the relationship between two texts separated by hundreds of years and nearly two thousand miles. In the saga, Grettir fights a giant who wields a hepti-sax ; in the poem, Beowulf uses a hæft-mēce on Grendel's mother. These two unique words for "hafted blade" appear to be related. Can the same be said for the works that surround them? This book says yes, arguing not that these weapons have a common origin, nor that the likeness is a coincidence, but that Grettis saga has borrowed fro