Read lines 395 - 398 of Beowulf:Now you may enter, in your battle-armor, / wearing war-masks, to see Hrothgar; let shields stay here, tightened war-wood, / your battle-shafts wait the result of words. To what does the kenning battle-shafts refer?

The correct answer is swords.

The Anglo-Saxons frequently used kennings in their work. A kenning is a mini riddle, usually hyphenated, that was used to describe something. For example, the kenning "she-wolf" was used to describe Grendel's mother, as it highlights her ferocity.

Here, the kenning "battle-shaft" is used to describe their swords, which must wait to be used until the deliberations have finished. This is an appropriate kenning for a sword because swords (a) are used in battle and (b) are long and narrow.