the afternoon, and then they abandon the hero at the lake. Magic weapon The hero in the Bear's Son Tale may have a magic sword (motif D1081, usually found in Type 301A) or a walking-stick (Type 301B). The magic sword in Beowulf is supposedly represented by the sword of the "ancient giants' sword" (ealdsweord eotenisc) that Beowulf discovered in Grendel's mother's lair. Elements lacking in Beowulf Some significant elements of the folktale missing in Beowulf (listed by Chambers) are: the captive , one of whom he marries, the hero's rescue by a "miraculous helper", his return to the Upper World under an assumed identity, and his retribution against his treacherous companions. Princess The princess or three princesses to be rescued are lacking in Beowulf, but this absence has been rationalized by W. W. Lawrence, who theorized that romantic love elements are superfluous and out-of-place in historical epics and had to be truncated. Elements in Beowulf not in folktale Among elements considered vital to the epic are the loss of the ogre/demon's arm, and the trail of blood which leads the hero to the demon's lair (, cited by ). These are not paralleled in any obvious way in the Bear's Son Tale. Grendel's severed arm Regarding Beowulf wrenching Grendel's arm off, Robert A. Barakat stated that no counterpart was to be found in the Bear' Son Tale of "Juan del Oso" (Mexican version of Jean de l'Ours). This was because there was no mention of "actual physical damage [Juan] inflicted" on the devil during the barehanded wrestling phase. However, Juan did cut off one of the devil's ears afterwards with his weapon. For a folktale analogue to Grendel's severed arm, commentators have looked on Celtic (Irish) tale of "The Hand and Child" type. The parallel had been recognized already in the 19th century by several writers, but Carl Wilhelm von Sydow is generally credited with developing the analysis which took notice. Trail of blood Beowulf determines Grendel's lair by following a trail of blood. Although this is not specifically mirrored in the Bear's Son Tale, the hero is able to track the adversary to a hole in the ground (or a well), and a trail of blood has been speculated. Chambers found that an Icelandic Bear's Son Tale, "Bjarndrengur" ("Bear-boy") parallels this exactly, and Bear-boy and his companions follow the blood-trail of the giant who had been grabbed by the