Beowulf's fellow soldier is the first victim of Grendel during the first night at Heorot. The monster viciously eats Hondscio, leaving no remains at all. This is the first time we hear mention of Grendel's first victim by name. In an earlier passage, he is simply referred to as "a man on a bench." (740)

After heaven's gem,
had gone mildly to earth, that maddened spirit,
the terror of those twilights, came to attack us
where we stood guard, still safe inside the hall.
There deadly violence came down on Hondscio
and he fell as fate ordained, the first to perish,
rigged out for combat. A comrade from our ranks
had come to grief in Grendel's maw:
he ate up the entire body. (2072-2080)