(1529-1530) “Hygelac’s kinsman kept thinking about his name and fame: he never lost heart.”
They are getting you to think about what it is that drives Beowulf to keep fighting, and its his reputation that is on the line. He doesn’t fight for treasure and wealth and reward, he just wants fame and to be looked up to by all, which is a reward all in its own. Which is why in the end of the poem, Wiglaf says that Beowulf kills the dragon because reputation and record was all that mattered to Beowulf and since he died protecting his people, he at least deserved to be remembered from his last battle as the warrior he had been his whole life.
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