These lines serve two purposes. First they accentuate the crime of Odda's sons in line 185 when they do the exact opposite and run from the fight (taking many able-bodied soldiers with them). Second, this was a period of history where loyalty was scarce and many of the misfortunes suffered by the English under Æþelræd's reign were put down to bad leadership, cowardice, and above all treachery. For example see the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for the year 992 (M&R p. 213). Scragg (1981, pp. 68-9) also noted that the releasing of the hawk in l. 8 is a symbolic gesture of loyalty.