in the book Beowulf what are "the rings" whick are spoken of in the prologue

Question

I may be missing something here. The only rings I remember in the prologue is the "Breaker-of-rings"...an important person, or chiefian, whose job it is to break off parts of gold rings on bracelets or necklaces to pay the tribes debts. Gold was often put in chains for safekeeping...like a wallet.