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Wægmunding
The Wægmundings were a prominent probably Swedish clan (an ''ätt'', see Norse clans) in ''Beowulf''. A name such as ''Wægmunding'' meant "belongs to Wægmund", i.e. they were the descendants of a man named Wægmund. This was the normal way of naming a Germanic clan (e.g. Sigurd the Völsung, descendant of king Völsung, Folkung escendants of Folkeand Yngling escendants of Yngvi-Freyr">Freyr.html" ;"title="escendants of Yngvi-Freyr">escendants of Yngvi-Freyr. Members: *Wægmund (the ancestor of the clan) *Ælfhere (seems to have been a distinguished member of the clan as Wiglaf is described as his kinsman) *Ecgþeow (joined the Danes and the Geats as he was banished for slaying a man from another clan) *Beowulf (character), Beowulf (son of Ecgþeow and the hero of the epic by his name) *Weohstan (Swedish champion and slayer of his fugitive countryman prince Eanmund) *Wiglaf (''the last of the Wægmundings'' and son of Weohstan. He fought with Beowulf against the dragon) The s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wiglaf
Wiglaf (Proto-Norse: *'' Wīga laibaz'', meaning "battle remainder"; ang, Wīġlāf ) is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem ''Beowulf''. He is the son of Weohstan, a Swede of the Wægmunding clan who had entered the service of Beowulf, king of the Geats. Wiglaf is called ''Scylfing'' as a metonym for Swede, as the Scylfings were the ruling Swedish clan. While in the service of the Scylfing Onela, king of the Swedes, Weohstan killed the rebel prince Eanmund and took his sword as a trophy;Lines 2612-2615. Wiglaf later inherited it.Lines 2620-2624. Weohstan belonged to the clan of the Wægmundings, the same clan Beowulf's father Ecgþeow belonged to; so Wiglaf is Beowulf's distant cousin, and his only living relative at the time of Beowulf's death. Scholars have proposed various interpretations of Wiglaf's role in the poem, but agree that he is important, and that he was Beowulf's nephew, a key relationship in heroic tales of the period. Wiglaf has a counterpart in Scandin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yngling
The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' were composed sometime in the eighth to tenth centuries, the respective scop and skald (poet) expected his audience to have a great deal of background information about these kings, which is shown in the allusiveness of the references. According to sources such as ''Ynglingatal'' and ''Íslendingabók'', the Fairhair dynasty in Oppland, Norway was in fact a branch of the Ynglings. Saxo Grammaticus held that Eric the Victorious, whom modern regnal lists usually begin with, and his House of Munsö, descendents were also Ynglings, but this does not tally with Icelandic sources. The dynasty claimed descent from the gods Freyr and Njörðr, and other kings were likely mythical as well, whereas others may have been real: especially Ongenþeow, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wulfings
The Wulfings, Wylfings or YlfingsWord initial ''w'' was lost before rounded vowels in Proto-Norse, e.g. ''wulf'' corresponds to ''ulf'', and ''Wulfing''/''Wylfing'' corresponds to ''Ylfing'', because the ''i'' in the second syllable causes an umlaut in the first syllable ''u''->''y''. (the name means the "wolf clan") was a powerful clan in '' Beowulf'', ''Widsith'' and in the Norse sagas. While the poet of ''Beowulf'' does not locate the Wulfings geographically, Scandinavian sources define the Ylfings (the Old Norse form of the name) as the ruling clan of the Eastern Geats. The Wulfings play an important role in '' Beowulf'' as Beowulf's father Ecgþeow of the Wægmunding clan had slain one of its members, and was banished for not paying the weregild. The Danish king Hroðgar, who was married to Wealhþeow, a Wulfing woman, graciously paid the weregild, and when Beowulf arrived at the Danish court in order to slay Grendel, Hroðgar interpreted this as a son's gratitude. In Ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beowulf (character)
Beowulf (; ang, Bēowulf ) is a legendary Geatish hero in the eponymous epic poem, one of the oldest surviving pieces of English literature. Etymology and origins of the character A number of origins have been proposed for the name ''Beowulf''. Beowulf Henry Sweet, a philologist and linguist specializing in Germanic languages, proposed that the name ''Bēowulf'' literally means in Old English "bee-wolf" or "bee-hunter" and that it is a kenning for "bear".Sweet, Henry. (1884) ''Anglo-Saxon Reader in Prose and Verse'' The Clarendon Press, p. 202. Recorded instances of similar names mirror this etymology. The AD 1031 ''Liber Vitae'' records the name ''Biuuuwulf''. The name is attested to a monk from Durham and means ''bee wolf'' in the Old Northumbrian dialect.Chadwick, Hector Munro (1983) ''The Origin of the English Nation'', p. 294. The 11th century English ''Domesday Book'' contains a recorded instance of the name ''Beulf''. The scholar suggested that the name ''Beowulf'' de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weohstan
Weohstan, Wēohstān or Wīhstān (Proto-Norse *'' Wīha stainaz'', meaning "sacred stone", non, Vésteinn and ''Wǣstēn'') is a legendary character who appears in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem ''Beowulf'' and scholars have pointed out that he also appears to be present in the Norse ''Kálfsvísa''. In both ''Beowulf'' and ''Kálfsvísa'', Weohstan (''Vésteinn'') fought for his king Onela (''Áli'') against Eadgils (''Aðils''). ''Beowulf'' According to ''Beowulf'', Weohstan is the father of Wiglaf, and he belongs to a clan called the '' Wægmundings''. Ecgþeow, the father of Beowulf, also belonged to this clan, so Weohstan is in some degree related to Beowulf. Thus he counts Weohstan's son Wiglaf as his kinsman. Weohstan is said to have died of old age before the action of the later part of the poem. Weohstan is first mentioned at line 2602. We learn that he had held a Geatland estate and rights in common land which Beowulf gave to him. When the Scylfing prince Eanmund rebel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heaðolaf
Heaðolaf (Proto-Norse *''Haþulaibaz'') (archived link, 12 June 2004) was a member of a named the s, which according to the of ruled the |
Norse Clans
The Scandinavian clan or ''ætt/ätt'' (pronounced in Old Norse) was a social group based on common descent, equivalent to a clan. History In the absence of a police force, the clan was the primary force of security in Norse society, as the clansmen were obliged by honour to avenge one another. The Norse clan was not tied to a certain territory in the same way as a Scottish clan, where the chief owned the territory. The land of the Scandinavian clan was owned by the individuals who had close neighbours from other clans. The name of the clan was derived from its ancestor, often with the addition of an -ung or -ing ending. The original meaning of ''ætt/ätt'' seems to have simply been "those who are related". A person could technically belong to several clans, but usually the identification of an individual came with ancestry of most prestige. Therefore, through mostly the exception to the rule, a clan could have matrilineal name if the descent of the ancestral mother was conside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hrothgar
Hrothgar ( ang, Hrōðgār ; on, Hróarr) was a semi-legendary Danish king living around the early sixth century AD. Hrothgar appears in the Anglo-Saxon epics ''Beowulf'' and ''Widsith'', in Norse sagas and poems, and in medieval Danish chronicles. In both Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian tradition, Hrothgar is a Scylding, the son of Halfdan, the brother of Halga, and the uncle of Hrólfr Kraki. Moreover, in both traditions, the mentioned characters were the contemporaries of the Swedish king Eadgils; and both traditions also mention a feud with men named Fróði and Ingeld. The consensus view is that Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian traditions describe the same person. Names Hrothgar, also rendered ''Hrōðgār'', is an Old English form attested in ''Beowulf'' and ''Widsith'', the earliest sources to mention the character. In non-English sources, the name appears in more or less corresponding Old Icelandic, Old Danish, and Latinized versions. He appears as ''Hróarr'', ''Hroar'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Väinämöinen
Väinämöinen () is a demigod, hero and the central character in Finnish folklore and the main character in the national epic ''Kalevala'' by Elias Lönnrot. Väinämöinen was described as an old and wise man, and he possessed a potent, magical singing voice. In Finnish mythology The first extant mention of Väinämöinen in literature is in a list of Tavastian gods by Mikael Agricola in 1551. He and other writers described Väinämöinen as the god of chants, songs and poetry; in many stories Väinämöinen was the central figure at the birth of the world. The Karelian and Finnish national epic, the ''Kalevala'', tells of his birth in the course of a creation story in its opening sections. This myth has elements of creation from chaos and from a cosmic egg, as well as of earth diver creation. At first there were only primal waters and Sky. But Sky also had a daughter named Ilmatar. One day, Ilmatar descended to the waters and became pregnant. She gestated for a very lon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gudmund Schütte
Gudmund Schütte (17 January 1872– 12 July 1958) was a Danish philologist, historian and writer who specialized in Germanic studies. Biography Gudmund Schütte was born at Eskjær, Salling, Denmark on 17 January 1872, the son of landowner Theodor Schütte ((1835–1915)) and Thilia Augusta Marie Cathrine Petersen ((1837–96)). His paternal grandfather, the landowner August Theodor Schütte, was a German immigrant from Perleberg, Germany. In addition to Eskjær, his father also owned the Bygholm estate, and the Sankt Andrä estate in Austria. Schütte enrolled at Horsens Statsskole in 1889. While studying German at the University of Copenhagen, Schütte won a university gold medal for a 1897 dissertation on Old English. The same year, Schütte established the Society for Germanic Philology (Danish: Selskabet for germansk filologi). He earned an MA in German philology in 1898, and a PhD in 1907 with the dissertation ''Oldsagn om Godtjod''. From 1909 to 1913, Schütte le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Götaland
Götaland (; also '' Geatland'', '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep woods of Tiveden, Tylöskog and Kolmården marking the border. Götaland once consisted of petty kingdoms, and their inhabitants were called ''Gautar'' in Old Norse. However, the term mainly referred to the population of modern Västergötland. It is agreed that these were the same as the ''Geats'', the people of the hero Beowulf in England's national epic, ''Beowulf''. The modern state of Sweden started forming when some provinces of Götaland gradually became more and more politically intertwined with those of Svealand. This process can be traced back to at least the 11th century, and would continue for several hundred years. Other parts of modern Götaland were at that time either Danish or Norwegian. The province of Smålan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eanmund
Eanmund was a Swedish prince of the Scylfing dynasty, whose existence is alleged in ''Beowulf''.''Beowulf'', lines 2612-2615. Life according to ''Beowulf'' Unlike his relatives, Eanmund is only mentioned in Beowulf. Eanmund was the son of Ohthere, and was the brother of Eadgils. If he existed in real life, his real name was probably Proto-Norse *''Aiwamunduz'' (Old East Norse ''Ēmund'') or ''Āmunduz'' (Old East Norse ''Āmund''). Ohthere died, and Ohthere's younger brother Onela, usurped the Swedish throne. Since their uncle had seized power, Eanmund and Eadgils sought refuge among the Geats. This caused Onela to attack the Geats, an attack which was also motivated by the fact that the Geatish king Heardred's father had killed Onela's father Ongentheow. During the battle, Eanmund was killed by Onela's champion Weohstan and Heardred was killed as well. Eadgils, however, survived and according to the poem Beowulf later helped him avenge Eanmund and Ohthere by slaying Onela, an event ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
