Freawine, ''Frowin'' or ''Frowinus'' figures as a governor of

Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

in ''

Gesta Danorum ''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...

'' and in the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of A ...

'' as an ancestor of the kings of Wessex, but the latter source only tells that he was the son of Friðgar and the father of

Wig A wig is a head or hair accessory made from human hair, animal hair, or synthetic fiber. The word wig is short for periwig, which makes its earliest known appearance in the English language in William Shakespeare's ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona' ...

. In the ''

'', Frowin was the father-in-law of

Offa of Angel Offa (nickname for Wulf) is a semi-legendary king of the Angles in the genealogy of the kings of Mercia presented in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle''. He is the son of Wermund and the father of Angeltheow. His name is also mentioned in the Old ...

(presented as a prince and later king of Denmark), whose father king

Wermund Wermund, Vermund or Garmund is an ancestor of the Mercian royal family, a son of Wihtlaeg and father of Offa. The '' Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' makes him a grandson of Woden, but the '' Gesta Danorum'' written by Saxo Grammaticus goes no further th ...

liked both Frowin and his sons Ket and Wig. Frowin was challenged to combat by the Myrging king

Eadgils Eadgils, ''Adils'', ''Aðils'', ''Adillus'', ''Aðísl at Uppsölum'', ''Athisl'', ''Athislus'' or ''Adhel'' was a semi-legendary king of Sweden, who is estimated to have lived during the 6th century. ''Beowulf'' and Old Norse sources present ...

, and killed. He would later be avenged by his two sons Ket and Wig. However, the two sons fought against Athisl two against one, a national disgrace that was redeemed by their brother-in-law Offa, when he killed two Saxons at the same time, in "single combat". This event is referred to in ''

Widsith "Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the '' Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th ...

'' as a duel against Eadgils of the Myrgings. While Freawine appears in the pedigree of the Wessex kings in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he is absent from the pedigree of these kings given in the

Anglian collection ''The Anglian collection'' is a collection of Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies and regnal lists. These survive in four manuscripts; two of which now reside in the British Library. The remaining two belong to the libraries of Corpus Christi College, ...

on Anglo-Saxon royal pedigrees, as well as in a similar pedigree in one transcript of Asser's ''Vita Ælfredi regis Angul Saxonum''. Freawine's appearance in the Chronicle's Wessex royal pedigree has been suggested to be an interpolation of this heroic figure along with his son Wig into a pre-existing pedigree that had been borrowed from the Bernician royal house, and that the name given to the father of Freawine in the pedigree, Friðgar, was added later simply to allow poetic alliteration within the lineage. Sisam, Kenneth "Anglo-Saxon Royal Genealogies", ''Proceedings of the British Academy'', 39 (1953), pp. 287–348

Notes

{{reflist

External links

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

- Public domain copy.
Book Four of ''Gesta Danorum'' at the Medieval and Classical Literature Library
*Peter Tunstall's translation of the ''Chronicon lethrense'' a

Anglish warriors