Proto-Norse
Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic, Ancient Scandinavian, Ancient Norse, Primitive Norse, Proto-Nordic, Proto-Scandinavian and Proto-North Germanic) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a ...
Scandinavian clan
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 cl ...
named the
Wulfing
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 umla ...
s, which according to the
Germanic heroic legend
Germanic heroic legend (german: germanische Heldensage) is the heroic literary tradition of the Germanic-speaking peoples, most of which originates or is set in the Migration Period (4th-6th centuries AD). Stories from this time period, to which ...
of
Beowulf
''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...
ruled the
Geat
The Geats ( ; ang, gēatas ; non, gautar ; sv, götar ), sometimes called ''Goths'', were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the late Middle Ages. They are one of th ...
ish
petty kingdom
A petty kingdom is a monarchy, kingdom described as minor or "petty" (from the French 'petit' meaning small) by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it (e.g. the Heptarchy#List of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, numerou ...
of
Östergötland
Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...
.
All that is known of Heaðolaf is that he was slain by
Ecgþeow Ecgþēow (pronounced ), Edgetho (Proto-Norse *''Agiþewaz''), or Ecgtheow is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic '' Beowulf''. He is not mentioned outside the ''Bēowulf'' manuscript, and it is not known whether he was based on a real person. H ...
, the father of Beowulf. Reportedly, his powerful family demanded too high a
weregild
Weregild (also spelled wergild, wergeld (in archaic/historical usage of English), weregeld, etc.), also known as man price (blood money), was a precept in some archaic legal codes whereby a monetary value was established for a person's life, to b ...
from Ecgþeow's clan, the
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 ...
s, so Ecgþeow was banished and had to seek refuge with the Danes. The Danish king
Hroðgar
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 chroni ...