Offa (nickname for Wulf) is a semi-legendary king of the Angles in the genealogy of the

kings of Mercia The Kingdom of Mercia was a state in the English Midlands from the 6th century to the 10th century. For some two hundred years from the mid-7th century onwards it was the dominant member of the Heptarchy and consequently the most powerful of the ...

presented 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 Alf ...

''. He is the son of

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 than ...

and the father of

Angeltheow The Angles were a dominant Germanic tribe in the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, and gave their name to the English, England and to the region of East Anglia. Originally from Angeln, present-day Schleswig-Holstein, a legendary list of their ...

. His name is also mentioned in the Old English poem ''

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 c ...

''. He has been identified with Uffo (also ''Uffe, Uffi of Jutland''), a

legendary Danish king The legendary kings of Denmark are the predecessors of Gorm the Old, a king who reigned ca. 930s to 950s and is the earliest reliably attested Danish ruler. Historicity of the earlier legendary kings are thus half legend and half history. The acc ...

in the ''

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 ...

'' by

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150 – c. 1220), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. ...

History

The Old English poem ''

'' (8th century) refers briefly to his victorious single combat, a story which is related at length by the 12th-century Danish historians Saxo and

Sven Aggesen Svend Aggesen (or "Sven"; also known as ''Aggessøn'', ''Aggesøn'' or ''Aagesen'', in Latin ''Sveno Aggonis''; born around 1140 to 1150, death unknown) is the author of '' Brevis historia regum Dacie'', one of the first attempts to write a coherent ...

. Offa is also mentioned in the ''Annales Ryenses'', ''Vita Offae Primi'' and ''

Vitae duorum Offarum The '' Vitae duorum Offarum'' "The lives of the two Offas" is a literary history written in the mid-thirteenth century, apparently by the St Albans monk Matthew Paris; however, the most recent editor and translator of the work rejects this attrib ...

''. According to ''Widsith'' and the Danish sources, Offa successfully conquered the

Myrging The Myrgings were a clan and people of Saxon origin who, together with their king Eadgils, are only mentioned in the Old English poem ''Widsith''. They are mentioned as the people of the scop Widsith. They appear to have been the neighbours of the ...

s, possibly a clan of Saxon origin, and incorporated their land into Angel or Danish lands, by slaying two Myrging princes in single combat and installing himself as their king. It is possible that the Offa mentioned in ''

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 ...

'' (lines 1949 and 1957) and married to

Modþryð Modthryth, Thryth ('strength', cf. Old Norse Þrúðr, the daughter of Thor), and Fremu are reconstructed names for a character who figures as the queen of King Offa in ''Beowulf''. Naming problem: Modthryth, Thryth, or Fremu? The reason for the ...

, a lady of murderous disposition, is the same person.

Legend

In the narrative of Saxo, Uffi is said to have been dumb or silent during his early years. His aged and blind father, King

believed him to be a simpleton and in order to preserve his son's position as king had him marry the daughter of

Freawine Freawine, ''Frowin'' or ''Frowinus'' figures as a governor of Schleswig in ''Gesta Danorum'' and in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' as an ancestor of the kings of Wessex, but the latter source only tells that he was the son of Friðgar and the father ...

(a neighbouring warlord/king) so that Freawine would assist Uffi when he became king. However, the plans did not come to pass, as Freawine was killed by a Myrging warlord called

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 h ...

. Wermund subsequently raised Freawine's sons

Ket and Wig Ket and Wig appear in the ''Gesta Danorum'' as the sons of Frowin, the governor of Schleswig. Wig also appears in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' as the son of Freawine (Frowin) and father of Gewis, eponymous ancestor of the kingdom of Wessex and the ...

as his own. The two would eventually cause great dishonour to the Angles when they ambushed Eadgils in a forest as he walked alone and slew him. The surrounding peoples began to mock the Angles, accusing them of cowardice and dishonour. Eventually the neighbouring Saxons decided that Wermund was too weak to resist their requests for him to surrender his kingdom, and they sent their emissaries to Wermund's court. There they proceeded to mock the blind man, prompting Wermund to challenge their king to a duel — but the king stated that he would not fight a blind man. It was then that Uffi regained his speech, and revealed that his silence had been caused by the great dishonour involved in Eadgil's death. He promptly challenged the prince of the Saxons and one of his champions to a duel in order to regain the honour of the Angles. Uffi's combat took place at

Rendsburg Rendsburg ( da, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'', nds, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'') is a town on the River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the central part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) of Rendsburg-Ecke ...

on an island in the

Eider River The Eider (german: Die Eider; da, Ejderen; Latin: ''Egdor'' or ''Eidora'') is the longest river in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The river starts near Bordesholm and reaches the southwestern outskirts of Kiel on the shores of the Balt ...

at Fifeldore/Monster-Gate, and Uffi succeeded in killing both his opponents. A somewhat corrupt version of the same story is preserved in the 13th-century ''

'', where, however, the scene is transferred to England.

References

Literature

* See

H. M. Chadwick Hector Munro Chadwick (22 October 1870 – 2 January 1947) was an English philologist. Chadwick was the Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and the founder and head of the Department for Anglo-Saxon and Kindred Studies at the Uni ...

, ''Origin of the English Nation'' (Cambridge, 1907), for references to the original authorities. *Rickert, Edith. "The Old English Offa Saga." ''

Modern Philology ''Modern Philology'' is a literary journal that was established in 1903. It publishes scholarly articles on literature, literary scholarship, history, and criticism in all modern world languages and book reviews of recent books as well as review ...

'' 2 (1904-5): 29-77 (part 1), 321-76 (part 2)
PDF available from Internet Archive
*Shippey, Tom. "Wicked Queens and Cousin Strategies in ''Beowulf'' and Elsewhere." '' The Heroic Age'' 5 (2001)
Available online
* {{Authority control Mythological kings of Denmark Anglish people English heroic legends Anglo-Saxon warriors Characters in Beowulf