Ecgþēow (pronounced ), Edgetho (

Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic; Danish and ; ; ; ) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of Proto-Germanic in the first centuries CE. It is the earliest stage of a c ...

*''Agiþewaz''), or Ecgtheow is a character in the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

''. He is not mentioned outside the ''Bēowulf'' manuscript, and it is not known whether he was based on a real person. He belonged to a probably Swedish family (an ''ätt'', see

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 ...

) called the '' Waegmundings''. He married the daughter of Hreðel, king of the

Geats The Geats ( ; ; ; ), sometimes called ''Geats#Goths, Goths'', were a large North Germanic peoples, North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the Late Middle Ages. They are one of ...

, and was the father of Bēowulf. His name could be read as ''eċġ'' + ''þēow'', "edge-servant" (that is,

sword A sword is an edged and bladed weapons, edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter ...

thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

); alternatively, if his name was a compound of the ancient '' bahuvrihi'' type as were many other Germanic heroic names, it would indicate proficiency with the sword, meaning literally, "whose servant is the sword". He is first mentioned in ''Bēowulf'' at lines 262–266, when Beowulf tells the coast-guard that "My father was known to everyone," calls him a "noble battle-leader", and says that he died after living through "many winters" and that he is remembered well by wise men everywhere. At lines 372–375,

Hroðgar Hrothgar ( ; ) 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 an ...

, the Danish king, recalls Ecgtheow, remembering that he married King Hreðel's only daughter. At lines 456–472, Hroðgar recalls the story of how Ecgtheow once came to him for help: he had slain Heaðolaf, a man from another tribe called the '' Wulfings'' (probably the rulers of the East Geats). One of the Germanic ways of resolving a

blood feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

was either to pay a

wergild 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 historical legal codes whereby a monetary value was established for a person's life, ...

(

, "man-price") or to be banished. Either Ecgþēow's people could not pay a wergild, or the Wulfings refused to accept it from them; so Ecgþeow had to leave home. He went to Dane-Land; Hrōðgār paid the wergild, and Ecgþeow swore oaths of friendship to him. The Wulfings were probably the same as the Wylfings mentioned in ''

Widsith "Widsith" (, "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'' (''pages 84v–87r''), a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the la ...

'',Howell D. Chickering, ''Beowulf: a Dual-Language Edition'', Doubleday, New York, NY, 1977. and according to ''Widsith'' one of their lords was Helm. Hroðgar married Wealhþeow, a Helming lady, who thus likely belonged to the Wulfings, and this may explain why Ecgþeow went to Dane-Land particularly. Hroðgar may have been able to use his family ties to persuade the Wulfings to accept the wergild and end the feud. Hroðgar interprets Beowulf's journey as a son's gratitude for what Hrōðgār had done for Beowulf's father. At lines 2428–2429 we learn that the young Bēowulf was fostered and raised in the home of Hreðel starting when he was seven years old; Ecgþēow may have died by then, or the family may just have been following a custom. At lines 2813–2815 we learn that the thane

Wiglaf Wiglaf ( Proto-Norse: *'' Wīga laibaz'', meaning "battle remainder"; ) 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 G ...

is a Waegmunding; therefore his father Weohstan was in some way related to Ecgþeow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecgtheow English heroic legends Characters in Beowulf