The Wægmundings were a prominent probably Swedish clan (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 ...

) in ''

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 ...

''. 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 Sigurd ( ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon — known in Nordic tradition as Fafnir () — and who was later murdered. In the Nordic countries, he is referred t ...

the Völsung, descendant of king

Völsung Völsung ( , ) is a figure in Germanic mythology, where he is the eponymous ancestor of the Völsung family (, ), which includes the hero Sigurð. In Nordic mythology, he is the son of Rerir and was murdered by the Geatish king Siggeir. He was ...

, Folkung escendants of Folkeand

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 (, ) in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' were composed sometime ...

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 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 ...

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 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 ...

(''the last of the Wægmundings'' and son of Weohstan. He fought with Beowulf against the dragon) The story of this clan in ''Beowulf'' is that Ecgþeow slew a man, Heaðolaf, from another clan, the '' Wulfings'' (probably the rulers of the less known East Geats). As the Wægmundings would not or could not pay the expected

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, ...

, Ecgtheow was banished and sought refuge among the

Danes Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. History Early history Denmark ...

. The Danish king

Hrothgar 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 ...

paid the wergild and had Ecgþeow swear an oath. Later, Ecgþeow served the

and distinguished himself enough to marry the Geatish king Hreðel's daughter, with whom he had the son Beowulf. During the Swedish-Geatish wars, Ecgþeow's close relative, Weohstan, fought on the Swedish side for

Onela Onela was, according to ''Beowulf'', a Swedish king, the son of Ongentheow and the brother of Ohthere. He usurped the Swedish throne, but was killed by his nephew Eadgils, who won by hiring foreign assistance. In Scandinavian sagas a Norwegi ...

, and killed Onela's nephew Eanmund. The fact that these characters are described as Wægmundings explains why the Swedish warrior Wiglaf became the companion of Beowulf although his father had fought against the Geats. Since Ecgþeow, Beowulf's father, was a close relative of Weohstan, Wiglaf's father, it is not surprising that Wiglaf (after his father's death) joined his relative Beowulf in Geatland, and that Beowulf assumed responsibility for the young Swede.

On the ethnic identity of the Wægmundings

In the epic we learn that Wiglaf was a '' Scylfing'' which literally refers to the ruling family of Sweden, and defines Wiglaf as a Swede. We also learn that Wiglaf's father, Weohstan, was a ''Wægmunding'' and fought on the Swedish side. Concerning Beowulf's father the text tells us that he was a Wægmunding and that he was banished for killing the man of a different family, the Wulfings. This was standard procedure if the perpetrators family could not pay the wergild at the Ting. Since no other ethnic label is given for the Wægmundings, this makes a Swedish ethnicity the most likely one. This means that Beowulf was fighting his own kinsmen, on his father's side, when fighting the Swedes. According to researcher Gudmund Schütte, Wægmunding could be related to a Finnish mythological character,

Väinämöinen () is a deity, 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 sing ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waegmunding English heroic legends Norse clans