Beowulf

Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes; fathered a famous boy, Beow. His heir,
Halfdane, had 4 sons: Heorogar, Hrothgar, Halga and a daughter - who was Onela's
queen in Sweede. Hrothgar made Heorot. Grendel, a demon, attacked Heorot and
killed people; he was from Cains clan . The Danes turn for help from heathen
(neopagan) gods. At the court of King Hygeleac, a Geat warrior prepares to help
Hrothgar- Beowulf- "We belong by birth to the Geat people and owe allegiance to
Lord Hygelac. We are retainers from Hygelac's band.
Hrethel the Geat gave Ecgtheow his daughter in marriage.
Beowulf = a thane, surrounded by thanes; Hygelac's kinsman,one of his hall-troop; I
have suffered extremes and avenged the Geats; He renounces the use of his
weapons
Hrotghar says- Beowulf,I adopt you in my heart as a dear son.
The kings poet tells another story about Hilderbuh (Hocs daughter), a dannish
princess married to a Frisian king Finn (son of Focwald) , loses her son and her
brother Hnaef in a fight at Finns hail. Hengest, who takes charge after Hnaef is
killed, attacks Finn, Finn has to offer a truce- throne shared between Frisians (and
the Frisians allies, the Jutes) and Danes. The Danes are exiled a winter; they feel
homesick and resentful. Danish warriors spur themselves to renew the feud, Finn is
killed, his stronghoald looted, his widow, Hilderburh, carried back to Denmark.
Hwthgar laments
Hrothgar laments the death of his counsellor. He knows Grendels mother must
avenge her son.Beowulf bolsters Hrothgars courage. He proclaims the heroic code
guides them.
Hygelac is killed in a war against the Shylfings, and, after Hygelac's son dies,
Beowulf ascends to the throne of the Geats. He rules wisely for fifty years
Wiglaf stand by Beowuf
Hrethric, Hrothmund, and Freawaru are the children of King Hrothgar and Queen
Wealhtheow of the Spear-Danes. Hrethric and Hrothmund are young princes and
neither of them is yet ready to succeed their father as king, which makes their
mother worry that Beowulf might try to usurp the throne from them.
Hrothulf- The orphaned son of Hrothgar's sister
Wealhtheow- Queen of the Spear-Danes and wife of King Hrothgar, appears briefy
in Beowulf as the mistress of Heorot Hall.
Unferth, (son of Ecglaf ) a jealous warrior in the tribe of the Spear-Danes, challenges
Beowulf's boasts and claims about himself. When Beowulf shows up ready to fight
Grendel, Unferth tells a story he's heard about Beowulf's swimming contest with
Breca, suggesting that Beowulf lost that competition.
Ecgtheow, Beowulf's father, once found himself in a blood-feud with the tribe called
the Wulfings because he had killed a man named Heatholaf. Ecgtheow sought
refuge with King Hrothgar of the Danes, who eventually "healed the feud by paying"
Halfdane, one of the kings of the Spear-Danes, is the grandson of Shield Sheafson.
He is also the father of Heorogar, Hrothgar, Halga, and a daughter who marries
Onela the Swede.
Hrethel- the son or son-in-law of Swerting ;had three sons Hcyn, Herebeald and
Hygelac. He also had a daughter who married Ecgeow and had the son Beowulf.
Hygelac, -the king of the Geats, grandson of Swerting, is Beowulf's lord, uncle and
ring-giver. his queen is Hygd. The poet recounts the death of King Hygelac in

combat in Friesland. Hygelac fell while Beowulf survived thanks to his great strength
and swimming ability.
Wulfgar- Wendel chief
Ecgthoew- Beowulfs father
Bright-Danes- another name for the Scyldings, the reference to shining light.
Scyldings, the tribe of Scyld Scefing. . Pronounced "shieldings," the Scyldings are
Hrothgar's warriors.
Hrothgar, son of Halfdane- the prince of the Shieldings .
Sigemund- the Dragon-Slayer Fitela, his nephew.
Ingwins - a name used for the Danes and which means "friends of Ing (Freyr)
Hrunting was a sword given to Beowulf by Unferth in the ancient Old English epic
poem Beowulf. Beowulf used it in battle against Grendel's Mother.
Ecglaf - Unfer's father
Weather- Gets
HEREMOD was one of the Danish kings in the past. Although he was given power
over all men, he didn't use it to increase the Danes' glory. Rather, he used that
power to slaughter his table-companions, which was considered the biggest sin in
Anglo-Saxon culture. The king decides to give Beowulf a lecture on hubris, so that
the great warrior doesn't get spoiled by his own success. Heremod is cited as an
example of evil: "Teach yourself by him, be mindful of munificence,"
Queen Modthryth- the opposite of queen Hygd. Her story is told by thepoet.
Ongentheow, king of the Swedes and father of Onela, was killed in battle by the
Geat warrior Eofor. Although Eofor was avenging his brother Wulf, who died at
Ongentheow's hands, the fact that a Swedish king was killed by a Geatish warrior
means that the Swedes still have a score to settle with the Geatsand another war
seems inevitable.
Wulf and Eofor are two Geatish brothers who are part of a blood-feud between the
Geats and their rival tribe, the Swedes. Ongentheow, king of the Swedes, killed Wulf
in battle; in return, Wulf's brother Eofor killed Ongentheow. As a result, the Swedes
still hold a grudge against the Geats, and war is sure to erupt once again.
Wulf and Eofor, brothers who fight together, sharply contrast with the fratricidal
brothers Herebeald and Haethcyn. However, even though there is no strife between
Wulf and Eofor, their very loyalty to one another results in inter-tribal confict. There
just doesn't seem to be any way to win for brothers in this story.
Heardred is the only son of King Hygelac and Queen Hygd. Eventually, Heardred is
killed in battle, leaving his cousin Beowulf to become king of the Geats.
A prince of the Swedes, Ohthere and his brother Onela conducted successful raids
against the Geats after King Hrethel had died. In 515, Ongentheow was killed in
battle by the Geats and Ohthere succeeded his father as the king of Sweden.
Ohthere led an army against the Geats, and besieged one of their armies. He nearly
killed the Geatish king Hygelac but lost many of his forces in the confict. Ohthere
managed to get back to Swede.
Wiglaf- He is the son of Weohstan, a Swede of the Wgmunding clan who had
entered the service of Beowulf, king of the Geats. Wiglaf is called Scylfing as a
metonym for Swede, as the Scylfings were the ruling Swedish clan. While in the
service of the Scylfing Onela, king of the Swedes, Weohstan killed the rebel prince
Eanmund and took his sword as a trophy; Wiglaf later inherited it. Weohstan
belonged to the clan of the Wgmundings, the same clan Beowulf's father Ecgeow
belonged to; so Wiglaf is Beowulf's distant cousin, and his only living relative at the
time of Beowulf's death.

Ngling is the name of the hero's sword in the epic poem Beowulf (on his last fight).
Hronesness Mythology - A headland. This is the place where Beowulf was buried and
where he guides ships through the mists.
Merovingians - the ruling Frankish dynasty.
holy God
decided the victory. It was easy for the Lord,
the Ruler of Heaven, to redress the balance
once Beowulf got back up on his feet.
Choose, dear Beowulf, the better part,
eternal rewards. Do not give way to pride.
For a brief while your strength is in bloom
but it fades quickly;
What you have done is to draw two peoples,
the Geat nation and us neighbouring Danes,
into shared peace and a pact of friendship
in spite of hatreds we have harboured in the past
Now I am old,
but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight
for the glory of winning, if the evil one will only
abandon his earth-fort and face me in the open.
A warrior will sooner
die than live a life of shame."
BLOOD-FEUD BETWEEN GEATS AND SWEEDES
Ongentheow
slaughtered Haethcyn, Hrethel's son,
when the Geat people in their arrogance
first attacked the fierce Shylfings.
The return blow was quickly struck
by Oh there's father. Old and terrible,
he felled the sea-king and saved his own
aged wife, the mother of Onela
and of Ohthere, bereft of her gold rings.
Beowulf the king
had indeed met with a marvellous death.
Yet Beowulf's gaze at the gold treasure
when he first saw it had not been selfish.

WHAT THE HELL?

An embossed ridge, a band lapped with wire
arched over the helmet: head-protection
to keep the keen-ground cutting edge
from damaging it when danger threatened
and the man was battling behind his shield.
+++++
Th e girl dressed in gold is married to Ingeld. Freawaru the Danish daughter
marries the Heathobard son. But Ingeld's father died fighting the Danes. Can it be
forgotten? The slaying-spear seldom sleeps for long.After the wedding at Heorot,
Ingeld takes his beloved bride back to his people. A group of Danish warriors rides
with them. There will be a feast that night. But when the bride is brought home to
the Heathobard hall, it does not please everyone to see Danes at the table dressed
in fine war-gear. Some of those weapons that they wear so proudly were won in the
wars. The Danes took them from the Heathobard warriors they had killed.
An old spear-fighter speaks out at the feast. He remembers the slaying of many
men by the spear and his heart is bitter. He says to a young Heathobard warrior:
Do you see the sword that Danish man is wearing? Haven't I seen it somewhere
before? Your father carried it into battle. The Danes killed him there. Now the killer's
son wears it openly in our hall.'
The old warrior keeps on with his words until the young man can bear it no longer.
That night he kills the Dane. The feud is begun again. Promises of peace are broken
on both sides. Ingeld vows he will take revenge. His love for Freawaru is not strong
enough to stop him. His love for his wife soon grows less.
So the Heathobards and the Danes return to war, till at last even Heorot is attacked.
It is so cunningly and so strongly made that it cannot be damaged by fighting. Yet in
the end the bright fames of fire destroy Hrothgar's hall, the home of so many
heroes.