Myrging
Encyclopedia
The Myrgings were a clan and peoples 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 Angles
and Offa of Angel
, who was involved in a war against them. Perhaps they were a dynasty or clan competing for power with Offa over the rule of the Angles
, though Offa slew two Myrging princes, probably the sons of Eadgils (not to be confused with the Swedish king Eadgils
); this Eadgils was later killed by Ket and Wig
, the sons of Freawine
, a governor of Schleswig
who challenged Eadgils to combat while he was pillaging in the Angle lands. Freawine was killed in combat and the Myrgings may then have overrun Schleswig, as they are said to have settled or had holdings at Schleswig, though they were eventually defeated by Offa, who extended the boundary with them to Fifeldor.
Although the Myrgings only appear in the Old English
poem Widsith
and not in any other source, there is enough evidence to say that the Myrgings vanished leaving no other trace: if a rival clan, they were assimilated into the surrounding Angles; and if non-Angles conquered by Offa, who was said to have won a great Kingdom, very likely that of the conquered Myrgings, they seem to have been assimilated under his son Angentheow, who abolished the title of King of the Myrgings.
The Myrgings lived south of Angeln
near the Eider (river) and according to some sources near Schleswig
which was the center of the Angles
. They were descended from Saxons
who probably had settled in that area a few centuries earlier and probably merged with another tribe to form the Myrgings. Kemp Malone
, an American etymologist writing in 1944 suggested that the word "Myrging" means "Mire Dweller" or "Mire-District Dweller"; he also suggested that the name points to a miry or marshy habitat for the tribe and that the With-Myrgings were a sub-tribe of Myrgings who expanded across the Eider into Schlewsig. Malone claimed that the With-Myrgings lived in the valley of the Vidå
river and that they were the ones at war with Offa of Angel
, He also said that the With-Myrgings joined the Angles on their migration to Britain
.
lists two kings of the Myrgings. So the following list of the kings is what has been listed in Widsith
, with hypothetical dates, and including that on Eadgils' death the Myrgings were conquered by Offa of Angel
who installed himself as their king. When he died in 456, his son Angeltheow
abolished the kingdom and unified the Myrgings under one ruler after; this the Myrgings disappeared. However, a branch of theirs known as the With-Myrgings survived and later migrated to Britain
along with the Angles
in the 5th and 6th centuries.
Eadgils of the Myrgings
Eadgils of the Myrgings is a king of the Myrgings a clan of Saxon origin who is mentioned on lines 93-96 in the Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith. He would have lived in the 5th century and is mentioned as the lord of the scop himself in the poem....
, are only mentioned in the Old English
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
poem Widsith
Widsith
Widsith is an Old English poem of 144 lines that appears to date from the 9th century, drawing on earlier oral traditions of Anglo-Saxon tale singing. The only text of the fragment is copied in the Exeter Book, a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late 10th century containing...
. They are mentioned as the people of the scop
Scop
A ' was an Old English poet, the Anglo-Saxon counterpart of the Old Norse .As far as we can tell from what has been preserved, the art of the scop was directed mostly towards epic poetry; the surviving verse in Old English consists of the epic Beowulf, religious verse in epic formats such as the...
Widsith. They appear to have been the neighbours of the Angles
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
and Offa of Angel
Offa of Angel
Offa was the 4th-great-grandfather of Creoda of Mercia, and was reputed to be a great-grandson of Woden, English god of war and poetry and creator of Middle-Earth, the realm of man. Offa was the son of Wermund, and the father of Angeltheow...
, who was involved in a war against them. Perhaps they were a dynasty or clan competing for power with Offa over the rule of the Angles
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
, though Offa slew two Myrging princes, probably the sons of Eadgils (not to be confused with the Swedish king Eadgils
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....
); this Eadgils was later killed by Ket and Wig
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 and father of Gewis, eponymous ancestor of the kingdom of Wessex and their kings, but this is thought to be a late manipulation, inserting...
, the sons of Freawine
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 Frithugar and the father of Wig....
, a governor of Schleswig
Schleswig
Schleswig or South Jutland is a region covering the area about 60 km north and 70 km south of the border between Germany and Denmark; the territory has been divided between the two countries since 1920, with Northern Schleswig in Denmark and Southern Schleswig in Germany...
who challenged Eadgils to combat while he was pillaging in the Angle lands. Freawine was killed in combat and the Myrgings may then have overrun Schleswig, as they are said to have settled or had holdings at Schleswig, though they were eventually defeated by Offa, who extended the boundary with them to Fifeldor.
Although the Myrgings only appear in the Old English
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
poem Widsith
Widsith
Widsith is an Old English poem of 144 lines that appears to date from the 9th century, drawing on earlier oral traditions of Anglo-Saxon tale singing. The only text of the fragment is copied in the Exeter Book, a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late 10th century containing...
and not in any other source, there is enough evidence to say that the Myrgings vanished leaving no other trace: if a rival clan, they were assimilated into the surrounding Angles; and if non-Angles conquered by Offa, who was said to have won a great Kingdom, very likely that of the conquered Myrgings, they seem to have been assimilated under his son Angentheow, who abolished the title of King of the Myrgings.
The Myrgings lived south of Angeln
Angeln
Modern Angeln, also known as Anglia , is a small peninsula in Southern Schleswig in the northern Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, protruding into the Bay of Kiel...
near the Eider (river) and according to some sources near Schleswig
Schleswig
Schleswig or South Jutland is a region covering the area about 60 km north and 70 km south of the border between Germany and Denmark; the territory has been divided between the two countries since 1920, with Northern Schleswig in Denmark and Southern Schleswig in Germany...
which was the center of the Angles
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
. They were descended from Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
who probably had settled in that area a few centuries earlier and probably merged with another tribe to form the Myrgings. Kemp Malone
Kemp Malone
Kemp Malone was a prolific medievalist, etymologist, philologist, and specialist in Chaucer who was lecturer and then professor of English Literature at Johns Hopkins University from 1924 to 1956....
, an American etymologist writing in 1944 suggested that the word "Myrging" means "Mire Dweller" or "Mire-District Dweller"; he also suggested that the name points to a miry or marshy habitat for the tribe and that the With-Myrgings were a sub-tribe of Myrgings who expanded across the Eider into Schlewsig. Malone claimed that the With-Myrgings lived in the valley of the Vidå
Vidå
The Vidå is a creek in Jutland, Denmark. The creek starts east of Tønder and flows to the west, ending in the North Sea. The Vidå is in parts border between Denmark and Germany .South of the river live the North Frisians....
river and that they were the ones at war with Offa of Angel
Offa of Angel
Offa was the 4th-great-grandfather of Creoda of Mercia, and was reputed to be a great-grandson of Woden, English god of war and poetry and creator of Middle-Earth, the realm of man. Offa was the son of Wermund, and the father of Angeltheow...
, He also said that the With-Myrgings joined the Angles on their migration to Britain
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Kings of the Myrgings
WidsithWidsith
Widsith is an Old English poem of 144 lines that appears to date from the 9th century, drawing on earlier oral traditions of Anglo-Saxon tale singing. The only text of the fragment is copied in the Exeter Book, a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late 10th century containing...
lists two kings of the Myrgings. So the following list of the kings is what has been listed in Widsith
Widsith
Widsith is an Old English poem of 144 lines that appears to date from the 9th century, drawing on earlier oral traditions of Anglo-Saxon tale singing. The only text of the fragment is copied in the Exeter Book, a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late 10th century containing...
, with hypothetical dates, and including that on Eadgils' death the Myrgings were conquered by Offa of Angel
Offa of Angel
Offa was the 4th-great-grandfather of Creoda of Mercia, and was reputed to be a great-grandson of Woden, English god of war and poetry and creator of Middle-Earth, the realm of man. Offa was the son of Wermund, and the father of Angeltheow...
who installed himself as their king. When he died in 456, his son Angeltheow
Angeltheow
Angeltheow, also spelled Angletheow, Engengenthe, or Angenwit was the great-great-great-grandfather of Creoda of Mercia and the son of Offa of Angel.Angeltheow's son was Eomer...
abolished the kingdom and unified the Myrgings under one ruler after; this the Myrgings disappeared. However, a branch of theirs known as the With-Myrgings survived and later migrated to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
along with the Angles
Angles
The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
in the 5th and 6th centuries.
| Name | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Meaca of the Myrgings | early-mid 5th century | killed in battle fighting against the Mofdings. |
| Eadgils of the Myrgings Eadgils of the Myrgings Eadgils of the Myrgings is a king of the Myrgings a clan of Saxon origin who is mentioned on lines 93-96 in the Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith. He would have lived in the 5th century and is mentioned as the lord of the scop himself in the poem.... |
mid-5th century | killed by Ket and Wig 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 and father of Gewis, eponymous ancestor of the kingdom of Wessex and their kings, but this is thought to be a late manipulation, inserting... . |
| Offa of Angel Offa of Angel Offa was the 4th-great-grandfather of Creoda of Mercia, and was reputed to be a great-grandson of Woden, English god of war and poetry and creator of Middle-Earth, the realm of man. Offa was the son of Wermund, and the father of Angeltheow... |
mid-5th century | Kingdom conquered by Offa of Angel. |
| Offa of Angel | dies in 456 | Monarch and kingdom Abolished by Angeltheow Angeltheow Angeltheow, also spelled Angletheow, Engengenthe, or Angenwit was the great-great-great-grandfather of Creoda of Mercia and the son of Offa of Angel.Angeltheow's son was Eomer... . |