Wulfing
Encyclopedia
Germanic umlaut
In linguistics, umlaut is a process whereby a vowel is pronounced more like a following vowel or semivowel. The term umlaut was originally coined and is used principally in connection with the study of the Germanic languages...
in the first syllable u->y. (the name means the "wolf clan") was a powerful clan
Norse clans
The Scandinavian clan or ætt was a social group based on common descent or on the formal acceptance into the group at a þing.-History:...
in Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
, 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 in the Norse sagas. While the poet of Beowulf does not locate the Wulfings geographically, Scandinavian sources define the Ylfings (the Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
form of the name) as the ruling clan of the Eastern Geats
Östergötland
Östergötland, English exonym: East Gothland, is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland, and the Baltic Sea. In older English literature, one might also encounter the Latinized version, Ostrogothia...
.
The Wulfings play an important role in Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
as Beowulf's father Ecgþeow
Ecgþeow
Ecgþeow or Edgetho or Ecgtheow is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf. He is not mentioned outside the Beowulf manuscript, and it is not known whether he was based on a real person. He belonged to a probably Swedish family called the Waegmundings...
of the Wægmunding
Wægmunding
The Wægmundings were a prominent probably Swedish clan in Beowulf. 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 The Wægmundings were a prominent probably Swedish clan (an ätt, see...
clan had slain one of its members, and was banished for not paying the wergild. The Danish king Hroðgar
Hroðgar
Hroðgar, King Hroþgar, "Hrothgar", Hróarr, Hroar, Roar, Roas or Ro was a legendary Danish king, living in the early 6th century....
, who was married to Wealhþeow
Wealhþeow
Wealhþēow is a legendary queen of the Danes in the Old English poem, Beowulf, first introduced in line 612.-Character overview:She is the Wulfing queen of the Danes. She is married to Hroðgar, the Danish king and is the mother of sons Hreðric and Hroðmund and also of daughter Freawaru. The meaning...
, a Wulfing woman, graciously paid the wergild, and when Beowulf arrived at the Danish
Daner
The Danes were a North Germanic tribe residing in modern day Denmark. They are mentioned in the 6th century in Jordanes' Getica, by Procopius, and by Gregory of Tours....
court in order to slay Grendel
Grendel
Grendel is one of three antagonists, along with Grendel's mother and the dragon, in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf . Grendel is usually depicted as a monster, though this is the subject of scholarly debate. In the poem, Grendel is feared by all but Beowulf.-Story:The poem Beowulf is contained in...
, Hroðgar interpreted this as a son's gratitude.
In Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
sources, the clan figure prominently in the Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
and in Sögubrot, where Hjörvard
Hjörvard
Hjörvard was the name of several characters in Norse mythology.#Hjörvard Ylfing, see Granmar.#Hjörvard, who rebelled against Hrólf Kraki and killed him, see Heoroweard#Hjörvard, the son of Arngrim.#Hervor's name as a shieldmaiden....
and his son Hjörmund belong to it. It is also mentioned in the Lay of Hyndla and in Skáldskaparmál
Skáldskaparmál
The second part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda the Skáldskaparmál or "language of poetry" is effectively a dialogue between the Norse god of the sea, Ægir and Bragi, the god of poetry, in which both Norse mythology and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined...
where Eiríkr the Wise was one of its members. However, its most famous member was Helge Hundingsbane who had two poems of his own (Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II), in the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
, and whose story is also retold in the Völsunga saga
Volsunga saga
The Völsungasaga is a legendary saga, a late 13th century Icelandic prose rendition of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan . It is largely based on epic poetry...
.
Sam Newton and others (including Rupert Bruce-Mitford
Rupert Bruce-Mitford
Rupert Leo Scott Bruce-Mitford was a British archaeologist best known for his multi-volume publication on the Sutton Hoo ship burial....
), have proposed that the East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
n Wuffing
Wuffing
The Wuffingas were the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of East Anglia, the long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Wuffingas took their name from Wuffa, an early East Anglian king. It has been argued that the Wuffingas may have originated...
dynasty was derived from the Wulfings, and it was at their court that Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
was first composed.
Location
According to the Norse sagaNorse saga
The sagas are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, the battles that took place during the voyages, about migration to Iceland and of feuds between Icelandic families...
s, the Wulfings ruled the Geat
Geat
Geats , and sometimes Goths) were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting what is now Götaland in modern Sweden...
ish petty kingdom
Petty kingdom
A petty kingdom is one of a number of small kingdoms, described as minor or "petty" by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it...
of Östergötland
Östergötland
Östergötland, English exonym: East Gothland, is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland, and the Baltic Sea. In older English literature, one might also encounter the Latinized version, Ostrogothia...
.
In the first poem (Helgakviða Hundingsbana I), Sinfjotli
Sinfjötli
Sinfjötli or Fitela in Norse mythology was born out of the incestuous relationship between Sigmund and his sister Signy...
has his residence on the Brávellir
Brávellir
Brávellir or Bråvalla was the name of the central plain of Östergötland , in Norse mythology....
(see Battle of the Brávellir
Battle of the Brávellir
The Battle of Brávellir or the Battle of Bråvalla was a legendary battle that is described in the Norse sagas as taking place on the Brávellir between Sigurd Ring, king of Sweden and the Geats of West Götaland, and his uncle Harald Wartooth, king of Denmark and the Geats of East...
).
Stanza 42:
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Helgi Hundingsbane resides at Hringstaðir (probably modern Ringstad
Ringstad
Ringstad may refer to the following locations:*Ringstad in Bø municipality, Nordland, Norway*Ringstad in Gran municipality, Oppland, Norway...
, an old royal estate on the same plain).
In the Heimskringla, Högni was the ruler of Östergötland. The legends of Helge Hundingsbane relate that Högni lost his throne to Helgi Hundingsbane. On the other hand, Sögubrot relates that Ivar Vidfamne
Ivar Vidfamne
Ivar Vidfamne was a Danish and Swedish king hailing from Scania. He may have died c. 700. According to the Heimskringla and the Hervarar saga, Ivar was also the king of Norway, Denmark, Saxony and parts of England.- Ivar in the Sagas :He began as king of Scania and conquered Sweden by defeating...
gave the East Geatish throne to Hjörmund, the son of Hjörvard, after Ingjald
Ingjald
Ingjald illråde or Ingjaldr hinn illráði was a legendary Swedish king of the House of Ynglings. Ingjald may have ruled in the 7th century, and he was the son of the former king Anund....
's death since it had been the kingdom of Hjörmund's father Hjörvard.
- Hann setti konunga ok jarla ok lét ser skatta gjalda; han setti Hjörmund konung, on Hervardar Ylfings, yfir Eystra-Gautland, er átt hafði faðir hans ok Granmarr konungr.
However, this contradicts both the legend of Helge Hundingsbane and the Heimskringla in which the dynasty never lost Östergötland, unless Ivar killed either Högne or Helgi Hundingsbane before giving the throne to their relative Hjörmund.