Swedish–Geatish wars
The first war in Beowulf
The
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The
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However, the war was not over. Hygelac, the new king of the Geats, attacked the Swedes:
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The Geatish warriors Eofor and Wulf Wonreding fought together against the hoary king Ongenþeow.[16] Wulf hit Ongenþeow's head with his sword so that the old king bled over his hair, but the king hit back and wounded Wulf.[17] Then, Eofor retaliated by cutting through the Swedish king's shield and through his helmet,[18] giving Ongenþeow a death-blow.[19] Eofor took the Swedish king's helmet, sword and breastplate and carried them to Hygelac.[20] When they came home, Eofor and Wulf were richly awarded,[21] and Eofor was given Hygelac's daughter.[22] Because of this battle, Hygelac is referred to as Ongenþeow's slayer.[23]
The second war in Beowulf
In Sweden, both Ongenþeow and Ohthere were apparently dead as Onela was king, and Ohthere's two sons, Eanmund and Eadgils, sought refuge with Heardred, Hygelac's successor as king of the Geats.[24] This caused Onela to attack the Geats. During the battle, Eanmund was killed by Onela's champion Weohstan[25] and Heardred was killed as well.[26] Onela returned home and Beowulf became king of the Geats.[27]
Eadgils, however, survived and later, Beowulf helped him avenge Eanmund by slaying Onela,[28] an event which also appears in Scandinavian sources, as the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern (although no Geatish involvement is remembered or mentioned).
The foreboding of a third war in Beowulf
As Wiglaf sat beside the dead king Beowulf, he spoke of a new war with the Swedes that would surely come:
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Aftermath
According to a Scandinavian legend written down in the 13th century, in the Ynglinga saga, a 7th-century Geatish king named Algaut was invited to his son-in-law, the Swedish king Ingjald, at Uppsala. During the night, he was burned to death together with a number of other invited kings. Ingjald then extended his rule to include the Geatish heartland in Västergötland, whereas the East Geats in Östergötland preserved their independence. The Geats and the other Scandinavians were later united by Ivar Vidfamne.
In the 12th century, Geatish tribal independence was but a memory as the Danish chronicler
In 1442, the law of the Swedish, Norwegian and Danish king Christopher of Bavaria, declared that the merging of Geatland into the Swedish kingdom took place in a distant pagan time.[31]
Notes
- ^ The dating has never been a matter of controversy. It is inferred from the internal chronology of the sources themselves and the dating of Hygelac's raid on Frisia to c. 516. It is also supported by archaeological excavations of the barrows of Eadgils and Ohthere in Sweden. For a discussion, see e.g. Birger Nerman's Det svenska rikets uppkomst (1925) (in Swedish). For presentations of the archaeological findings, see e.g. Elisabeth Klingmark's Gamla Uppsala, Svenska kulturminnen 59, Riksantikvarieämbetet (in Swedish), or this English language presentation by the Swedish National Heritage Board Archived 2007-08-24 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 1-55111-189-6
- .
- ^ Lines 2473-2479
- ^ Lines 2473-2480.
- ^ effectively slowed down communication.
- ^ Modern English translation by Francis Barton Gummere
- ^ Lines 2931-2936
- ^ Lines 2483-2485, 2925-2931
- ^ Lines 2934-2942
- ^ Lines 2434-2435
- ^ Lines 2942-2946
- ^ Lines 2947-2952
- ^ a b c Gummere's translation
- ^ Lines 2959-2962.
- ^ Lines 2965-2966.
- ^ Lines 2966-2977.
- ^ Lines 2977-2982
- ^ Lines 2485-2490, 2977-2982
- ^ Lines 2987-2990
- ^ Lines 2992-2997
- ^ Lines 2998-2999
- ^ Line 1969
- ^ Lines 2380-2391
- ^ Lines 2610-2617
- ^ Line 2389
- ^ Lines 2388-2391
- ^ Line 2392-2397
- ^ Lines 3000-3008.
- ^ Sveær egho konong at taka ok sva vrækæ ("it is the Swedes who have the right to elect king and to dethrone him").
- ^ Swerikis rike är af hedna värld samman kommit, af swea och gotha land ("The kingdom of Sweden is from pagan times a union of Swedish and Geatish/Gothic lands") (Lundström, 1972:6).
Bibliography
- Lundström, I. (1972). Viking, viking. Forntidsdröm och verklighet. Statens historiska museum, Stockholm. p. 6.
- Nerman, B. (1925). Det svenska rikets uppkomst. Stockholm.
External links
- Old English edition edited by James Albert Harrison and Robert Sharp
Translations of Beowulf: