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HEREBEALD (2434), Geatish prince, eldest son of Hrethel; killed acci- dentally by his brother Haethcyn. HEREMOD (901), an early and bad Danish king, contrasted with Beowulf. HERERIC (2205), (probably) Hygd’s brother and Heardred’s uncle. HETWARE (2363), a Frankish tribe living in the Lower Rhine area; Hygelac fights against them when he invades the Franks. HILDEBURH (1071), a princess of the Half-Danes, daughter of Hoc and wife of the Frisian king Finn. HNAEF (1069), Hildeburh’s brother, and leader of the Half-Danes in the fight against Finn, during which he is killed. HOC (1076), father of Hildeburh and Hnaef. HONDSCIO (2076), a Geatish warrior in Beowulf’s retinue, devoured by Grendel in Heorot. HREOSNABEORH (2478), a hill in Geatland; the Swedes under Ohthere and Onela attack the Geats here after Hrethel’s death. HRETHEL (374), Geatish king, father of Hygelac, Herebeald, and Haethcyn; dies of grief after Haethcyn has unintentionally shot Herebeald with an arrow. HRETHRIC (1189), elder son of Hrothgar. HRONESNESS (2805), ‘the whale’s promontory’, a headland on the Geatish coast where the dying Beowulf wants his burial-mound to be erected, as a landmark to ships at sea and as the memorial of a king. HROTHGAR (61), Danish king, son of Healfdene, brother of Heorogar and Halga, husband of Wealhtheow, father of Hrethric, Hrothmund, and Freawaru; distinguished ruler, builder of Heorot; friend, counsellor, debtor in service, rewarder, and quasi-father of Beowulf, who by destroying Grendel and Grendel’s mother restores the perilous tranquillity of his realm. HROTHMUND (1189), younger son of Hrothgar. HROTHULF (1015), son of Hrothgar’s younger brother Halga; in spite of Wealhtheow’s hopes, his future treacherous behaviour towards his cousins Hrothmund and Hrethric is hinted at by the poem. HRUNTING (1457), name of Unferth’s sword, which he lends to Beowulf for use in his combat with Grendel’s mother. HUNLAFING (1144), either (i) name of a sword, perhaps Hnaef’s, which is taken up by Hengest as an earnest of delayed vengeance on Finn, or (ii) a warrior of the Half-Danes, ‘son of Hunlaf’ (who was perhaps brother of Guthlaf and Oslaf), urging Hengest to exact vengeance by placing a sword in his lap; the present translation takes the former reading, but the passage is, like many details of the Finn episode, still much disputed. HYGD (1926), wife and queen of Hygelac, daughter of Haereth, and 88
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mother of Heardred. HYGELAC (195), king of the Geats, husband of Hygd, son of Hrethel, uncle of Beowulf, father of Heardred, brother of Herebeald and Haethcyn; killed during his raid of Frankish territory in the Netherlands. INGELD (2065), prince of the Heathobards, son of Froda, husband of Freawaru. JUTES (1072), Old English ‘Eotan’, probably a people subject to the Frisian king Finn, and probably identifiable with the tribe we know as Jutes. MEROVINGIAN (2921), i.e. Frankish. NAEGLING (2680), name of Beowulf’s sword, used by him when he fights the dragon. NORWAY (519 – ‘on a Norway beach’), literally, ‘to the Heathoreamas’, a tribe situated in southern Norway, not far from modern Oslo; Beowulf is thrown on this coast after his swimming-match with Breca. OFFA (1951), king of the continental Angles, husband of Thryth. OHTHERE (2380), Swedish prince, son of Ongentheow, brother of Onela, father of Eanmund and Eadgils. ONELA (62), Swedish king, son of Ongentheow, brother of Ohthere; invader of Geatland and killer of Heardred; killed in the counterinvasion of Sweden organized by Beowulf and Eadgils. ONGENTHEOW (1968), Swedish king, father of Onela and Ohthere; after the capture of his wife by the invading Geatish king Haethcyn, he invades Geatland and kills Haethcyn, but is attacked by Geats under Hygelac near Ravenswood and is killed there by Eofor. OSLAF (1148), a Danish warrior fighting in Hnaef’s retinue against Finn. RAVENSWOOD (2925), Old English ‘Hrefnesholt’ or ‘Hrefnawudu’, a forest in Sweden; here, in the Geat-Swede conflict, Ongentheow kills Haethcyn and is killed by Eofor. SCANDINAVIA (19), Old English ‘Scedeland’ or ‘Scedenig’, the southern tip of the Scandinavian peninsula, at that time a part of Danish territory; used, at line 1686, as an equivalent for ‘Denmark’, and so translated. SCYLD SCEFING (4), mythical king, founder of the Scylding (Danish) dynasty; his name may indicate that he was the son of Scef (or Sceaf), but more probably that he was ‘the child of the sheaf’ and originally an agriculture or fertility figure; moving in the limbo between genealogy and mythology, he has been brought into history to serve the poet’s purposes, but the account of his remote and mysteriously patterned life (so reminiscent of Shakespeare’s last plays) gains power from its being nearer myth than fact. 89

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HEREBEALD (2434), Geatish prince, eldest son of Hrethel; killed acci-

dentally by his brother Haethcyn. HEREMOD (901), an early and bad Danish king, contrasted with Beowulf. HERERIC (2205), (probably) Hygd’s brother and Heardred’s uncle. HETWARE (2363), a Frankish tribe living in the Lower Rhine area;

Hygelac fights against them when he invades the Franks. HILDEBURH (1071), a princess of the Half-Danes, daughter of Hoc and wife of the Frisian king Finn. HNAEF (1069), Hildeburh’s brother, and leader of the Half-Danes in the fight against Finn, during which he is killed. HOC (1076), father of Hildeburh and Hnaef. HONDSCIO (2076), a Geatish warrior in Beowulf’s retinue, devoured by

Grendel in Heorot. HREOSNABEORH (2478), a hill in Geatland; the Swedes under Ohthere and Onela attack the Geats here after Hrethel’s death. HRETHEL (374), Geatish king, father of Hygelac, Herebeald, and

Haethcyn; dies of grief after Haethcyn has unintentionally shot Herebeald with an arrow. HRETHRIC (1189), elder son of Hrothgar. HRONESNESS (2805), ‘the whale’s promontory’, a headland on the

Geatish coast where the dying Beowulf wants his burial-mound to be erected, as a landmark to ships at sea and as the memorial of a king. HROTHGAR (61), Danish king, son of Healfdene, brother of Heorogar and Halga, husband of Wealhtheow, father of Hrethric, Hrothmund, and Freawaru; distinguished ruler, builder of Heorot; friend, counsellor, debtor in service, rewarder, and quasi-father of Beowulf, who by destroying Grendel and Grendel’s mother restores the perilous tranquillity of his realm. HROTHMUND (1189), younger son of Hrothgar. HROTHULF (1015), son of Hrothgar’s younger brother Halga; in spite of Wealhtheow’s hopes, his future treacherous behaviour towards his cousins Hrothmund and Hrethric is hinted at by the poem. HRUNTING (1457), name of Unferth’s sword, which he lends to Beowulf for use in his combat with Grendel’s mother. HUNLAFING (1144), either (i) name of a sword, perhaps Hnaef’s, which is taken up by Hengest as an earnest of delayed vengeance on Finn, or (ii) a warrior of the Half-Danes, ‘son of Hunlaf’ (who was perhaps brother of Guthlaf and Oslaf), urging Hengest to exact vengeance by placing a sword in his lap; the present translation takes the former reading, but the passage is, like many details of the Finn episode, still much disputed. HYGD (1926), wife and queen of Hygelac, daughter of Haereth, and

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