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SCYLDINGS (30), the Danes in general, or more particularly the reigning Danish dynasty, ‘sons of Scyld’; other variants found in the poem, but not translated here, are Honour-Scyldings, Army-Scyldings, and Victory-Scyldings. SCYLFINGS (2203), the Swedes in general, or more particularly the reigning Swedish dynasty; also called War-Scylfings and BattleScylfings. SIGEMUND (875), son of Waels and uncle (and father) of Fitela. SWEDES (63), inhabitants of the east central part of what is now Sweden, north of the Geatish territory and the great lakes; traditional enemies of both Geats and Danes. SWEDEN (2383), that part of present-day Sweden described in the preceding entry. SWERTING (1203), Hygelac’s grandfather or perhaps uncle. THRYTH (1932), wife of the Angle king Offa; a shrew who has to be (and is) tamed, she serves as contrast to Hygelac’s young queen Hygd. UNFERTH (499), son of Ecglaf and ‘thyle’ or spokesman of Hrothgar; he ‘sits at the feet’ of Hrothgar and is a man of importance at the Danish court, combining something of the duties of poet, entertainer, historian, orator, satirist, and general counsellor: being rather like what we should imagine the serious-minded Anglo-Saxons would make of the idea of ‘court jester’; he is an egotist, an intellectual, an unpunished fratricide, a privileged and a jealous person, but the Beowulf poet with his usual humaneness has given him qualities of military bravery and underlying generosity, and it would be too simple to call him a villain. WAEGMUNDlNGS (2607),family to which Weohstan, Wiglaf, and Beowulf belong; having apparently a Geatish branch (Beowulf and his father Ecgtheow) and a Swedish branch (Weohstan and Wiglaf), in spite of the customary enmity between Swedes and Geats; but perhaps being in reality only Geats, some of whom (e.g. Weohstan) had evidently fought in Swedish service. WAELS (897), father of Sigemund. WAYLAND (455), ‘the smith’ of Germanic legend; Beowulf’s coat of mail is his handiwork. WEALHTHEOW (613), ‘a woman of the Helmings’, Hrothgar’s wife and queen, mother of Hrothmund and Hrethric; her excellence, like that of Hygd, is clearly indicated by the poet. WEDERS (225), the Geats. WENDELS (348), a tribe (of which Wulfgar is a chief) not positively iden- tified, perhaps the Vandals, but more likely the inhabitants of either Vendel in Sweden or Vendill in North Jutland. WEOHSTAN (2602), father of Wiglaf; killer of Eanmund. 90
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WIGLAF (2602), son of Weohstan, of the family of Waegmundings; kinsman of Beowulf; the ideal comrade-in-arms, who alone out of a chosen band of men is willing to risk his life in helping Beowulf to overcome the dragon; to the dying Beowulf Wiglaf is at once the friend in whom pure and naked trust can be placed, the soldier who is an exemplar of honour and selflessness, and the son he never had. WITHERGYLD (2052), a Heathobard warrior. WONRED (2971), a Geat, father of Eofor and Wulf. WULF (2965), a Geat, son of Wonred and brother of Eofor; saved by Eofor when attacked by Ongentheow during the Swedish wars. WULFGAR (348), a Wendel chief and an official at the Danish court; he introduces the visiting Geats to Hrothgar. WYLFINGS (461), a Germanic tribe (to which Heatholaf belonged), living perhaps between the Elbe and the Vistula. YRMENLAF (1324), a Dane, younger brother of Aeschere. 91

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SCYLDINGS (30), the Danes in general, or more particularly the reigning

Danish dynasty, ‘sons of Scyld’; other variants found in the poem, but not translated here, are Honour-Scyldings, Army-Scyldings, and Victory-Scyldings. SCYLFINGS (2203), the Swedes in general, or more particularly the reigning Swedish dynasty; also called War-Scylfings and BattleScylfings. SIGEMUND (875), son of Waels and uncle (and father) of Fitela. SWEDES (63), inhabitants of the east central part of what is now Sweden,

north of the Geatish territory and the great lakes; traditional enemies of both Geats and Danes. SWEDEN (2383), that part of present-day Sweden described in the preceding entry. SWERTING (1203), Hygelac’s grandfather or perhaps uncle. THRYTH (1932), wife of the Angle king Offa; a shrew who has to be (and is) tamed, she serves as contrast to Hygelac’s young queen Hygd. UNFERTH (499), son of Ecglaf and ‘thyle’ or spokesman of Hrothgar; he

‘sits at the feet’ of Hrothgar and is a man of importance at the Danish court, combining something of the duties of poet, entertainer, historian, orator, satirist, and general counsellor: being rather like what we should imagine the serious-minded Anglo-Saxons would make of the idea of ‘court jester’; he is an egotist, an intellectual, an unpunished fratricide, a privileged and a jealous person, but the Beowulf poet with his usual humaneness has given him qualities of military bravery and underlying generosity, and it would be too simple to call him a villain. WAEGMUNDlNGS (2607),family to which Weohstan, Wiglaf, and

Beowulf belong; having apparently a Geatish branch (Beowulf and his father Ecgtheow) and a Swedish branch (Weohstan and Wiglaf), in spite of the customary enmity between Swedes and Geats; but perhaps being in reality only Geats, some of whom (e.g. Weohstan) had evidently fought in Swedish service. WAELS (897), father of Sigemund. WAYLAND (455), ‘the smith’ of Germanic legend; Beowulf’s coat of mail is his handiwork. WEALHTHEOW (613), ‘a woman of the Helmings’, Hrothgar’s wife and queen, mother of Hrothmund and Hrethric; her excellence, like that of Hygd, is clearly indicated by the poet. WEDERS (225), the Geats. WENDELS (348), a tribe (of which Wulfgar is a chief) not positively iden-

tified, perhaps the Vandals, but more likely the inhabitants of either Vendel in Sweden or Vendill in North Jutland. WEOHSTAN (2602), father of Wiglaf; killer of Eanmund.

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