proper names line references: refer to the line in which the name is introduced into this translation.
note on spellings and pronunciation: there is no silent letter-shape , so that all syllables of e.g. Aelfhere (very roughly ‘ALF+hay+ruh’ where upper case = stressed) are pronounced. Combinations of letter shapes are pronounced ‘sh’, thus , ‘Shield’, , ‘SHIL+fing’ and , ‘ASH+hay+ruh’. is never silent, thus is pronounced in e.g. Hnaef and Hrothgar. The letter shape is pronounced ‘y’ when it precedes high/midhigh front vowels, thus , ‘Yay+at’. All proper names bear stress on their initial (or in the case of monosyllables, their only) syllable. I have elsewhere, as throughout, transliterated the letter shapes thorn and eth found in the original to
.
It’s useful to remember that royal succession was not necessarily based on primogeniture (the succession of the firstborn). While the firstborn child of a ruler would have a good claim to succeed to the throne, other family members – brothers, uncles – might be judged by the governing council of the tribe (the witan) to make more effective leaders. This realpolitik helps to account for the internecine feuding so commonly found in early Germanic literature; brothers fight against brothers, uncles against cousins.
