The Wulfings, Wylfings or Ylfings (the name means the "wolf clan") was a powerful

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

in ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ) is an Old English poetry, Old English poem, an Epic poetry, epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 Alliterative verse, alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and List of translat ...

'', ''

Widsith "Widsith" (, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the '' Exeter Book'' (''pages 84v–87r''), a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the la ...

'' and in the Norse

saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

s. While the poet of ''Beowulf'' does not locate the Wulfings geographically, Scandinavian sources define the Ylfings (the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

form of the name) as the ruling clan of the Eastern Geats. The Wulfings play an important role in ''

'' as

's father

Ecgþeow Ecgþēow (pronounced ), Edgetho (Proto-Norse *''Agiþewaz''), or Ecgtheow is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic ''Beowulf''. He is not mentioned outside the ''Bēowulf'' manuscript, and it is not known whether he was based on a real person. He b ...

of the

Wægmunding The Wægmundings were a prominent probably Swedish clan (an ''ätt'', see Norse clans) 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 ...

clan had slain one of its members, and was banished for not paying the

weregild Weregild (also spelled wergild, wergeld (in archaic/historical usage of English), weregeld, etc.), also known as man price ( blood money), was a precept in some historical legal codes whereby a monetary value was established for a person's life, ...

. The Danish king

Hroðgar Hrothgar ( ; ) was a semi-legendary Danish king living around the early sixth century AD. Hrothgar appears in the Anglo-Saxon epics ''Beowulf'' and ''Widsith'', in Norse sagas and poems, and in medieval Danish chronicles. In both Anglo-Saxon an ...

, who was married to

Wealhþeow Wealhtheow (also rendered Wealhþēow or Wealthow; ) is a queen of the Danes in the Old English poem ''Beowulf'', first introduced in line 612. Character overview Wealhtheow is of the Wulfing clan, Queen of the Danes. She is married to Hrothga ...

, a Wulfing woman, graciously paid the weregild, and when Beowulf arrived at the Danish court in order to slay

Grendel Grendel is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem ''Beowulf'' (700–1000 AD). He is one of the poem's three antagonists (along with his mother and the dragon), all aligned in opposition against the protagonist Beowulf. He is referred to as b ...

, Hroðgar interpreted this as a son's gratitude. In

sources, the clan figure prominently in the ''

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

'' and in '' Sögubrot'', where Hjörvard and his son Hjörmund belong to it. It is also mentioned in the ''

Lay of Hyndla Lay or LAY may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France * Lay, Iran, a village * Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community * Lay Dam, Alabam ...

'' and in ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'Poetic Diction' or 'The Language of Poetry'; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda'', compiled by Snorri Sturluson. It consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bra ...

'' where Eiríkr the Wise was one of its members. However, its most famous member was

Helgi Hundingsbane Helgi Hundingsbane is a hero in Norse sagas. Helgi appears in '' Volsunga saga'' and in two lays in the ''Poetic Edda'' named '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''. The ''Poetic Edda'' relates that Helgi and his mist ...

who had two poems of his own (''Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and ''Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''), in the ''

Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...

'', and whose story is also retold in the ''

Völsunga saga The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century prose rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the story ...

''.

Sam Newton Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fiction ...

and others (including

Rupert Bruce-Mitford Rupert Leo Scott Bruce-Mitford (14 June 1914 – 10 March 1994) was a British archaeologist and scholar. He spent the majority of his career at the British Museum, primarily as the Keeper of the Department of British and Medieval Antiquities, ...

), have proposed that the

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

Wuffing The Wuffingas, Uffingas or Wiffings were the ruling dynasty 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 kin ...

dynasty was derived from the Wulfings, and it was at their court that ''

'' was first composed.

Location

According to the

Norse saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

s, the Wulfings ruled the

Geat The Geats ( ; ; ; ), sometimes called ''Goths'', were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the Late Middle Ages. They are one of the progenitor groups of modern Swed ...

ish

petty kingdom A petty kingdom is a kingdom described as minor or "petty" (from the French 'petit' meaning small) by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it (e.g. the numerous kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England unified into t ...

Östergötland Östergötland (; English exonym: East Gothland) is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish) in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland and the Baltic Sea. In older English li ...

. In the first poem (''Helgakviða Hundingsbana I''),

Sinfjötli Sinfjötli ( ) or Fitela (in Old English) in Norse mythology was born out of the incestuous relationship between Sigmund and his sister Signy. He had the half-brothers Sigurd, Helgi Hundingsbane and Hamund. Etymology and orthography ''Sinfj� ...

has his residence on the

Brávellir Brávellir (Old Norse) or Bråvalla (modern Swedish) () was the name of the central plain of Östergötland (East Götaland), in Norse mythology. It appears in several traditions, such as those of the Battle of Bråvalla (Battle of the Bravelli ...

(see

Battle of the Brávellir A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

). Stanza 42: Helgi Hundingsbane resides at Hringstaðir (probably modern Ringstad, 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 (or ''Ívarr inn víðfaðmi''; English exonym ''Ivar Widefathom''; Danish ''Ivar Vidfadme'' – in Norwegian and Danish the form ''Ivar Vidfavne'' is sometimes used as an alternative form) was a semi-legendary king of Denmark, wh ...

gave the East Geatish throne to Hjörmund, the son of Hjörvard, after

Ingjald Ingjald illråde or Ingjaldr hinn illráði (''Ingold Illruler'' or ''Illready'') was a semi-legendary Swedish king of the House of Ynglings, son and successor of King Anund, and the father and predecessor of King Olof Trätälja. As with many ...

'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.

Known Wulfings

* Ylfur or Úlfur, possible ancestor of the clan, based on clans being named after an ancestor. *Helm Wulfingum ("Helm of the Wulfings"), mentioned in ''

''. *

Heaðolaf Heaðolaf (Proto-Norse *''Haþulaibaz'')"Lexikon över Urnordiska ...

(''Beowulf'') *

(''

Edda "Edda" (; Old Norse ''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an Old Norse term that has been applied by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the ''Prose Edda'' and an older collection of poems ( ...

'', ''

'' and ''

Norna-Gests þáttr ''Nornagests þáttr'' or the ''Story of Norna-Gest'' is a legendary saga about the Norse hero Nornagestr, sometimes called Gestr, and here anglicized as Norna-Gest. ''Nornagests þáttr'' is as an episode of the '' Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason'' ...

'') * Hjörvard Ylfing (e.g. ''

'' and '' Sögubrot'') * Hjörmund (e.g. ''Heimskringla'' and ''Sögubrot'') *

Högne Högne was a king of Östergötland who appears in sources of Norse mythology. ''Heimskringla'' Snorri Sturluson wrote that he was the king of Östergötland and that he had a son named Hildur and daughter Hilda who was married to Granmar, the ...

(e.g. ''Heimskringla'') *Hildur, the son of Högne (e.g. ''Heimskringla'') * Eric the Wise (''

'' and the ''

'') *

Rikiwulf Rikiwulf ("The rich and powerful wolf" or "The Ruler of the wolves") was probably a member of the legendary Scandinavian Wulfing dynasty. In the ninth century, he sailed with his Viking warriors down the river Lys in Flanders, and settled inter al ...

("The rich and powerful wolf"), settled in Flanders in 876 near present

Tielt Tielt (; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the town of Tielt proper and the villages of Aarsele, Kanegem, and Schuiferskapelle. History Some traces of Gallo-Roman occupation hav ...

, where he built Rikiwulfinga-haim. *

, the queen of the Danish king

, in ''Beowulf''.

Footnotes

References

{{Authority control Characters in Beowulf Characters in Norse mythology English heroic legends Geatish clans Norse clans Völsung cycle

Location

Known Wulfings

See also

Footnotes

References