Onela was, according to ''

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 ...

'', a Swedish king, the son of

Ongentheow Ongentheow (Old English: ''Ongenþeow'', ''Ongenþio'', ''Ongendþeow''; Old Norse: ''Angantýr'') (died ca. 515) was the name of a semi-legendary Suiones, Swedish king of the house of Yngling, Scylfings, who appears in Old English sources. He ...

and the brother of

Ohthere Ohthere, also Ohtere (Old Norse: ''Óttarr vendilkráka'', ''Vendelcrow''; in modern Swedish ''Ottar Vendelkråka''), was a semi-legendary king of Sweden of the house of Yngling, Scylfings, who is said to have lived during the Germanic Heroic Ag ...

. He usurped the Swedish throne, but was killed by his nephew

Eadgils Eadgils, ''Adils'', ''Aðils'', ''Adillus'', ''Aðísl at Uppsölum'', ''Athisl'', ''Athislus'' or ''Adhel'' was a semi-legendary king of Sweden, who is estimated to have lived during the 6th century. ''Beowulf'' and Old Norse sources present ...

, who won by hiring foreign assistance. In Scandinavian sagas a Norwegian king by the same name exists, Áli (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 ''Onela'', also rendered as ''Ole'', ''Åle'' or ''Ale''), who had the cognomen ("from

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...

").

Etymology

The name stems from the

Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic; Danish and ; ; ; ) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of Proto-Germanic in the first centuries CE. It is the earliest stage of a c ...

''Anulā'', attested on the spear shaft SJy 68 from

Nydam Mose The Nydam Mose, also known as Nydam Bog, is an archaeological site located at Øster Sottrup, a town located in Sundeved, from Sønderborg, Denmark. History In the Iron Age, the site of the bog was a sacred place, where the weapons and ships ...

. It is a

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

with l-suffix to a name starting with *''anu-'', or directly of an appellative , "ancestor".(Lexicon of nordic personal names before the 8th century)

Beowulf

In the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

'', Onela plays a central part in the Swedish-Geatish wars. Onela and his brother

were the sons of the Swedish king

Ongenþeow Ongentheow (Old English: ''Ongenþeow'', ''Ongenþio'', ''Ongendþeow''; Old Norse: ''Angantýr'') (died ca. 515) was the name of a semi-legendary Swedish king of the house of Scylfings, who appears in Old English sources. He is generally ide ...

. When the

Geatish king Geatish kings (; ), ruling over the provinces of Götaland (Gautland/Geatland), appear in several sources for early Swedish history. Today, most of them are not considered historical. This list follows the generally accepted identification bet ...

Hreðel Hrethel (; ) is a king of the Geats. Name Hrethel's name appears with both the root vowel and and with both the consonant (i.e. the phoneme , pronounced in Old English) and (which would ordinarily represent the phoneme ). This is thought to ...

died, Onela and Ohthere saw the opportunity to pillage in Geatland starting the Swedish-Geatish wars: The war ended with Ongenþeow's death. It is implied by the poem that Onela eventually became king, because Ohthere's two sons,

Eanmund Eanmund was a Swedish prince of the Scylfing dynasty, whose existence is alleged in ''Beowulf''.''Beowulf'', lines 2612-2615. Life according to ''Beowulf'' Unlike his relatives, Eanmund is only mentioned in Beowulf. Eanmund was the son of Ohth ...

and

, had to seek refuge with

Heardred Heardred (Proto-Norse *''Harðurāðaz''), died c. 530, is the son of Hygelac, king of the Geats, and his queen Hygd, in ''Beowulf''. After Hygelac's death, in Frisia, Hygd wants to make Hygelac's nephew Beowulf, king of Geatland, as she fears th ...

Hygelac Hygelac (; ; ; or ''Hugilaicus''; died 516 or 521) was a king of the Geats according to the poem ''Beowulf''. It is Hygelac's presence in the poem which has allowed scholars to tentatively date the setting of the poem as well as to infer tha ...

's successor as

king of the Geats Geatish kings (; ), ruling over the provinces of Götaland (Gautland/Geatland), appear in several sources for early Swedish history. Today, most of them are not considered historical. This list follows the generally accepted identification bet ...

. This caused Onela to attack the Geats. During the battle, Eanmund was killed by Onela's champion Weohstan and

was killed as well, after which Onela returned home. Eadgils, however, survived and later,

helped him avenge Eanmund by slaying Onela. By a conjectural emendation of line 62 of this poem some editors represent Onela as the son-in-law of Healfdene/Halfdan king of Denmark.

Norse sagas

The animosity between Eadgils and Onela also appears in Scandinavian tradition. In the Norse sagas, which were mostly based on Norwegian versions of Scandinavian legends, Onela seems to appear as ''Áli of Uppland'', and is called Norwegian. By the time ''Ynglingatal'' was used as a source by Snorri Sturluson, there appears no longer to have been a Scandinavian tradition of Áli as a relation of Eadgils. The earliest extant Scandinavian source where Onela appears is the 9th century

skaldic poem A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...

Ynglingatal ''Ynglingatal'' or ''Ynglinga tal'' (Old Norse: 'Enumeration of the Ynglingar') is a Skaldic poem cited by Snorri Sturluson in the ''Ynglinga saga'', the first saga of Snorri's ''Heimskringla''. Þjóðólfr of Hvinir (Thjodolf), who was a poet ...

'', Eadgils (''Aðils'') is called Onela's enemy (). ''Ála'' is the genitive case of ''Áli'', the

form of the name Onela. 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 ...

'', compiled by

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

and in Arngrímur Jónsson's Latin summary of ''

Skjöldunga saga The ''Skjöldunga saga'' (or, in another standardised Old Norse spelling, ''Skjǫldunga saga'') was an Old Norse legendary saga. Dating from c. 1180 – 1200, the saga was lost in its original form. The saga focused on the Danish dynasty of Sc ...

'', the battle hinted at in ''Beowulf'' is treated in more detail. Snorri first quotes the ''

Kálfsvísa The ''Kálfsvísa'' ("Kálfr's '' vísa''", Kálfr being maybe the name of its author) is a poem partially preserved in Snorri Sturluson’s ''Skáldskaparmál''. Its three stanzas in ''fornyrðislag Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of vers ...

'' but only small parts of it:Nerman 1925:102 Snorri then relates that Aðils was in war with a Norwegian king named Áli, and they fought in the

Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern The Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern was a 6th-century battle recorded in the Norse sagas and referred to in the Old English epic ''Beowulf''. It has been dated to c. AD 530. The epic Beowulf Beowulf is an epic poem that refers to the conflict, ...

. Aðils was married to

Yrsa Yrsa, Yrse, Yrs or Urse (fl. 6th century)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 archa ...

, the mother of Hrólfr ( Hroðulf) and so sent an embassy to Hrólfr asking him for help against Áli. He would receive three valuable gifts in recompense. Hrólfr was involved in a war against the

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

and could not come in person but sent his twelve berserkers, including

Bödvar Bjarki Bödvar Bjarki ( ), meaning 'Warlike Little-Bear', is the hero appearing in tales of Hrólfr Kraki in the '' Hrólfs saga kraka'', in the Latin epitome to the lost '' Skjöldunga saga'', and as ''Biarco'' in Saxo Grammaticus' . He is often depi ...

. Áli died in the war, and Aðils took Áli's helmet ''Battle-boar'' and his horse Raven. The berserkers demanded three pounds of gold each in pay, and they demanded to choose the gifts that Aðils had promised Hrólfr, that is the two pieces of armour that nothing could pierce: the helmet battle-boar and the mailcoat '' Finn's heritage''. They also wanted the famous ring Svíagris. Aðils considered the pay outrageous and refused. In the ''

Ynglinga saga ''Ynglinga saga'' ( ) is a Kings' sagas, Kings' saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelanders, Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It is the first section of his ''Heimskringla''. It was first translated into Engl ...

'', Snorri relates that king Eadgils fought hard battles with the Norwegian king who was called . They fought on the ice of Lake

Vänern Vänern ( , , ) is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the European Union and the third-largest lake in Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland in the sou ...

, where Áli fell and Adils won. Snorri relates that much is told about this event in the ''Skjöldunga saga'', and that Adils took Hrafn (Raven), Áli's horse. The '' Saga of the Skjöldungs'' is lost but in the end of the 16th century, Arngrímur Jónsson saved a piece of information from this saga in Latin. He wrote: ''There was animosity between king Adils of Sweden and the Norwegian king Áli of Uppland. They decided to fight on the ice of Lake

. Adils won and took his helmet, chainmail and horse.

Notes

Secondary sources

Nerman, B., ''Det svenska rikets uppkomst''. Stockholm, 1925. {{authority control European people whose existence is disputed Characters in Beowulf English heroic legends Scandinavian folklore Semi-legendary kings of Sweden Year of birth unknown