Freawaru, introduced in l. 2020 of the poem ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English Epic poetry, epic poem 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 translations of Beo ...

'', is the daughter of King Hroðgar and Queen Wealhþeow. Freawaru is a ''freoðuwebbe'' or

peace-weaver Peace-weavers ( ang, freothwebbe) were women who were married to a member of an enemy tribe for the purpose of establishing peace between feuding groups.Dorothy Carr Porter, , "The Social Centrality of Women in ''Beowulf'': A New Context," ''The He ...

(an important concept in the poem) who is married to Ingeld, King of the Heaðobards and son of Froda. This marriage was created as a means of ending a feud between the two kingdoms (due to the murder of Froda by the Danes). It was an unsuccessful attempt to end the feud. An old warrior urged the Heaðobards to revenge, and

predicts to Hygelac that Ingeld will turn against his father-in-law Hroðgar.lines 2067-2069. In a version given in the Danish chronicle '' Gesta Danorum'' (see below), the old warrior appears as Starkad, and he succeeded in making Ingeld divorce his bride and in turning him against her family.The article ''Starkad'' in ''Nordisk familjebok'' (1909).
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Scandinavian sources

In '' Gesta Danorum'' (book 6), Freawaru also appears, but unnamed. Froda and Ingeld are rendered as Danish kings, in conflict with the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

s, and Freawaru is a Saxon princess. The Danish king Frotho (Froda) was killed through treachery by a Saxon named Swerting (Swertingus). Frotho's son Ingeld (''Ingellus'') lived a wanton life and married one of Swerting's daughters. This angered Starkad so much that he enlisted at the Swedish king Halfdan's (Haldanus) court instead. As Ingeld continued his sinful life and did not do his duty to avenge his father, Starkad appeared during a banquet that Ingeld had with the sons of Swerting, his father's slayer. Starkad strongly admonished Ingeld and humiliated his queen who tried to calm Starkad with kindness and her costly ribbon. Starkad succeeded in exciting Ingeld to kill Swerting's sons and to divorce his Saxon bride.

Notes

Sources and external links

Book 6 of ''Gesta Danorum'' at the Online Medieval & Classical library

English heroic legends Characters in Beowulf