Heardred (

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 ...

*''Harðurāðaz''), died c. 530, is the son of

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 ...

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 ...

, and his queen Hygd, 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 ...

''. After Hygelac's death, in Frisia, Hygd wants to make Hygelac's nephew

, king of Geatland, as she fears that the young Heardred won't be able to defend his people. Beowulf, however, declares his trust in the young man and Heardred is proclaimed king. However, further north in Sweden (then restricted to

Svealand Svealand (), or Swealand, is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south-central Sweden and is one of the three historical lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tive ...

), the Swedish king

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 ...

dies and is succeeded by his younger brother

Onela Onela was, according to ''Beowulf'', a Swedish king, the son of Ongentheow and the brother of Ohthere. He usurped the Swedish throne, but was killed by his nephew Eadgils, who won by hiring foreign assistance. In Scandinavian sagas a Norwegi ...

. Ohthere's sons

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 ...

and Eanmund flee to the

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

and are received by Heardred. This makes Onela attack the Geats to neutralize his nephews, and to avenge his father

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 ...

, who had been killed by the Geats. During the battle Heardred is killed. Eanmund is slain by his kinsman Weohstan.''

'' lines 2370–2391 Heardred is succeeded by his cousin

, who avenges Eanmund by helping

kill

, an event which also appears in Scandinavian sources.

References

{{Beowulf Characters in Beowulf English heroic legends Early Germanic warriors Legendary kings of the Geats 6th-century Germanic people