Hrefnesholt is a location 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 ...

'' where 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 ...

Hæþcyn Hæthcyn () is the son of the Geatish king Hreðel in the Old English poem ''Beowulf''. The hero Beowulf is Hæþcyn's nephew. Hæþcyn kills his elder brother Herebeald with an arrow in a hunting accident, which causes their father Hrethel to d ...

had taken the Swedish queen. 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 ...

arrived to save her and killed Hæþcyn. The Geatish force was, however, reinforced by

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 ...

, whereupon the Swedes sought refuge in a

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

, but were stormed by the Geats. Ongenþeow was killed and Hygelac became their new king. A place by this name, ''Ramshult'' (the modern Swedish form), actually exists and it has a hillfort. It is located on the island of

Orust Orust () is an island in Bohuslän, western Sweden. In 2014 Statistics Sweden declared it to ibe the fourth largest island in Sweden, under a definition which adds artificial canals to the possible bodies of water surrounding an island. It has bee ...

, an island which was Geatish territory at this time according to

Nordisk familjebok (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. The public domain edit ...

References

{{reflist Geats Beowulf