Sceafa ( , also ''Scēaf'', ''Scēf'') was an ancient Lombardic king in English legend. According to his story, Sceafa appeared mysteriously as a child, coming out of the sea in an empty skiff. The name also appears in the corrupt forms ''Seskef'', ''Stefius'', ''Strephius'', and ''Stresaeus''. Though the name has historically been modernized Shava (and Latinized Scefius), J.R.R. Tolkien used the correctly constructed modern English spelling ''Sheave''.

''Widsith''

The Old English poem ''

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 ...

'', line 32, in a listing of famous kings and their countries, has ''Sceafa Longbeardum'', so naming Sceafa as ruler of the

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

. In ''Origo Gentis Langobardorum'' the Lombards' origins are traced to an "island" in the north named Scadan or Scandan ("

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

"). But neither this account or any other mentions Sceafa among their later kings or gives the names of any kings that ruled them in the land of their origin where they were said to have been known as the Winnili.

In genealogies

Other than this, Sceaf is mentioned only in chronicles tracing the lineage of the English kings, although variants are found in similar genealogies for the rulers of the Danes, Norwegians and Icelanders in the sagas. Most such genealogies stop at the god

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

, but some trace the supposed ancestors of Odin up to a certain Geat. The account in the ''

Historia Britonum ''The History of the Britons'' () is a purported history of early Britain written around 828 that survives in numerous recensions from after the 11th century. The ''Historia Brittonum'' is commonly attributed to Nennius, as some recensions have ...

'' calls Geat a son of a god.

Asser Asser (; ; died 909) was a Welsh people, Welsh monk from St David's, Kingdom of Dyfed, Dyfed, who became Bishop of Sherborne (ancient), Bishop of Sherborne in the 890s. About 885 he was asked by Alfred the Great to leave St David's and join ...

in his ''Life of Alfred'' writes instead that the pagans worshipped Geat himself for a long time as a god. Modern scholars speculate on whether this Geat is any eponym of the people known as

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 ...

, or whether it may be the name of a god, or whether it is both. The apparent

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 ...

cognate form '' Gautr'' is a very common byname for Odin. The

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic ''Herrauðssaga'' speaks of King Hring who ruled East

Götaland Götaland (; also '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep wo ...

and was son of Gauti son of Odin.

Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...

in his '' The origin and deeds of the Goths'' traces the line of the Amelungs up to Hulmul son of Gapt, purportedly the first Gothic hero of record. This ''Gapt'' is felt by many commentators to be an error for ''Gaut''. A few of these genealogies provide mortal ancestors to Geat, tracing his ancestry to Sceaf and then tell of Sceaf's origin. Æthelweard in his ''Chronica'' writes of Sceaf:

This Scef came in a light boat to an island of the ocean which is called Scani, arms around about him, and he was a very young boy, unknown to the dwellers in the land. But he was accepted by them and cared for like one of their own kind, and afterwards they chose him as king, from whose family descended King Æthelwulf.

William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...

in his '' Gesta Regum Anglorum'' wrote:

. . . Sceaf. Iste, ut ferunt, in quondam insulam Germaniae Scandzam (de qua Jordanes, historiographus Gothorum, loquitur) appulsus, navi sine remige, puerulus, posito ad caput frumenti manipulo, dormiens, ideoque Sceaf nuncupatus, ab hominibus regionis illius pro miraculo exceptus, et sedulo nutritus: adulta aetate regnavit in oppido quod tunc Slaswic, nunc vero Haithebi appellatur. Est autem regio illa Anglia Vetus dicta, unde Angli venerunt in Britanniam, inter Saxones et Gothos constituta.

. . . Sceaf; who, as some affirm, was driven on a certain island in Germany, called Scandza, (of which Jordanes, the historian of the
Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...
, speaks), a little boy in a skiff, without any attendant, asleep, with a handful of corn (barley) at his head, whence he was called Sceaf; and, on account of his singular appearance, being well received by the men of that country, and carefully educated, in his riper age he reigned in a town which was called Slaswic, but at present Haithebi; which country, called old Anglia, whence the Angles came into
Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...
, is situated between 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 the Goths.

However the genealogy in the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the ninth century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of ...

'' year 855, versions B and C, explains instead that Scef was born in Noah's Ark, interpreting Sceaf as Noah's fourth non-Biblical son, and then continuing with the ancestry of Noah up to

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

as found in Genesis. Sceaf is unknown outside of English sources except for one mention in

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 ...

's Prologue to the ''Prose Edda'', which is informed by English sources.

Scyld Scefing

In ''Beowulf''

Older than these is the Old English poem ''

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 ...

'' which applies the story of the boy in the boat instead to the Danish hero Scyld (

''Skjǫldr''), the ancestor of the legendary Danish royal lineage known as the Scyldings (Old Norse ''Skjǫldungar''). In the opening lines of ''Beowulf'', he is given the epithet ''Scefing'', which might mean 'descendant of Scef', 'son of Scef', or 'of the sheaf'. The poem itself does not elaborate. But after relating in general terms the glories of Scyld's reign, the poet describes Scyld's funeral, how his body was laid in a ship surrounded by treasures, the poet explains:

They decked his body no less bountifully
with offerings than those first ones did
who cast him away when he was a child
and launched him alone out over the waves.

No other source relates anything similar about Scyld/Skjöld, so it cannot be known whether this is a case of similar stories being told about two different heroes or whether originally separate figures have been confused with one another.

A rite involving ''scyld'' and ''sceaf''

A connection between sheaf and shield appears in the 13th century ''Chronicon de Abingdon'' which relates a dispute over ownership of a river meadow named Beri between the Abbot of Abingdon and the men of

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. The dispute was decided by a ritual in which the monks placed a sheaf (''sceaf'') of wheat on a round shield (''scyld'') and a wax candle upon the sheaf which they lit. They then floated the shield with sheaf and candle on the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

river to see where it would go. The shield purportedly kept to the middle of the Thames until it arrived at the disputed field, which was then an island because of flooding, whereupon it changed its course and entirely circled the meadow between the Thames and the

Iffley Iffley is a village in a designated Conservation area (United Kingdom), conservation area in Oxfordshire, England. It lies within the boundaries of the city of Oxford, between Cowley, Oxfordshire, Cowley and the estates of Rose Hill, Oxford, Rose ...

Variations on Sceaf's lineage

Æ = Æthelweard's ''Chronica''.
ASC = ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', year 855 versions B and C. The A version omits the names Hwala, Bedwig, and Scef, almost certainly by accident, so that in that text it is Hrathra who is a son of Noah born in the ark.
''Beowulf'' calls Heremod a Scylding and calls his people were Scyldings, which should mean Heremod was a descendant of Scyld. But that may be anachonistic usage of a common term.
''Edda'': The forms used indicate an English source. Of the three supposed Norse counterparts, the equation with ''Skjöld'' is obviously correct, but nothing is otherwise known about Bjárr or this particular Annarr. Seskef (that is Sceaf), in this pseudohistorical account, is son of Magi, son of Móda, son of Vingener, son of Vingethor, son of Einridi, son of Lóridi, son of
Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...
by
Sif In Norse mythology, Sif is a golden-haired goddess associated with earth. Sif is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturl ...
, Thor here being the son of Múnón, also called Mennón (equated with Memnon) by Tróan daughter of King
Priam In Greek mythology, Priam (; , ) was the legendary and last king of Troy during the Trojan War. He was the son of Laomedon. His many children included notable characters such as Hector, Paris, and Cassandra. Etymology Most scholars take the e ...
of
Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
. Lóridi (more often Hlóridi) and Einridi are elsewhere names for Thor himself. The names Magi and Modi resemble the names Magni and Modi given to Thor's two sons in other sources. The other names are unique to this list. It is possible that a list of names applied to Thor or connected with Thor may have been at some stage misinterpreted as a lineage or that the names of the descendants of Thor in this list were earlier all applied to sons of Thor.
WM =
William of Malmesbury William of Malmesbury (; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as "a gifted historical scholar and a ...
's ''Gesta regum anglorum''.

Scyld is sometimes son of Sceaf and sometimes son of Heremod and a descendant of Scef. William of Malmesbury combines both versions in making Scyld son of Sceaf and Sceaf son of Heremod, but then traces Heremod's ancestry up to Strephius, son of Noah, born in the ark, who is obviously Sceaf appearing a second time with corrupt name. Asser in his ''Life of Alfred'' repeats the listing of the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' for this section of his genealogy except that he replaces Sceaf altogether with the name Seth and mentions nothing about him being born in the ark. Some modern translations emend Seth to

Shem Shem (; ''Šēm''; ) is one of the sons of Noah in the Bible ( Genesis 5–11 and 1 Chronicles 1:4). The children of Shem are Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram, in addition to unnamed daughters. Abraham, the patriarch of Jews, Christ ...

who was son of Noah in the Genesis account. It is possible that name of ''Beaw'' the son of Scyld may be a variant of ''beow'' 'barley' and that in part these figures derive from rustic folklore about King Sheaf and his son Barley into which the Shield element has intruded. Perhaps a misunderstanding of Scyld Scefing as Scyld the Scefing instead of Scyld of the Sheaf led to the boat story being transferred to Scyld's supposed father Sceaf when he became misunderstood as the true first king in the dynasty. There may be confusion between Danish traditions about Scyld/Skjöld and Anglic traditions about Sceaf. There is the possibility that Bedwig son of Sceaf is a corruption of Beaw son of Scyld. Scholars disagree. For the descendants of Sceaf, only Scyld/Skjöld, Beaw, and Heremod are certainly known elsewhere outside these genealogies, though Hwala or Gwala is possibly the Ecgwela who appears in connection with Heremod in the poem ''Beowulf'' in the phrase "offspring of Ecgwela", apparently a kenning for ''Danes''.

''King Sheave''

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

treated Sceaf in a poem "King Sheave" which was published after his death in "The Lost Road" in '' The Lost Road and Other Writings'' and very slightly revised and printed as prose in "

The Notion Club Papers ''The Notion Club Papers'' is an abandoned novel by J. R. R. Tolkien, written in 1945 and published posthumously in ''Sauron Defeated'', the 9th volume of ''The History of Middle-earth''. It is a time travel story, written while ''The Lord of the ...

(Part Two)" in ''

Sauron Defeated Sauron () is the title character and the main antagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', where he rules the land of Mordor. He has the ambition of ruling the whole of Middle-earth, using the power of the One Ring, which he ha ...

''. In Tolkien's treatment, a ship drifts to the land of the Longobards in the north. It beaches itself and the folk of that country enter and find a young and handsome boy with dark hair asleep with a "sheaf of corn" as his pillow and a harp beside him. The boy awoke the following day and sang a song in an unknown tongue which drove away all terror from the hearts of those who heard it. They made the boy their king, crowning him with a garland of golden wheat. Tolkien's Sheave fathers seven sons from whence came the Danes, Goths, Swedes, Northmen, Franks, Frisians, Swordmen,cf. 'Widsith', v. 62: "Mid Seaxum ic wæs ond Sycgum ond mid Sweordwerum"; "I've been among the ribes namedSaxons (Daggers), Swords and Swordsmen". Saxons, Swabians, English, and the Langobards.

References

External links

Slade, Benjamin ''Beowulf on Steorarume'', Explanatory Notes
{{Authority control English heroic legends Old English literature