Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

Scylding (plural Scyldingas) and Old Norse Skjǫldung (plural Skjǫldungar), meaning in both languages "children of Scyld/Skjǫldr" are the members of a legendary royal family of

Danes Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. Danes generally regard t ...

, especially kings. The name is explained in many texts, such as

Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann (13 May 1785, Wismar5 December 1860, Bonn) was a German historian and politician. Biography He came of an old Hanseatic family of Wismar, then controlled by Sweden. His father, who was burgomaster of the town ...

's 'Research on the Field of History' (german: Forschungen auf dem Gebiete der Geschichte),

, ''Forschungen auf dem Gebiete der Geschichte'', p. 386 by the descent of this family from an eponymous king Scyld, but the title is sometimes applied to rulers who purportedly reigned before him, and the supposed king may be an invention to explain the name. There was once a Norse saga on the dynasty, the '' Skjöldunga saga'', but it survives only in a Latin summary by

Arngrímur Jónsson Arngrímur Jónsson the Learned ( is, Arngrímur Jónsson hinn lærði; 1568 – 27 June 1648) was an Icelandic scholar and a Christian Apologetics, apologist. His father was Jón Jónsson, who died in 1591. Arngrímur studied in Copenhagen, co ...

Descent from Sceaf

According to Anglo-Saxon legends recounted in ''Widsith'' and other sources such as

Æthelweard Æthelweard, also spelled Ethelweard, Aethelweard, Athelweard, etc., is an Anglo-Saxon male name. It may refer to: * King Æthelweard of the Hwicce (''fl''. 7/8th century) * King Æthelweard of East Anglia (''fl.'' mid-9th century) * Æthelweard (s ...

(''Chronicon''), the earliest ancestor of Scyld was a culture-hero named Sceaf, who was washed ashore as a child in an empty boat, bearing a '' sheaf'' of corn. This is said to have occurred on an island named Scani or Scandza ( Scania), and according to William of Malmesbury (''Gesta regum Anglorum'') he was later chosen as King of the Angles, reigning from Schleswig. His descendants became known as Scefings, or more usually Scyldings (after Sceldwea).

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 the ...

adopted this tradition in his

Prologue to the Prose Edda The Prologue is the first section of four books of the ''Prose Edda'', and consists of a euhemerized account of the origins of Norse mythology: the Norse gods are described descended from the Thracians. Regarding the euhemerization in the ''Pr ...

, giving Old Norse forms for some of the names. The following list gives the supposed pedigree.

From Skjöld to Halfdan

The number, names, and order of the Skjöldung kings vary greatly in different texts until one comes to Halfdan/Healfdene. All Old English texts call Scyld's son and successor Beaw or some similar name. (The name was expanded to Beowulf in the poem ''

Beowulf ''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...

'', probably in error by a scribe who thought it was an abbreviation for the name of the poem's hero, who is quite a different person). Halfdan/Healfdene seems to be the direct son of Beaw in the poem. But all Scandinavian sources that mention both Skjöld and Halfdan put Halfdan some generations after Skjöld and make no mention of King Beaw (save for a genealogy in the Prologue to

's '' Edda'' which is taken from English traditions). According to Saxo Grammaticus' '' Gesta Danorum'' (Book 1), Skjöld was succeeded by a son named Gram. Since ''gram'' is also a simple adjective meaning "fierce" and a common kenning for "king", it might be that Saxo or a source has misunderstood some account referring to Beaw as being ''gram'' or a ''gram'' and wrongly taken it here as a personal name. Saxo has much to tell of this Gram who becomes the father of Hadingus of whom he has even more to relate, Hadingus in turn becomes the father of a king Frotho I who is father of Haldanus I. Snorri Sturluson in his ''Edda'', along with some other Old Norse texts, makes Skjöld to be father of Fridleif father of Fróði under whose reign the world was at peace. Snorri mentions this Fróði son of Fridleif in the '' Ynglinga saga'' also. But in this work Snorri also introduces a second, later Fróði, said to be son of certain Dan Mikilláti. The second Fróði is known both as Fróði Mikilláti and Fróði the Peace-lover and looks suspiciously like a duplicate of the other peaceful Fróði. Snorri makes this second Fróði the father of Halfdan and of another son named Fridleif. Saxo in Books 4–5, long after the reign of Halfdan and the fall of the Skjöldung dynasty, also introduces a king named Dan, the third king with that name in his account, whose son is Fridleif whose son is Fróði under whose reign the world achieves peace. This Fróði is also the father of a son named Fridleif according to Saxo. There are other differing accounts of Halfdan's ancestors. The names, number, and order of legendary Danish kings are very inconsistent in extant texts and it would appear that different writers and story tellers differently arranged what tales of legendary Danish kings they knew in whatever order seemed best to them.

Halfdan and his descendants

In all accounts Halfdan is father of Helgi (called Halga in ''Beowulf'') and Hróar (called Hrothgar in ''Beowulf''). Helgi is father of the famous Hrólf Kraki (called Hrothulf in ''Beowulf''). In ''Beowulf'', another son of Healfdene/Halfdan named Heorogar is father of

Heoroweard Heoroweard is a character who appears in ''Beowulf'' and also in Norse legends, where he is named ''Hjörvarðr'' or ''Hiartuar''. If he existed in real life, his name would have been Proto-Norse *''Heruwarduz In the Norse sources, Hereoweard re ...

who corresponds to Hjörvard in the Old Norse accounts where Hjörvard's parentage is not told. The Old Norse accounts make Hjörvard to be the husband of Hrólf's sister and tell how Hjörvard rebelled against King Hrólf and burned him in his hall. But Hjörvard was himself soon slain and with him the rule of the Skjöldung dynasty ended.

Other Skjöldungar

A later lineage said to be of Skjöldung descent: *

Halfdan the Valiant Halfdan the Valiant (''Hálfdan snjalli'') (7th century?) was a legendary Scanian prince, who was the father of Ivar Vidfamne according to '' Hervarar saga'', the ''Ynglinga saga'', '' Njal's Saga'' and '' Hversu Noregr byggdist''. The genealogical ...

* Ivar Vidfamne * Harald Hildetand *

Östen Beli Eysteinn Beli or ''Eysteinn hinn illráði'', Swedish: ''Östen Illråde'' (ill-ruler) or ''Östen Beli'', was a semi-legendary king of Sweden who would have ruled in the late 8th century. ''Krákumál'' According to '' Krákumál'' (stanza 7), he ...

References

{{Norse mythology Scylding English heroic legends Characters in Beowulf Norse clans

Descent from Sceaf

From Skjöld to Halfdan

Halfdan and his descendants

Other Skjöldungar

See also

References