Everything about W Gmunding totally explained
The
Wægmundings were a prominent probably
Swedish clan (an
ätt, see
Norse clans) in
Beowulf. A name such as
Wægmunding meant "belongs to Wægmund", for example they were the descendants of a man named Wægmund. This was the normal way of naming a Germanic clan (see for example
Sigurd the Völsung (descendant of king
Volsung),
Folkung (descendants of Folke) and
Yngling (descendants of
Yngvi-
Freyr)).
Members:
- Wægmund (the ancestor of the clan)
- Ælfhere (seems to have been a distinguished member of the clan as Wiglaf is described as his kinsman)
- Ecgþeow (joined the Danes and the Geats as he was banished for slaying a man from another clan)
- Beowulf (son of Ecgþeow and the hero of the epic by his name)
- Weohstan (Swedish champion and slayer of his fugitive countryman prince Eanmund)
- Wiglaf (the last of the Wægmundings and son of Weohstan. He fought with Beowulf against the dragon)
The story of this clan in
Beowulf is that Ecgþeow slew a man,
Heaðolaf, from another clan, the
Wulfings (probably the rulers of the less known
East Geats). As the Wægmundings wouldn't or couldn't pay the expected
wergild, Ecgtheow was banished and sought refuge among the
Danes. The Danish king
Hrothgar paid the wergild and had Ecgþeow swear an oath. Later, Ecgþeow served the
Geats and distinguished himself enough to marry the
Geatish king Hreðel's daughter, with whom he'd the son Beowulf.
During the
Swedish-Geatish wars, Ecgþeow's close relative, Weohstan, fought on the Swedish side for
Onela, and killed Onela's nephew
Eanmund. The fact that these characters are described as Wægmundings explains why the Swedish warrior Wiglaf became the companion of Beowulf although his father had fought against the Geats. Since Ecgþeow, Beowulf's father, was a close relative of Weohstan, Wiglaf's father, it isn't surprising that Wiglaf (after his father's death) joined his relative Beowulf in
Geatland, and that Beowulf assumed responsibility for the young Swede.
On the ethnic identity of the Wægmundings
In the epic we learn that Wiglaf was a
Scylfing which literally refers to the ruling family of Sweden, and defines Wiglaf as a Swede. We also learn that Wiglaf's father, Weohstan, was a
Wægmunding and fought on the Swedish side. Concerning Beowulf's father the text tells us that he was a Wægmunding and that he was banished for killing the man of a different family, the Wulfings. This was standard procedure if the perpetrators family couldn't pay the wergild at the Ting. Since no other ethnic label is given for the Wægmundings, this makes a Swedish ethnicity the most likely one. This means that Beowulf was fighting his own kinsmen, on his father's side, when fighting the Swedes.
Further Information
Get more info on 'W Gmunding'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://w__gmunding.totallyexplained.com">Wægmunding Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
