A Guide to the Characters and Feuds in Beowulf

Genealogies
1. The Danes (Scyldings)

(Heremod)
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Scyld Scefing (Shield Sheafson)
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Beowulf (Beow)
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Healfdene (Halfdane)
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Heorogar Hrothgar+Wealtheow Halga [daughter (Yrse?)]+ Onela (Swede)
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Heoroweard | Hrothulf
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Hrethric Hrothmund Freawaru+Ingeld (Heathobard)


2. The Geats
Hrethel
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Herebeald Haethcyn Hygelac+Hygd [daughter]+Ecgtheow
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| BEOWULF
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[daughter]+Eofor Heardred


3. The Swedes (Scylfings)
Ongentheow
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Ohthere Onela+[Healfdene’s daughter (Yrse?)]
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Eanmund Eadgils


The People
1. The Danes (Scyldingas)
Aeschere—counselor and friend of Hrothgar; slain by Grendel’s mother
Beowulf/Beow—son of Scyld/Shield and king of the Danes
Ecglaf—father of Unferth
Ecgwela—Danish king
Freawaru—daughter of Hrothgar and Wealtheow; wife of Ingeld
Guthlaf—a warrior in Hengest’s band
Halga—third son of Healfdene/Halfdane; younger brother of Hrothgar; father of Hrothulf
Healfdene/Halfdane—son of Beowulf/Beow; father of Heorogar, Hrothgar, Halga, and a daughter;
Danish king
Hengest—leader of the Half-Danes (under Hnaef) against Finn
Heorogar—Danish king; eldest son of Healfdene and brother of Hrothgar; father of Heoroward
Heremod—Danish king
Hildeburh—sister of Hnaef; daughter of Hoc; wife of Frisian king Finn
Hnaef—chief of the Half-Danes; son of Hoc; brother of Hildeburh
Hoc—father of Hnaef and Hildeburh
Hrethric—eldest son of Hrothgar and Wealtheow; older brother of Hrothmund; cousing of Hrothulf
Hrothgar—Danish king; second son of Healfdene; builder of Heorot; husband of Wealtheow; father of
Hrethric and Hrothmund; uncle of Hrothulf; protector of Ecgtheow
Hrothmund—youngest son of Hrothgar and Wealtheow; brother of Hrethric; cousin of Hrothulf
Hrothulf—son of Halga; newphew of Hrothgar; cousin of Hrethric and Hrothmund
Hunlafing—a warrior in Hengest’s band (or possibly the name of a sword)
Oslaf—a warrior in Hengest’s band
Scyld/Shield—eponymous Danish king; son of Sceaf/Sheaf
Unferth—thyle of Hrothgar; son of Ecglaf; a kinslayer
Wealtheow—Hrothgar’s wife and queen; from the tribe of Helmingas (the “sons of Helm”)
Wulfgar—door warden of Hrothgar at Heorot
Yrmenlaf—a Danish warrior

2. The Geats (Hrethlingas)
Aelfhere—a kinsman of Wiglaf
Beanstan—father of Breca
Beowulf—son of Ecgtheow; nephew of Hygelac; grandson of Hrethel; slayer of Grendel, Grendel’s
mother, Daeghrefn/Dayraven, and a dragon; Geatish king
Breca—son of Beanstan; chief of Brondingas (a tribal dynastic name that means “sons of Brond”)
Ecgtheow—father of Beowulf; son in law of Hrethel; brother in law of Hygelac; slayer of Heatholaf
Eofor—a Geatish warrior; thane of Hygelac; slayer of Ongentheow
Haereth—father of Hygd, the wife of Hygelac
Haethcyn—second son of Hrethel; brother of Herebeald and Hygelac; slayer (accidently) of Herebeald;
slain by Ongentheow; Geatish king
Heardred—son of Hygelac and Hygd; slain by Onela; Geatish king after Hygelac’s death
Herebeald—eldest son of Hrethel and oldest brother of Haethcyn and Hygelac; slain by Haethcyn
Hereric—probably the brother of Hygd (wife of Hygelac) and uncle of Heardred
Hondscio—a Geatish warrior and companion of Beowulf’s to Heorot; slain by Grendel
Hrethel—Geatish king; father of Herebeald, Haethcyn, Hygelac, and unnamed daughter; grandfather of
Beowulf
Hygd—wife of Hygelac; mother of Heardred
Hygelac—third son of Hrethel; husband of Hygd; father of Heardred; uncle of Beowulf; Geatish king
Swerting—uncle or grandfather of Hygelac
Waegmundings—specific family to which Beowulf, Weohstan, and Wiglaf belong
Weohstan—father of Wiglaf; thane of Onela; slayer of Eanmund, Onela’s nephew and Eadgils’s brother
Wiglaf—son of Weohstan; kinsman of Beowulf; Geatish king after Beowulf
Wonred—father of Wulf and Eofor
Wulf—a Geatish warrior; thane of Hygelac

3. The Swedes (Scylfingas)
Eadgils—youngest son of Ohthere; brother of Eanmund; nephew of Onela; grandson of Ongentheow;
seeks vengeance against Wiglaf for the death of his brother at Weohstan’s (Wiglaf’s father’s) hand; Swedish king
Eanmund—eldest son of Ohthere; brother of Eadgils; nephew of Onela; grandson of Ongentheow; slain
by Weohstan; Swedish king
Ohthere—eldest son of Ongentheow; father of Eanmund and Eadgils; brother of Onela; possibly slain
by Onela; possibly a Swedish king
Onela—youngest son of Ongentheow; brother of Ohthere; uncle of Eanmund and Eadgils; slayer of
Heardred, son of Hygelac and king of the Geats; Swedish king
Ongentheow—father of Ohthere and Onela; grandfather of Eanmund and Eadgils; slayer of Haethcyn;
slain by Eofor and Wulf, retainers of Hygelac

4. Other Names/People(s)
Cain—son of Adam and Eve; brother and slayer of Abel
Daeghrefn/Dayraven—a warrior of the Hugas; slayer of Hygelac; slain by Beowulf
Eomer—son of Offa, king of the Angles
Eormenric—king of the East Goths
Eotan—the Jutes/Frisians
Finn—king of the Jutes/Frisians; husband of Hildeburh; son of Folcwalda
Finnas—the Finns (people of Finland—not at all the related to Finn and the Jutes/Frisians)
Fitela—nephew and son of Sigemund
Francan—the Frankish people
Fresan/Frisian—the West Frisians
Freslond—land of the West Frisians
Froda—Heathobard chief and father of Ingeld; slayer of Healfdene; slain (probably) by Heorogar,
Hrothgar, and Halga
Garmund—father of Offa, king of the Angles
Gifthas—East Germanic tribe
Grendel—descendant of Cain; harrower of Heorot; slayer of Hondscio and numerous others
Hama—Gothic hero; stole the “Brosingamene” (the Brosing Necklace) from Eormenric
Heathobards—a Germanic tribe
Heatholaf—warrior of the Wylfing tribe; slain by Ecgtheow
Heatho-Raemas—tribe living in southern Norway
Hemming—a kinsman of Offa and Eomer
Hetware—tribe living on the lower Rhine
Hrunting—Unferth’s sword
Hugas—another name for the Franks
Ingeld—son of Froda; chief of the Heathobards; husband of Freawaru; son in law of Hrothgar
Modthryth—wife of Offa, king of the Angles
Naegling—Beowulf’s sword
Offa—king of the Angles
Sigemund—son of Waels; uncle and father of Fitela; a dragonslayer
Waels—father of Sigemund
Weland—famous smith of Germanic legend
Wendlas/Vandals—the Vandals?
Withergyld—a Heathobard warrior


The Feuds/Rivalries

The Danes

Heathobards-Danes (when the poem opens, this feud is already ongoing and longstanding; apparently,
Froda, father of Ingeld, killed Healfdene [Halfdane], father of Heorogar, Hrothgar, and Halga], so the three sons then invaded the Heathobard territory and slew Froda; and that is why, Beowulf says, Hrothgar will marry his daughter Freawaru to Ingeld, son of Froda; upon his return to Geatland, Beowulf informs Hygelac that Freawaru will be given in marriage to Ingeld, son of the Heathobard king Froda, as a means to bring peace between the Geats and Heathobards; he foretells, however, that an old warrior will encourage a young Heathobard warrior to avenge his father’s death against the son of the Danish man who killed his father and who struts around in his Heathobardish war-gear; the allusion to the burning of Heorot is to the Heathobard campaign against Heorot under the leadership of Ingeld; Heorot does burn and is destroyed, but the Danes are victorious over the Heathobards)
Danes-Geats (lines 1855ff, Hrothgar tells Beowulf that he has brought the Geats and Danes into peace
despite years of “hatreds” they had harbored in the past)
Hrothgar-Grendel (Grendel attacks Heorot without cause, but Hrothgar has a legal right for vengeance)
Hrothgar/Beowulf-Grendel’s Mother (her feud is really with Beowulf because of his killing of Grendel, but
insofar as Beowulf is Hrothgar’s thane at this point, her feud is also with Hrothgar; Beowulf is justified to
go after her because she has slain one of his men, Hondscio)
Hrothgar’s Sons (Hrethric & Hrothmund)-Hrothulf (alluded to in Wealtheow’s comments to both
Hrothgar and Beowulf that Hrothulf will treat his cousins appropriately and in her request of Beowulf that he protect her sons; allusions to this feud in the Old English poem “Widsith”)
Danes-Frisians--Finnsburh episode (Hildeburh, wife of Finn, invites her brother Hnaef and his men [later
led by Hengest] to visit her at Finn’s fortress; they do so, and Finn’s men attack them; Hnaef is killed as is his nephew, Hildeburh’s own son; later, Hengest and his men renew the feud (instigated by Guthlaf and Oslaf) and Finn and his men are destroyed; Hengest and Hildeburh then return to the land of the Danes)

The Geats
Geats-Wylfings (Ecgtheow kills Heatholaf, a Wylfing warrior; Ecgtheow is forced to leave his home [probably
Geatland] because the wergild is too much; Hrothgar settles the feud by paying the Wylfing demand for
wergild and Ecgtheow swears loyalty to him)
Hrethel-Haethcyn (Haethcyn accidently kills his older brother Herebeald and Hrethel, their father, unable to
resolve this feud or contain his grief, dies of a broken heart)
Ohthere & Onela-Haethcyn (Ohthere and Onela invade Haethcyn’s land and score a major victory at
Hreosnahill [Hill of Sorrow])
Haethcyn-Ongentheow (Haethcyn captures Ongentheow’s wife at Hrefnesholt [Ravenswood]; Ongentheow
rescues his wife and kills Haethcyn at Hrefnesholt
Hygelac-Ongentheow (Hygelac seeks vengeance for the death of his brother [Haethcyn]; Ongentheow is
killed by Hygelac’s men Eofor and Wulf at Ravenswood)
Beowulf-Daeghrefn (Dayraven the Frank) (Daeghrefn slew Hygelac during the Frisian raid, so Beowulf was
bound to kill him, which he did by squeezing/hugging him to death)
Eanmund & Eadgils (Ohthere’s sons)-Onela (Onela usurps the throne, possibly after killing his own brother
Ohthere, and banishes his nephews Eanmund and Eadgils)
Heardred (Hygelac’s son)-Onela (Heardred takes in Onela’s nephews Eanmund and Eadgils, so Onela
invades Heardred’s kingdom and kills Heardred and allows Beowulf to assume the kingship [ll. 2389ff])
Weohstan (Weoxstan)-Eadgils (Weohstan, thane to Onela, kills Eanmund, Eadgils’s older brother)
Eadgils-Onela (Eadgils returns to Sweden [with Beowulf’s assistance] and kills his uncle, who had usurped the
throne, possibly after killing his own brother, Ohthere)
Beowulf-Dragon (because the Dragon terrorizes Beowulf’s homeland)
Wiglaf (Weohstan’s son)-Eadgils (Weohstan previously killed Eadgils’s brother Eanmund, so Eadgils must
exact vengeance on Weohstan’s son, Wiglaf)

God
Cain-God (caused by Cain’s slaying of his brother Abel)
Grendel-God (Grendel, we are told, bore God’s anger and was in an eternal feud with Him)