[gothic-l] Beowolf--the Goth?

[Frank Kermes]

Hey,

Ah, a subject I know well.  First, who was Hygelac?

In Beowulf, he's the Geatish king.  The Geatas in Beowulf seem quite clearly
associated with Scandinavia.  Their wars with the Swedish Scylfing dynasty
are mentioned regularly.

Also, their name is mentioned in conjunction with "Weder," either as a
compound or as another name, ie. "Weder-Geatas," or "Wederas."  Many
translations (Crossley-Holland, Raffel,) gloss this as an epithet- the
"Weather Geats," the "Storm-Loving Geats."  Chickering, however, leaves it
as it is, and Chambers I think (a century ago!) suggested that this was the
lake in South Sweden, the Wetter.

The Scylfingas, the Geats' Swedish opponents, correspond roughly to the
Ynglingas in the later "Ynglingasaga," "Hrolfssaga Kraka," and _Gesta
Danorum_.  Eadgils corresponds to Adhisl, Onela to Ali, etc.  All of these
kings are linked to Uppsala in these sources.

Gregory of Tours calls Hygelac a Dane.  That has been explained as a generic
term for all Scandinavians.  Now, that is true, in Anglo-Saxon sources
nearly a half-millenium later, but I have been unable to find any uses
contemporary to Gregory.  The Frankish sources of the same period as the AS
use the term "Normanni," the Northmen.

I'll post more later, if there's interest--to explain another possibility
for Greg's usage...

Cheers,
Frank
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