Historical Background 

There are so many names and places (both real and fictitious) mentioned in Beowulf, I thought it only fitting to include a little historical background. On this page you'll find a Beowulf Chronology intermingled with Anglo-Saxon history, and a  Genealogical Chart outlining the relationships of all those Danes, Geats, and Swedes.

If you follow the Finnsberg Episode link you'll find a short explanation of the story as well as a look at the original and a translation of the Finnsburh Fragment.  Of course, if you feel you already know all you need to know about everyone who's anyone in Beowulf, you're welcome to go back to the Beowulf Main Menu.

All of the information on this page was provided by Dr. Jane Zatta, Associate Professor of Mediæval English Literature, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.  Here's a Bibliographyof those handouts.

BeowulfChronology with Anglo-Saxon History

Beowulf and Wiglaf are the only two figures mentioned below whose existence is not confirmed in a source outside the poem. Bracketed dates represent events depicted in the poem that are considered fictitious for that reason.

 

Year (A.D.)	Event
c. 400	Germanic peoples settle in Britain
449	[Bede’s date] Hengist and Horsa come to Vortigren’s aid in Britain.
[495]	[Beowulf born, son of Ecgþeow(a Swede?), grandson of the Geatish king Hreðel.]
498	Froda kills Healfdene of the Danes (Hroðgar’s father); Froda’s son Ingeld born
499	Heorogar, Hroðgar, and Halga (Danes) kill Froda
502	Hæðcyn accidentally kills his brother Herebeald.
503	Their father King Hreðel dies of grief and Hæðcyn becomes king of the Geats
510	Hæðcyn and Hygelac attack the Swedes and abduct their queen. In the ensuing Battle of Ravenswood both Hæðcyn of the Geats and Ongenþeow, the Swedish king, are killed. Hæðcyn’s brother Hygelac becomes king of the Geats and Ohþere king of the Swedes.
[515]	[Beowulf kills Grendel and Grendel’s mother]
518	According to the tenth-century Annales Cambriae, Artorius (King Arthur?) wins an important battle at Mt. Badon
518	Hroðgar, who with his brothers Heorogar and Halga had killed Froda in vengeance for their father’s death, gives his daughter Freawaru in marriage to Froda’s son Ingeld to forestall a renewal of the feud (peace-weaving)
520	Ingeld attacks after all, burns down Heorot, but is then defeated by Hroðgar and Hroðulf
524	Hygelac of the Geats is killed in his ill-fated Frisian raid.  Heardred, Hygelac’s son, becomes king of the Geats [with Beowulf acting as regent]
525	Hroðgar dies; his nephew Hroðulf comes to (usurps?) the throne. (Hroðulf, of dubious morality in Beowulf, is the great hero-king Hrolf Kraki in Icelandic Saga.)
532	Second Swedish-Geatish feud begins
533	Death of the Swedish king Ohþere (Ottar Vendel-Crow, buried at Vendel in Uppland, Sweden). His brother Onela seizes the throne while his sons Eanmund and Eadgils seek refuge in the Geatish court. Onela attacks the Geats and kills their young king Heardred; [Beowulf (by Onela’s permission?) becomes king of the Geats.] In the battle, Eanmund is killed by Weohstan, Onela’s champion. [Weohstan is the father of Wiglaf, who is Beowulf’s only surviving relative and his most  loyal companion. (Eadgils’ desire to avenge his brother’s death would cause his enmity not only toward Weohstan but, in case of Weohstan’s death, toward his son Wiglaf as well, and if Wiglaf becomes king of the Geats after Beowulf this could serve as an excuse for the Swedes to attack yet again.)]
535	Beowulf supports Eadgils in war against Onela. Eadgils is laid in a mound at Old Uppsala
c. 540	Gildas in De excidio Britanniae laments the effect of the Germanic settlements on the supine Britons
[583]	[This date is a poetic fiction: note the date of Beowulf’s birth. Beowulf dies in battle with fire dragon. Wiglaf probably succeeds him as king of the Geats. Third Swedish-Geatish feud begins?]
597	St. Augustine arrives in Kent to convert the English
c. 625	A cenotaph ship containing rich treasures analogous to those described in Beowulf is buried in a mound at Sutton Hoo in East Anglia. (mound 1)
600-700	This century is known as the century of conversion.  At about 600 there are approximately 13 independent kingdoms. By about 650 we have the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy, Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia,Essex, Wessex, Sussex, and Kent.
731	Bede completes his Ecclesiastical History
735	Death of Bede
757-96	Offa king of Mercia
781	Alcuin of York meets Charlemagne in Parma and after leaves York for the Continent
793	Vikings attack Lindisfarne
869	Vikings defeat and kill Edmund, king ofEast Anglia
871-99	Alfred the Great king of Wessex
878	Alfred defeats the Viking army at the battle of Eddington, and the Vikings settle in East Anglia (879-80)
924-39	Aþelstan king of Wessex and first king of all England
937	Battle of Brunanburh: Aþelstan defeats an alliance of Scots and Scandinavians
978-1016	Æþelred ‘the Unready’ king of England
1013	The English submit to Swein, king of Denmark
1016-35	Cnut king of England
1042-66	Edward the Confessor king of England
1066	Battle of Hastings: the English army led by Harold defeated by the Norman army led by William the Conqueror

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Genealogical Chart
For those who haven't had to learn Old English:
ð -  is an eth, it's a hard "th" sound as in "the".
þ - this is a thorn, it's a soft "th" sound as in "hearth".

The Danes
Scyld Scefing
|
Beowulf [not our Beowulf]
|
Healfdene
|
Heorogar                             Hroðgar                                  Halga
 |                                            |                                             |
Heoroweard            Hreðric, Hroðmund, Freawaru               Hroðulf

Heorogar died early, but the kingdom did not fall to his son, Heoroweard, but rather to his brother, Hroðgar.  Hroðulf was raised by Hroðgar and Wealþeow but later betrayed their sons and usurped the throne.

Freawaru was married (518) to Ingeld, son of Heaðo-Bard king of Froda.  Froda had slain Healfdene about 498. Heorogar, Hroðgar and Halga made a war of revenge and killed Froda, 499.  520, the Heaðo-Bards invade Denmark, but are completely routed by Hroðgar and Hroðulf, although Heorot burns.  525, Hroðgar dies and Hroðulf slays Hreðric and usurps the throne.  Heorot was situated on the island of Zealand at the village of Lejre.

Herebeald was accidentally shot by Hæðcyn, and Hreðel died of grief.  Upon the death of Hreðel, Hæðcyn became king and war broke out with the Swedes, who attacked the Geats and returned home.  Hæðcyn and Hygelac undertake a revenge expedition (510).  At first they are successful, but the Ongenþeow kills Hæðcyn, rescues the queen, and forces the troops to seek refuge in Ravenswood.  At dawn, Hygelac appears and the Swedes flee to their stronghold, pursued by the Geats. Ongenþeow fights two brothers, Eofor and Wulf and is killed by Eofor.  [For some reason, Hygelac takes the throne rather than Hæðcyn's son Heardred.]

521- Hygelac undertook a ravaging expedition into the Frankish lands.  He arrived in the land of the West Frisians and sailed up the Rhine to the district of the Hætware.  Having loaded their ships with prisoners and booty, (1205), the Geats return.  The main force is sent in advance, but the king remains on the shore (of either the Rhine or the North Sea) with a smaller force where he is overtaken by Theodebert, son of Theoderic (the Merovingian, 2921).  Hygelac is slain together with his followers. Beowulf killed Hygelac's slayer, Dægrefn (2501)

After the death of Ongenþeow at the battle of Ravenswood, Ohþere became king.  On his death, Onela usurped the throne and Eanmund and Eadgils fled to Heardred's court.  Onela invades Geatland, slays Eanmund and Heardred, leaving Beowulf in charge (2379-2390).  A few years later, Eadgils, aided by a Geatish force, invades Sweden kills Onela, and succeeds to the throne.