Origins for Beowulf and Rolf Krake

[Rev 0.1], 2003-07-10, Written by Wilmer Thomas (work still in progress).

Introduction

Beowulf and Rolf Krake (Hrolf Kraki) are two well-known characters in the myths and sagas of ancient Scandinavia. Both are supposed to have lived sometimes around 450 - 550 AD, and much have been discussed over the years regarding the origin of them both.

Character alignments

There are several characters in Beowulf that apparently match the names known from other ancient northern tales and Sagas.

• A common assumption is that Rolf Krake, would be the 'same' as the character of Hrothulf in Beowulf (Hrothgar's nephew).

There seems to be some foreshadowing in Beowulf that Hrothulf will attempt to usurp the throne from Hrothgar's sons, and there is another reference to the future burning of the hall of Heorot in the beginning of the poem - which is the legendary death of Rolf Krake, who is believed to have been burnt to death by his brother-in-law Hjorvard, over a matter of taxes.

• Then, the standard view seems to be that -- if Beowulf himself indeed does have a 'cognate' character in Rolf Krakes Saga -- it is Bodvar Bjarke (Bodvar Biarki), who also has a younger companion, Hjalte (Hialti) - perhaps matching the Beowulf character Wiglaf.
• According to this theory, also the name of Beowulf is assumed to origin from:

beo (bee) + wulf (wolf), i.e. Bee-Wolf, i.e. Bear (the wolf/hunter of bees).

This is another reason why people see Biarki as Beowulf's 'cognate' (because of the names).

• As for the king of the Danes, Hrothogar, he is consequently identified as Ro, or Roar, an uncle of Rolf Krake who have been known to reign in England at the time when Rolf's father Helge ruled Denmark.
• Furthermore, the Swedish kings referenced in Beowulf is adequately matched with the alleged 5th and 6th century Svea kings in Ubsola:

 

Table 1: Personas of Beowulf and Rolk Krake sagas

Beowulf	Rolf Krake, Heimskringla etc.	Relation
Ongentheow	Egil (Angantyr)	father of Ottar and Ale
Othere	Ottar	brother of Ale
Onela	Ale	brother of Ottar
Eadgils	Adils	son of Ottar

Geographical definitions

The geographical placements of Beowulf's Weder-Geats as well as the other geograhically referenced places in Beowulf are subject to much debate.

• A lot of the various names seemed to be used and re-used by different peoples. The Geats have been identified with quite a number of different peoples and areas - the Goths, the Jutes, the Gauts, etc., etc. (for good review of relevant discussion see the Chambers book referenced below). And as a learned fiction (see the Leake ref. below).
• Whereever the Weder-Geats place their origin, it is supposedly (according to Beowulf) located only two nights sail-way from the Danes great hall Heorot. This, however, is just as well thought of to be a distance not totally reliable - which in turns leave the field open for various interpretations that accommodates the different views on where to place the Geats.
• Roar is supposed to have founded Roskilde (e.g. Saxo Grammaticus Gesta Danorum), by which modern and middle age town in northern Själland (Zeeland), Denmark, also the ancient kingdom seat Leire was located. This then would seem appropriate a place for Hrothogar to have built the great hall of Heorot.

References

Alignment of characters in the Sagas

There has been some work on possible equivalences between the Beowulf characters and the characters from the various Norse sagas and king-lists, etc.

Here are some references:

• Malone, Kemp. Studies in Heroic Legend and in Current Speech. S. Einarsson & N.E. Eliason, eds. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1959.
• Lukman, Niels Clausen. Skjoldunge und Skilfinge. Hunnen- und Heruler-könige in Ostnordischer Überlieferung. Classica et mediaevalia, dissertationes III. Copenhagen: Gyldendalske Boghandel Nordisk Forlag, 1943.
• Hemmingsen, Lars. By Word of Mouth: the origins of Danish legendary history - studies in European learned and popular traditions of Dacians and Danes before A.D. 1200. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Copenhagen (Dept. of Folklore), 1995.
• Anderson, Carl Edlund. Formation and Resolution of Ideological Contrast in the Early History of Scandinavia. Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic (Faculty of English). [1]

General Beowulf discussions

For other references on Beowulf, see the Wikipedia page for Beowulf . Also the following sources are of interest.

• Chambers, Raymond W. Beowulf: an introduction to the study of the poem with a discussion of the stories of Offa and Finn. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni. Press, 1921 (2nd rev. ed., 1932).
• Leake, Jane Acomb. The Geats of Beowulf: a study in the geographical mythology of the Middle Ages. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967.
• Smithers, George V. 'The Geats in Beowulf'. Durham University Journal 63.2 (1971).

 

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