Finn and Hengest
Encyclopedia
Finn and Hengest is a study by J. R. R. Tolkien
, edited by Alan Bliss and published posthumously in book form in 1982.
Finn
and Hengest
are two Anglo-Saxon
heroes appearing in the Old English
epic poem Beowulf
and in the fragment of "The Fight at Finnsburg". Hengest has sometimes been identified with the Jutish king of Kent
. He and his brother Horsa (the names meaning "stallion
" and "horse
") were the legendary leaders of the first Anglo-Saxon immigrants to Britain
as mercenaries in the 5th century.
The book is based on an edited series of lectures Tolkien made before and after World War II
. In his lectures, Tolkien argued that the Hengest of "The Fight at Finnsburg" and Beowulf
was an historical rather than a legendary figure and that these works record episodes from an orally composed and transmitted history of the Hengest
named in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
. This view has gained acceptance from a number of medieval historians and Anglo-Saxon scholars both since Tolkien's initial lectures and since the publication of this posthumous collection.
Tolkien's lectures describe what he called the "Jutes-on-both-sides theory", which was his explanation for the puzzling occurrence of the word ēotenas in the episode in Beowulf. Tolkien read the word as Jutes
, and theorized that the fight was a purely Jutish feud, and Finn and Hnæf were simply caught up by circumstance. Tolkien explained both their presence and their ambiguous loyalty with his interpretation of the story.
, son of Hoc Half-Dane, is the lord of a Danish people who have conquered part of Jutland
(probably the northern part of the Cimbrian peninsula) and exiled its former Jutish rulers. Finn, king of Frys-Land (modern-day Friesland
in the Netherlands
) has allowed dispossessed Jutes to settle in his lands and enter his service. Finn marries Hnæf's older sister Hildeburh
, and sends their son (whose name was probably Friðuwulf) to be foster
ed in Hnæf's household.
Around the year AD 450, Hnæf sails to Frys-Land in the autumn; his purpose is to return Finn's now-grown son and spend the winter in Finn's citadel, celebrating Yule
. He brings a retinue of some sixty thanes.
Chief among these thanes is a Jute named Hengest, leader of a band of Jutes who have taken service under Hnæf. Unfortunately, and foreseen by no one, when they arrive at Finn's stronghold they find that many of Finn's thanes are also Jutes, particularly one Garulf, who seems to be the rightful heir to the kingdom conquered by Hnæf's people; and these Frisian Jutes are at blood feud
with Hengest and his band, because Hengest supports the conquering Danes, if for no other reason. This would explain why Hildeburh "had no cause to praise the fealty of the Jutes," since that fealty led to the re-awakening of the feud, which killed her brother, husband, and son.
Finn (who seems guiltless in Tolkien's interpretation) tries to prevent trouble by separating the parties, and allowing Hnæf and his thanes to occupy the royal hall, while he removes his own thanes to a different building. However, the Frisian Jutes make a pre-dawn attack, hoping to take Hengest and his band by surprise. But the Danes have been expecting trouble, and a watchman sees the light of their approaching torches. He asks rhetorically, "What is this light? Is it the dawn in the East, or is it the flight of a dragon, or are the gables burning?" Hnæf answers, "Neither is this the dawn in the East, nor is it the flight of a dragon, nor are the gables of this hall burning," it is an attack.
Prepared, the Danes and Hengest's Jutes barricade the two doors of the hall against attack. Garulf is warned by one Guðhere not to risk his "precious life" in the assault, but he attacks and is the first to fall. Finn's Frisian thanes, who have ties of marriage and friendship to Finn's Jutish thanes, join in the fight against the Danes. The Danes hold the hall for five days without losing a man. On the morning of the fifth day the Frisians force their way into the hall, and in the battle, both Hnæf and Friðiwulf are killed. (It is not clear which side Friðiwulf was fighting on, but Tolkien thinks it likely he was staying in the hall with Hnæf, his foster-father and uncle; this would explain why Beowulf emphasizes that Friðiwulf was laid on the funeral pyre at Hnæf's side.) The surviving Danes, and Hengest's Jutes, drive the Frisians and Jutes out of the hall and re-barricade the door.
At this point Finn (who may not have joined in the fight personally) intervenes and offers to make a bargain with the survivors. As Tolkien points out, the Danes had several advantages:
Inside the hall, the survivors are in two groups: Danes, led by a chief thane who is described as Hunlafing ("the son of Hunlaf") and Jutes, led by Hengest. The Jutes are Hengest's own band, and owed loyalty to Hnæf only because Hengest followed him. Finn at first tries to make peace with the Danes only, but the Danes loyally insist that any peace agreement must include Hengest and his men. Finn agrees, and swears an oath of peace: the Danes and Hengest's men will lay down their arms, and since they cannot leave Frys-Land until the winter ends, they will sit at Finn's table and technically accept him as their protector (since he was now their only possible source of food and maintenance, and they had intended to be his guests throughout the winter anyway.) Finn gives the Danes a separate hall to dwell in for the winter, specifying that they shall share it with the sons of the Jutes (meaning Hengest and his band.) He also swears that any one of his own thanes who tries to renew the feud (by taunting the Danes that they now follow the slayer of their lord) will be punished, possibly with death, by Finn himself. The bodies of Hnæf and Friðiwulf are honorably burned.
Over the winter, the Danes and their Jutish allies brood over the fall of Hnæf. Hengest is faced with a conflict of duty: whether to honor the peace-treaty with Finn, or to honor his duty to avenge his fallen lord. Finally the son of Hunlaf takes a sword Hildeleoma ("Battleflame") which was probably Hnæf's sword, and lays it in Hengest's lap. Hengest "does not refuse the world's counsel" (that is, he goes along with what everyone agrees is right) and decides that his loyalty to Hnæf must outweigh his obligation to Finn. (In any case, Tolkien points out that we do not see Hengest swearing any oath to Finn; we only see Finn swearing oaths to Hengest and the Danes.) When the spring comes, the Danes sail home and tell the story of the downfall of Hnæf. They return to Finn's stronghold in force. Hengest, having remained in Frys-Land under the guise of upholding the terms of the peace-treaty, opens the gates to the invaders and the Danes sack Finn's stronghold, kill Finn and all his men, loot and burn the city and return home, taking Hildeburh with them.
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
, edited by Alan Bliss and published posthumously in book form in 1982.
Finn
Finn (Frisian)
Finn, son of Folcwald, was a legendary Frisian lord. He is mentioned in Widsith, in Beowulf, and in the Finnsburg Fragment. There is also a Finn mentioned in Historia Brittonum....
and Hengest
Hengest
Hengist and Horsa are figures of Anglo-Saxon, and subsequently British, legend, which records the two as the Germanic brothers who led the Angle, Saxon, and Jutish armies that conquered the first territories of Great Britain in the 5th century AD...
are two Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
heroes appearing in the Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
epic poem Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
and in the fragment of "The Fight at Finnsburg". Hengest has sometimes been identified with the Jutish king of Kent
Hengest
Hengist and Horsa are figures of Anglo-Saxon, and subsequently British, legend, which records the two as the Germanic brothers who led the Angle, Saxon, and Jutish armies that conquered the first territories of Great Britain in the 5th century AD...
. He and his brother Horsa (the names meaning "stallion
Stallion (horse)
A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded .Stallions will follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" neck, as well as a somewhat more muscular physique as compared to...
" and "horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
") were the legendary leaders of the first Anglo-Saxon immigrants to Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
as mercenaries in the 5th century.
The book is based on an edited series of lectures Tolkien made before and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In his lectures, Tolkien argued that the Hengest of "The Fight at Finnsburg" and Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
was an historical rather than a legendary figure and that these works record episodes from an orally composed and transmitted history of the Hengest
Hengest
Hengist and Horsa are figures of Anglo-Saxon, and subsequently British, legend, which records the two as the Germanic brothers who led the Angle, Saxon, and Jutish armies that conquered the first territories of Great Britain in the 5th century AD...
named in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
. This view has gained acceptance from a number of medieval historians and Anglo-Saxon scholars both since Tolkien's initial lectures and since the publication of this posthumous collection.
Tolkien's lectures describe what he called the "Jutes-on-both-sides theory", which was his explanation for the puzzling occurrence of the word ēotenas in the episode in Beowulf. Tolkien read the word as Jutes
Jutes
The Jutes, Iuti, or Iutæ were a Germanic people who, according to Bede, were one of the three most powerful Germanic peoples of their time, the other two being the Saxons and the Angles...
, and theorized that the fight was a purely Jutish feud, and Finn and Hnæf were simply caught up by circumstance. Tolkien explained both their presence and their ambiguous loyalty with his interpretation of the story.
Synopsis and interpretation by Tolkien
HnæfHnæf
Hnæf son of Hoc is a prince mentioned in the Old English poems Beowulf and the Finnsburg Fragment.According to the listing of tribes in the poem Widsith , Hnæf ruled the Hocings...
, son of Hoc Half-Dane, is the lord of a Danish people who have conquered part of Jutland
Jutland
Jutland , historically also called Cimbria, is the name of the peninsula that juts out in Northern Europe toward the rest of Scandinavia, forming the mainland part of Denmark. It has the North Sea to its west, Kattegat and Skagerrak to its north, the Baltic Sea to its east, and the Danish–German...
(probably the northern part of the Cimbrian peninsula) and exiled its former Jutish rulers. Finn, king of Frys-Land (modern-day Friesland
Friesland
Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
) has allowed dispossessed Jutes to settle in his lands and enter his service. Finn marries Hnæf's older sister Hildeburh
Hildeburh
Hildeburh, introduced in line 1071 of the poem, Beowulf, is the daughter of the Danish King Hoc and the wife of the Finn, King of the Frisians. Her story is sung by a scop during festivities in lines 1071-1158....
, and sends their son (whose name was probably Friðuwulf) to be foster
Foster
- Places :Australia* Foster, VictoriaUnited States* Foster, California ** Foster, San Diego County, California** Foster, Siskiyou County, California* Foster, Indiana* Foster, Missouri* Foster, Nebraska* Foster, Oregon* Foster, Rhode Island...
ed in Hnæf's household.
Around the year AD 450, Hnæf sails to Frys-Land in the autumn; his purpose is to return Finn's now-grown son and spend the winter in Finn's citadel, celebrating Yule
Yule
Yule or Yuletide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic people as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January...
. He brings a retinue of some sixty thanes.
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
Chief among these thanes is a Jute named Hengest, leader of a band of Jutes who have taken service under Hnæf. Unfortunately, and foreseen by no one, when they arrive at Finn's stronghold they find that many of Finn's thanes are also Jutes, particularly one Garulf, who seems to be the rightful heir to the kingdom conquered by Hnæf's people; and these Frisian Jutes are at blood feud
Blood Feud
"Blood Feud" is the twenty-second and final episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on July 11, 1991. In the episode, Mr. Burns falls ill and desperately needs a blood transfusion. Homer discovers Bart has Burns' rare blood type and urges...
with Hengest and his band, because Hengest supports the conquering Danes, if for no other reason. This would explain why Hildeburh "had no cause to praise the fealty of the Jutes," since that fealty led to the re-awakening of the feud, which killed her brother, husband, and son.
Finn (who seems guiltless in Tolkien's interpretation) tries to prevent trouble by separating the parties, and allowing Hnæf and his thanes to occupy the royal hall, while he removes his own thanes to a different building. However, the Frisian Jutes make a pre-dawn attack, hoping to take Hengest and his band by surprise. But the Danes have been expecting trouble, and a watchman sees the light of their approaching torches. He asks rhetorically, "What is this light? Is it the dawn in the East, or is it the flight of a dragon, or are the gables burning?" Hnæf answers, "Neither is this the dawn in the East, nor is it the flight of a dragon, nor are the gables of this hall burning," it is an attack.
Prepared, the Danes and Hengest's Jutes barricade the two doors of the hall against attack. Garulf is warned by one Guðhere not to risk his "precious life" in the assault, but he attacks and is the first to fall. Finn's Frisian thanes, who have ties of marriage and friendship to Finn's Jutish thanes, join in the fight against the Danes. The Danes hold the hall for five days without losing a man. On the morning of the fifth day the Frisians force their way into the hall, and in the battle, both Hnæf and Friðiwulf are killed. (It is not clear which side Friðiwulf was fighting on, but Tolkien thinks it likely he was staying in the hall with Hnæf, his foster-father and uncle; this would explain why Beowulf emphasizes that Friðiwulf was laid on the funeral pyre at Hnæf's side.) The surviving Danes, and Hengest's Jutes, drive the Frisians and Jutes out of the hall and re-barricade the door.
At this point Finn (who may not have joined in the fight personally) intervenes and offers to make a bargain with the survivors. As Tolkien points out, the Danes had several advantages:
- Finn had lost so many men that he could not force his way into the hall again.
- The Danes were occupying his royal hall, and he was unwilling to burn it to get them out.
- Finn must have felt both guilty and ashamed that his feuding thanes had killed Hnæf, who was his brother-in-law and guest.
Inside the hall, the survivors are in two groups: Danes, led by a chief thane who is described as Hunlafing ("the son of Hunlaf") and Jutes, led by Hengest. The Jutes are Hengest's own band, and owed loyalty to Hnæf only because Hengest followed him. Finn at first tries to make peace with the Danes only, but the Danes loyally insist that any peace agreement must include Hengest and his men. Finn agrees, and swears an oath of peace: the Danes and Hengest's men will lay down their arms, and since they cannot leave Frys-Land until the winter ends, they will sit at Finn's table and technically accept him as their protector (since he was now their only possible source of food and maintenance, and they had intended to be his guests throughout the winter anyway.) Finn gives the Danes a separate hall to dwell in for the winter, specifying that they shall share it with the sons of the Jutes (meaning Hengest and his band.) He also swears that any one of his own thanes who tries to renew the feud (by taunting the Danes that they now follow the slayer of their lord) will be punished, possibly with death, by Finn himself. The bodies of Hnæf and Friðiwulf are honorably burned.
Over the winter, the Danes and their Jutish allies brood over the fall of Hnæf. Hengest is faced with a conflict of duty: whether to honor the peace-treaty with Finn, or to honor his duty to avenge his fallen lord. Finally the son of Hunlaf takes a sword Hildeleoma ("Battleflame") which was probably Hnæf's sword, and lays it in Hengest's lap. Hengest "does not refuse the world's counsel" (that is, he goes along with what everyone agrees is right) and decides that his loyalty to Hnæf must outweigh his obligation to Finn. (In any case, Tolkien points out that we do not see Hengest swearing any oath to Finn; we only see Finn swearing oaths to Hengest and the Danes.) When the spring comes, the Danes sail home and tell the story of the downfall of Hnæf. They return to Finn's stronghold in force. Hengest, having remained in Frys-Land under the guise of upholding the terms of the peace-treaty, opens the gates to the invaders and the Danes sack Finn's stronghold, kill Finn and all his men, loot and burn the city and return home, taking Hildeburh with them.