King of the Geats
Encyclopedia
Götaland
Götaland , Gothia, Gothland, Gothenland, Gautland or Geatland is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises provinces...
(Gautland/Geatland), appears in several sources for early Swedish history. Today, most of them are not considered historical.
This list follows the generally accepted identification between the names Götar (modern Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
), Gautar (Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
) and Geatas (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...
), which is based both on tradition, literary sources and on etymology. However, unlike some translationshttp://sunsite.berkeley.edu/OMACL/Volsunga/chapter3.html it does not identify this tribe with the Goths
Goths
The Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
. Both Old Norse and Old English records clearly separates the Geats from the Goths, although still depicts them as closely related to each other.
From the Middle Ages until 1974, the king of Sweden, claimed the title king of the Geats as "king of Sweden and Geats/Goths" or "Rex Sweorum et Gothorum"
King of the Goths
The title of King of the Goths was for many centuries borne by both the Kings of Sweden and the Kings of Denmark, denoting sovereignty or claimed sovereignty over the antique people of the Goths....
. The Danish monarchs used the similar title "King of the Goths
King of the Goths
The title of King of the Goths was for many centuries borne by both the Kings of Sweden and the Kings of Denmark, denoting sovereignty or claimed sovereignty over the antique people of the Goths....
" from 1362 until 1972.
Legendary kings
Some names appear in Norse mythologyNorse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
and in Germanic legend and in at least one case, they were probably historical (Hygelac
Hygelac
Hygelac was a king of the Geats according to the poem Beowulf. He was the son of Hrethel and had brothers Herebeald and Hæthcyn. His sister was married to Ecgtheow and had the son Beowulf. Hygelac was married to Hygd and they had the son Heardred, and an unnamed daughter who married Eofor...
). Their order of succession is uncertain (if they ever lived).
- Dag, contemporary with YngviYngviYngvi, Yngvin, Ingwine, Inguin are names that relate to an older theonym Ing and which appears to have been the older name for the god Freyr ....
-Frey in Gamla UppsalaGamla UppsalaGamla Uppsala is a parish and a village outside Uppsala in Sweden. It had 16,231 inhabitants in 1991.As early as the 3rd century AD and the 4th century AD and onwards, it was an important religious, economic and political centre...
, in Sturlaugs sagaSturlaugs saga starfsamaSturlaugs saga starfsama is a legendary saga from the 14th century about Sturlaugr the Industrious, who was the son of a Norwegian Hersir.After having killed a competing suitor and chased away a second one, he married Åsa the Fair, the daughter of a jarl. Her old foster-mother helps Sturlaugr with...
19 & 23. - GizurGizurGizur, Gizurr or Gissur was a King of the Geats. He appears in The Battle of the Goths and Huns, which is included in the Hervarar saga and in editions of the Poetic Edda...
4th century, who helps the GothsGothsThe Goths were an East Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin whose two branches, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe....
during the battles with the HunsHunsThe Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
in Hervarar sagaHervarar sagaHervarar saga ok Heiðreks is a legendary saga from the 13th century combining matter from several older sagas. It is a valuable saga for several different reasons beside its literary qualities. It contains traditions of wars between Goths and Huns, from the 4th century, and the last part is used as...
(see HlödHlödHlod or Hlöd was the illegitimate son of Heidrek, the king of the Goths.He appears in the Hervarar saga and probably also as Hlith in Widsith, line 115, together with his father Heiðrekr , half-brother Angantyr , and his mother Sifka .-Claiming his inheritance:Hlöd had grown up with his grandfather...
). - Gauti (in Herraud's saga), probably the same as Gaut the father of Gautrek according to the Ynglinga sagaYnglinga sagaYnglinga saga is a legendary saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It was first translated into English and published in 1844....
. See Sons of OdinSons of OdinVarious gods and men appear as Sons of Odin or Sons of Wodan/Wotan or Sons of Woden in old Old Norse and Old High German and Old English texts.-Thor, Baldur, and Váli:...
. - Ring son of Gauti (king of East Götaland in Bósa saga ok HerraudsBósa saga ok HerraudsBósa saga ok Herrauds or "Saga of Bósi and Herraud" is a legendary saga written around 1300 preserved in three 15th century manuscripts relating the fantastic adventures of the two companions Herraud and Bósi....
) - HerrauðrHerrauðrHerrauðr, Herraud, Herröðr, Herruðr, Herrud, Herothus or Heroth is a legendary earl of Götaland or king of Sweden, who appears in several medieval legends, in particular those relating to Ragnar Lodbrok...
, son of Ring (king of East Götaland in Bósa saga ok HerraudsBósa saga ok HerraudsBósa saga ok Herrauds or "Saga of Bósi and Herraud" is a legendary saga written around 1300 preserved in three 15th century manuscripts relating the fantastic adventures of the two companions Herraud and Bósi....
) - GautrekrGautrekrGautrekr was a legendary Geatish king who appears in several sources, such as Gautreks saga, Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar, Bósa saga ok Herrauðs, Ynglinga saga, Nafnaþulur and Af Upplendinga konungum....
, appearing in several sources. - Ketill Gautreksson, in Hrólfs saga GautrekssonarHrólfs saga GautrekssonarHrólfs saga Gautrekssonar is a Scandinavian legendary saga which was put to text in Iceland in the 13th century. It has a prequel in Gautreks saga.Gautrekr was a Geatish king who descended from Odin himself...
. - Hrólfr GautrekssonHrólfr GautrekssonHrólfr Gautreksson was a legendary Geatish king who appears in Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar and probably in Hyndluljóð.Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar tells that he was the son of king Gautrek and when his father died, his elder brother Ketill became king. Hrólfr would court and finally win the Swedish king...
, in Hrólfs saga GautrekssonarHrólfs saga GautrekssonarHrólfs saga Gautrekssonar is a Scandinavian legendary saga which was put to text in Iceland in the 13th century. It has a prequel in Gautreks saga.Gautrekr was a Geatish king who descended from Odin himself...
. - Gestiblindus, according to Gesta DanorumGesta DanorumGesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus . It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history...
. - YngwinYngwinYngwin was, according to Gesta Danorum, a king in Götaland, who was a close friend to one of the Danish kings named Halfdan.This Danish king had no sons, so he left his treasures and his kingdom to Yngwin...
("Yngve") 5th century (in Gesta DanorumGesta DanorumGesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus . It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history...
, see HalfdanHalfdanHalfdan was a late 5th and early 6th century legendary Danish king of the Scylding lineage, the son of king named Fróði in many accounts, noted mainly as the father to the two kings who succeeded him in the rule of Denmark, kings named Hroðgar and Halga in the Old English poem Beowulf and named...
) - SiwardSiwardSiward may refer to:* Siward, king of Götaland* Siward , Bishop of St. Martins* Siward, Earl of Northumbria , Anglo-Scandinavian earl of Northumbria...
, contemporary with Yngwin's grandson (in Gesta DanorumGesta DanorumGesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus . It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history...
) - AlgautAlgautAlgaut was a Geatish king who ruled West Götaland according to the Heimskringla. Snorri Sturluson relates that he was burnt to death by his son-in-law, the Swedish king Ingjald Ill-ruler....
4th century or the 7th century (in the Norse sagaNorse sagaThe sagas are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, the battles that took place during the voyages, about migration to Iceland and of feuds between Icelandic families...
s) - Thorir (the brother of Bödvar BjarkiBödvar BjarkiBödvar Bjarki , meaning 'Warlike Little-Bear', is the hero appearing in tales of Hrólf Kraki in the Saga of Hrólf Kraki, in the Latin epitome to the lost Skjöldunga saga, and as Biarco in Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum...
(Beowulf?) in the Hrólf KrakiHrólf KrakiHrólfr Kraki, Hroðulf, Rolfo, Roluo, Rolf Krage was a legendary Danish king who appears in both Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian tradition. His name would in his own language have been *Hrōþiwulfaz .Both traditions describe him as a Danish Scylding, the nephew of Hroðgar and the grandson of Healfdene...
's saga)
Siklings
- SigarSigarThe name Sigar can refer to three people in Scandinavian mythology, surrounding the legends of Sigurd the dragon slayer. One of them only appears as the friend of Helgi Hjörvarðsson in the eddic lay Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar...
?, the father of Siggeir, who genealogically corresponds to Yngwin, the king of Götaland in Gesta DanorumGesta DanorumGesta Danorum is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th century author Saxo Grammaticus . It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essential source for the nation's early history...
. - SiggeirSiggeirSiggeir is the king of Gautland , in the Völsunga saga. In Skáldskaparmál he is given as a Sikling and a relative of Sigar who killed the hero Hagbard...
5th century, a son of Sigar and the king of Götaland in the Volsunga sagaVolsunga sagaThe Völsungasaga is a legendary saga, a late 13th century Icelandic prose rendition of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan . It is largely based on epic poetry...
Hrethelings
- SwertingSwertingSwerting was one of the Saxon ancestors of king Aella of Deira.He may be identical with the Swerting briefly mentioned in Beowulf, where he had the son or son-in-law Hrethel, who was the maternal grandfather of the hero Beowulf.-The Heaðobard tradition:A Swerting of the same timeframe also...
(Swartingaz) (in BeowulfBeowulfBeowulf , 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...
). - HreðelHreðelHrethel was the king of the Geats, in Beowulf. He was the son or son-in-law of Swerting and he had three sons Hæþcyn, Herebeald and Hygelac. He also had a daughter who married Ecgþeow and had the son Beowulf....
(Hrōþilōn) (a relative of Swerting, in Beowulf) - HæþcynHæþcynHæthcyn was the son of the Geatish king Hreðel in Beowulf. The hero Beowulf was his nephew. Hæþcyn killed his elder brother Herebeald with an arrow in a hunting accident, which caused their father Hrethel to die from grief...
(Haþukunjaz) d. 514 or 515 (the son of Hrethel, in Beowulf) - HygelacHygelacHygelac was a king of the Geats according to the poem Beowulf. He was the son of Hrethel and had brothers Herebeald and Hæthcyn. His sister was married to Ecgtheow and had the son Beowulf. Hygelac was married to Hygd and they had the son Heardred, and an unnamed daughter who married Eofor...
(Hugilaikaz, Hugleikr) d. 516 (the son of Hrethel, in Beowulf) - HeardredHeardredHeardred , d. ca 530 AD, is the son of Hygelac, king of the Geats, and his queen Hygd, in Beowulf. After Hygelac's death, in Frisia, Hygd wants to make Hygelac's nephew Beowulf, king of Geatland, as she fears that the young Heardred won't be able to defend his people...
(Hardarēdaz, Harðráðr). ca 530 (the son of Hygelac, in Beowulf) - Beowulf (Bīōwulfaz, Bjólfr) d. ca 580? (the nephew of Hygelac, in Beowulf)
Ylfings (Wulfings)
- Helm? Wulfing king mentioned in WidsithWidsithWidsith is an Old English poem of 144 lines that appears to date from the 9th century, drawing on earlier oral traditions of Anglo-Saxon tale singing. The only text of the fragment is copied in the Exeter Book, a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late 10th century containing...
. - HögneHögneFor other people named Högne, see Haguna.Högne was a king of Östergötland who appears in sources Norse mythology.-Heimskringla:Snorri Sturluson wrote that he was the king of Östergötland and that he had a son named Hildur and daughter Hilda who was married to Granmar, the king of Södermanland...
7th century, the king of East Götaland (in the Heimskringla) and the father-in-law of Hjörvard. - HjörvardHjörvardHjörvard was the name of several characters in Norse mythology.#Hjörvard Ylfing, see Granmar.#Hjörvard, who rebelled against Hrólf Kraki and killed him, see Heoroweard#Hjörvard, the son of Arngrim.#Hervor's name as a shieldmaiden....
7th century, king of East Götaland (in Sögubrot) - Hjörmund 7th century, king of East Götaland (in Sögubrot) and a son of Hjörvard.
- Helgi HundingsbaneHelgi HundingsbaneHelgi Hundingsbane is a hero in Norse sagas. Helgi appears in Volsunga saga and in two lays in the Poetic Edda named Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Helgakviða Hundingsbana II. The Poetic Edda relates that Helgi and his mistress Sigrún were Helgi Hjörvarðsson and Sváva of the Helgakviða...
7th century, probably a king of East Götaland in the Norse sagas.
Battle of Bråvalla
Chronologically assigned to the 8th century, the historically poorly attested battle of Bråvalla (in a location legendarily between West and East Gothenland) was fought between the "king of SwedenSigurd Ring
Sigurd Hring was a Swedish and Danish king mentioned in many old Scandinavian legends. According to Bósa saga ok Herrauds, there was once a saga on Sigurd Hring, but this saga is now lost...
" who is said to have ruled Westrogothians, and the "king of Denmark
Harald Wartooth
Harald Wartooth or Harold Hiltertooth was a legendary king of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the historical northern German province of Wendland, in the 8th and 9th century...
" whose realm is said to have included Ostrogothians.
Historical kings
When sources become more reliable, GötalandGötaland
Götaland , Gothia, Gothland, Gothenland, Gautland or Geatland is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises provinces...
is an integrated part of the Swedish kingdom and from Stenkil and onwards most of the medieval Swedish kings actually belonged to Geatish clan
Norse clans
The Scandinavian clan or ætt was a social group based on common descent or on the formal acceptance into the group at a þing.-History:...
s (House of Stenkil
House of Stenkil
The House of Stenkil was a dynasty on the Swedish throne from c. 1060 to c. 1125. Stenkil probably originated from Västergötland.Line before Stenkil, according to the Norse sagas:...
, House of Sverker
House of Sverker
After the extinction of the House of Stenkil and the ascension of Sverker I of Sweden in 1130, a civil war commenced. In the beginning, there were several pretenders, of whom Sverker I emerged as victorious, for a time...
and the House of Bjelbo
House of Bjelbo
The House of Bjelbo , also known as the House of Folkung , was an Ostrogothian Swedish family that provided for several medieval Swedish bishops, jarls and kings.- Name and origin :...
, possibly also the House of Eric
House of Eric
The House of Eric was one of the two clans, which were rivals for the kingship of Sweden between 1150 and 1220. The first king from the clan of the Erics who had won the power struggle against the Sverkers was Eric IX of Sweden whom the later world has dubbed Saint Eric...
). In the early high Middle Ages some kings in Sweden were titled rex Visigothorum and rex Gothorum, failing to hold the Swedish core provinces in Svealand
Svealand
Svealand , Swealand or Sweden proper is the historical core region of Sweden. It is located in south central Sweden and is one of three lands of Sweden, bounded to the north by Norrland and to the south by Götaland. Deep forests, Tiveden, Tylöskog, Kolmården, separated Svealand from Götaland...
. The non-Geatish King Ragnvald Knaphövde
Ragnvald Knaphövde
Ragnvald Knaphövde was a King of Sweden whose reign is estimated to the mid-1120s or c. 1130. His cognomen Knaphövde is explained as referring to a drinking vessel, the size of a man's head or meaning "round head" and referring to his being foolish...
was killed by the Geats as he despised them and travelled among them without Geatish hostages.
- Ingold I, king of VästergötlandVästergötland', English exonym: West Gothland, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....
(1081) - Halsten, king of VästergötlandVästergötland', English exonym: West Gothland, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....
(1081) - Magnus the StrongMagnus the StrongMagnus I of Sweden, son of Nicholas , later called Magnus the Strong , was a Danish duke who ruled Gothenland in southern Sweden from 1125 to 1130...
, king of Västergötland (reigned 1125–1130) - Kol, king of ÖstergötlandÖstergötlandÖstergötland, English exonym: East Gothland, is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland, and the Baltic Sea. In older English literature, one might also encounter the Latinized version, Ostrogothia...
(see Ingold II) (early 12th c.) - Karl SverkerssonCharles VII of SwedenCharles "VII" also Carl , or Karl Sverkersson in Swedish , was ruler of Gothenland, and then King of Sweden from circa 1161 to 1167, when he was assassinated....
, rex Gothorum before becoming king of all of Sweden.
- since Magnus III of SwedenMagnus III of SwedenMagnus III Ladulås of Sweden, Swedish: Magnus Birgersson or Magnus Ladulås was King of Sweden from 1275 until his death in 1290....
until accession of Charles XVI Gustav, Sweden's monarchs were officially titled King of the GothsKing of the GothsThe title of King of the Goths was for many centuries borne by both the Kings of Sweden and the Kings of Denmark, denoting sovereignty or claimed sovereignty over the antique people of the Goths....
; and quite parallelly, since Valdemar IV's conquest of GotlandGotlandGotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
until accession of Margaret II of Denmark, Denmark's monarchs were similarly titled.
False kings
- The 16th century forgery Ballad of Eric tells of the first king of Götaland Eric ("Eiriker"), who for a long time was considered historical.