Ongendus
Encyclopedia
Ongendus was a king of the Danes
, reigning c. 710
.
About 710, Saint Willibrord
visited the Danes whilst Ongendus was ruling and returned with 30 boys to instruct in missionary work. No further details are given about Ongendus, other than that he was "more savage than any beast and harder than stone" — the ideal of man in the Viking Age. Against Willibrord's account, however, one should also consider that he was apparently well received, could travel in peace through Ongendus' realm and was allowed to return with his potential disciples, so the savagry of Ongendus may well be overstated. It may just have been the obligatory classification of any heathen ruler.
He may have founded Ribe
, and reinforced Danevirke
in 737.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, reigning c. 710
710
Year 710 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 710 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Asia :* The Asuka period, the second and last part...
.
About 710, Saint Willibrord
Willibrord
__notoc__Willibrord was a Northumbrian missionary saint, known as the "Apostle to the Frisians" in the modern Netherlands...
visited the Danes whilst Ongendus was ruling and returned with 30 boys to instruct in missionary work. No further details are given about Ongendus, other than that he was "more savage than any beast and harder than stone" — the ideal of man in the Viking Age. Against Willibrord's account, however, one should also consider that he was apparently well received, could travel in peace through Ongendus' realm and was allowed to return with his potential disciples, so the savagry of Ongendus may well be overstated. It may just have been the obligatory classification of any heathen ruler.
He may have founded Ribe
Ribe
Ribe , the oldest extant Danish town, is in southwest Jutland and has a population of 8,192 . Until 1 January 2007, it was the seat of both the surrounding municipality, and county...
, and reinforced Danevirke
Danevirke
The Danevirke The Danevirke The Danevirke (modern Danish spelling: Dannevirke; in Old Norse Danavirki ; in German Danewerk ; is a system of Danish fortifications in Schleswig-Holstein (Northern Germany). This important linear defensive earthwork was constructed across the neck of the Cimbrian...
in 737.
Further reading
- Alcuin's Life of St. Willibrord, translated in C. H. Talbot, "The Anglo-Saxon Missionaries in Germany" (London and New York, 1954), especially pp. 9-10.