Hrothgar ( ; ) was a semi-legendary Danish king living around the early sixth century AD.The dating has never been a matter of controversy. It is inferred from the internal chronology of the sources themselves and the dating of Hygelac's raid on Frisia to c. 516. It is also supported by archaeological excavations of the barrows of Eadgils and Ohthere in Sweden. For a discussion, see e.g. Birger Nerman's Det svenska rikets uppkomst (1925) (in Swedish). For presentations of the archaeological findings, see e.g. Elisabeth Klingmark's Gamla Uppsala, Svenska kulturminnen 59, Riksantikvarieämbetet (in Swedish), or this English language presentation by the Swedish National Heritage Board
Hrothgar appears in the Anglo-Saxon epics Beowulf and Widsith, in Norse sagas and poems, and in medieval Danish chronicles. In both Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian tradition, Hrothgar is a Scylding, the son of Halfdan, the brother of Halga, and the uncle of Hrólfr Kraki. Moreover, in both traditions, the mentioned characters were the contemporaries of the Swedish king Eadgils; and both traditions also mention a feud with men named Fróði and Ingeld. The consensus view is that Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian traditions describe the same person.
Names Hrothgar, also rendered Hrōðgār, is an Old English form attested in Beowulf and Widsith, the earliest sources to mention the character. In non-English sources, the name appears in more or less corresponding Old Icelandic, Old Danish, and Latinized versions. He appears as Hróarr, Hroar, etc., in sagas and poetry, and as Ro or Roe in the Danish Latin chronicles. The form Hrōðgār is thought to have derived from the proto-Norse *HrōþigaizazLexikon över urnnordiska personnamn PDF "famous spear", i.e. Roger. The corresponding Old Norse name Hróarr and its variations are derived from *Hrōþigaizaz, and from the very close names *Hrōþiwarjaz "famous defender" or *Hrōþiharjaz "famous warrior".Peterson, Lena: Lexikon över urnordiska personnamn, PDF
Anglo-Saxon poems Hrothgar appears in two Anglo-Saxon poems, Beowulf and Widsith. Beowulf gives the fuller account of Hrothgar and how the Geatish hero Beowulf visited him to free his people from the trollish creature Grendel. Widsith only mentions Hrothgar, Heorot, his nephew Hroðulf and their enemy Ingeld, but can complete Beowulf in some cases where Beowulf does not give enough information. This is notably the case concerning the ending of his feud with Ingeld.
Beowulf
In the epic poem Beowulf, Hrothgar is mentioned as the builder of the great hall Heorot and ruler of Denmark, when the Geatish hero Beowulf arrives to defeat the monster Grendel.
When Hrothgar is introducedlines 59-63 in Beowulf, it is explained that he was the second of four children of King Healfdene: he had an older brother, Heorogar, who was king before him; a younger brother Halga; and a sister, who was married to the king of Sweden. The sister is not named in the manuscript and most scholars agree this is a scribal error,The manuscript (Cotton Vitellius A. xv, the Nowell Codex) reads hyrde ic þ elan cwen. hyrde ic means "I have heard". þ is an abbreviation for the word þæt, "that." elan is meaningless. cwen means "queen." There is no gap in the manuscript between þ and elan, but clearly there is information missing: the name of the sister; a verb, almost certainly the word wæs, "was"; and the name of the man whose queen she was; it seems certain that the scribe missed a few words, and elan is a fragment of the possessive form of a man's name ending in -ela. The Beowulf manuscript was copied down by two different scribes (Scribe B took over midway through line 1939); this passage was copied down by Scribe A, who was somewhat more error-prone than Scribe B. but suggested names are Signy and Yrsa.In Norse tradition, Hrothgar's sister's name was Signý, but she was married to Sævil, a mere Danish earl (see the sections on the Skjöldunga saga and the Hrólfr Kraki's saga). Friderich Kluge (1896) accordingly suggested that the line be restored as hyrde ic þ [Sigeneow wæs Sæw]elan cwen, rendering the Norse names in Old English forms. However, the only certain Swedish (Scylfing) royal name ending in -ela that has come down to us is Onela, and according to the rules of alliteration, this means that the queen's name must have begun with a vowel. Sophus Bugge consequently identified her with the Swedish queen Yrsa. He thus suggested the line should be emended to read hyrde ic þ[æt Ȳrse wæs On]elan cwen. Most 20th-century translators followed this suggestion. However, in Norse tradition, Yrsa was the daughter and lover/rape victim of Hrothgar's younger brother Halga, and the mother of Halga's son Hroðulf, and most modern translators simply leave the line as it is.
The poem further tells that Hrothgar was "slain in war" and so his kinsmen eagerly followed him.lines 64-67 He is both honest and generous: "He broke no oaths, dealt out rings, treasures at his table".lines 80-81 When Beowulf leads his men to Denmark, he speaks of Hrothgar to both a coast-guard and to Hrothgar's herald: he calls Hrothgar a "famed king", "famed warrior", and "protector of the Scyldings" (the ruling clan), and describes him as "old and good." The poet emphasizes that the Danes "did not find fault" with Hrothgar, "for that was a good King".lines 862-863 When Beowulf defeats Grendel, Hrothgar rewards Beowulf and his men with great treasures, showing his gratitude and open-handedness.lines 1020-1062 The poet says that Hrothgar is so generous that "no man could fault him, who wished to speak the truth."
Hrothgar was married to a woman named Wealhþeow, who was a Helming,line 612 probably defining her as a relative of Helm, the ruler of the Wulfings.See Widsith, 21. When Hrothgar welcomes Beowulf,lines 456-490. he recalls his friendship with Beowulf's family. He met Beowulf's father Ecgþeow "when I first ruled the Danes" after the death of Heorogar; he laments Heorogar's fall ("He was better than I!") and recalls how he settled Ecgþeow's blood feud with the Wulfings. Hrothgar thanks God for Beowulf's arrival and victory over Grendel, and swears to love Beowulf like a son.lines 925-956
The poem introduces Hroðulflines 1011-1017 (Hrólfr Kraki in Scandinavian sources) as Hrothgar's supporter and right-hand man; and we learn that Hroðulf is Hrothgar's nephew and that "each was true to the other".lines 1162-1165 The common piece of information that Hrothgar's younger brother Halga is Hroðulf's father comes from Scandinavian sources (see below), where Halga was unaware that Yrsa was his own daughter and either raped or seduced her. Yrsa herself was tragically also the result of Halga raping a woman.
Wealhþeow has borne Hrothgar two sons, Hreðric and Hroðmund, and Hroðulf is to be regent if Hrothgar dies before his sons are grown.lines 1168-1191 (Since Hrothgar is an old man at this time—he tells Beowulf he has been king for "fifty winters"line 1769—and Wealhþeow's two sons are not yet grown, it seems likely that Wealhþeow is much younger than Hrothgar, and may not be his first wife.)
Hrothgar is plunged into gloom and near-despair after Grendel's mother attacks the hall and kills Hrothgar's best friend and closest advisor;lines 1321-1325 but when Beowulf advises him not to despair, and that "it is better to avenge our friends than to mourn overmuch", Hrothgar leaps to his feet and thanks God for Beowulf's wise words, and leads the Danes and Geats out to attack the small lake (mere) where Grendel's mother lives.lines 1383-1412
After Beowulf defeats Grendel's mother, Hrothgar rewards him again, and then preaches a sermon in which he warns Beowulf to beware of arrogance and forgetfulness of God.lines 1698-1784
Beowulf takes his leave of Hrothgar to return home, and Hrothgar embraces him and weeps that they will not meet again (because Hroðgar is a very old man).lines 1870-1880 This is Hrothgar's last appearance in the poem. When Beowulf reports on his adventure to his lord Hygelac, he mentions that Hrothgar also had a daughter, Freawaru;lines 2000-2069 it is not clear whether Freawaru was also the daughter of Wealhþeow or was born of an earlier marriage. Since the Danes were in conflict with the Heaðobards, whose king Froda had been killed in a war with the Danes, Hrothgar sent Freawaru to marry Froda's son Ingeld, in an unsuccessful attempt to end the feud.lines 2027-2028
Beowulf predicts to Hygelac that Ingeld will turn against his father-in-law Hrothgar.lines 2067-2069 Earlier in the poem, the poet tells us that the hall Heorot was eventually destroyed by fire:lines 80-85
Beowulf 80–85 Gummere's 1910 verseModern English translation by Francis Barton Gummere ... | Sele hlīfade hēah and horn-gēap: | heaðo-wylma bād, lāðan līges; | ne wæs hit lenge þā gēn þæt se ecg-hete | āðum-swerian æfter wæl-nīðe | wæcnan scolde. ... there towered the hall, high, gabled wide, the hot surge waiting of furious flame. Nor far was that day when father and son-in-law stood in feud for warfare and hatred that woke again.
It is tempting to interpret the new war with Ingeld as leading to the burning of the hall of Heorot, but the poem separates the two events (by a ne wæs hit lenge þā meaning "nor far way was that day when", in Gummere's translation). According to Widsith (see below), Hrothgar and Hroðulf defeat Ingeld, and if Scandinavian tradition (see the more detailed discussion below) is to be trusted Hrothgar himself is killed by a relative,The Hrólfr Kraki's saga and the Skjöldunga saga. or by the king of Sweden,In the Gesta Danorum but he is avenged by his younger brother Halga. Halga dies in a Viking expedition; Hroðulf succeeds him and rises in fame, and according to Hroðulf's own sagaI.e. Hrólfr Kraki's saga and other sources,The Chronicon Lethrense/Annales Lundenses, Gesta Danorum and the Skjöldunga saga Hroðulf's cousin and/or brother-in-law Heoroweard slays Hroðulf (is this the event referred to as the burning of Heorot?). Heoroweard himself dies in that battle, and according to two sources,The Chronicon Lethrense/Annales Lundenses and the Gesta Danorum this happens only a few hours later, as an act of vengeance by a man loyal to Hroðulf, called Wigg. This is the kin-slaying end of the Scylding dynasty.
Widsith Whereas Beowulf never dwells on the outcome of the battle with Ingeld, the possibly older poem Widsith refers to Hrothgar and Hroðulf defeating Ingeld at Heorot:
Hroþwulf ond Hroðgar heoldon lengest sibbe ætsomne suhtorfædran, siþþan hy forwræcon wicinga cynn ond Ingeldes ord forbigdan, forheowan æt Heorote Heaðobeardna þrym.Hroðulf and Hroðgar held the longest peace together, uncle and nephew, since they repulsed the Viking-kin hewn at Heorot Heaðobard's army. and Ingeld to the spear-point made bow,
This piece suggests that the conflict between the Scyldings Hrothgar and Hroðulf on one side, and the Heaðobards Froda and Ingeld on the other, was well known in Anglo-Saxon England. This conflict also appears in Scandinavian sources, but in the Norse tradition the Heaðobards had apparently been forgotten and the conflict is instead rendered as a family feud (see Gesta Danorum, Hrólf Kraki's saga and Skjöldunga saga, below, for more information). The Norse sources also deal with the defeat of Ingeld and/or Froda.
Scandinavian sources