Everything about Ski Ldungar totally explained
Old English Scylding (plural
Scyldingas) and
Old Norse Skjöldung (plural
Skjöldungar), meaning in both languages
Shielding, refers to members of a legendary royal family of
Danes and sometimes to their people. The name is explained in many text by the descent of this family from an eponymous king
Scyld/
Skjöld. But the title is sometimes applied to rulers who purportedly reigned before Scyld/Skjöld and the supposed king Scyld/Skjöld may be an invention to explain the name. There was once a
Norse saga on the dynasty, the
Skjöldunga saga, but it only survives in a Latin summary by
Arngrímur Jónsson.
From Skjöld to Halfdan
The number, names, and order of the Skjöldung kings vary greatly in different texts until one comes to
Halfdan/Healfdene.
All Old English texts call Scyld's son and successor Beaw or some similar name. (The name was expanded to Beowulf in the poem
Beowulf, probably in error by a scribe who thought it was an abbreviation for the name of the poem's hero, who is quite a different person). Halfdan/Healfdene seems to be the direct son of Beaw in the poem. But all Scandinavian sources that mention both Skjöld and Halfdan put Halfdan some generations after Skjöld and make no mention of King Beaw (save for a genealogy in the Prologue to
Snorri Sturluson's
Edda which is taken from English traditions).
According to
Saxo Grammaticus'
Gesta Danorum (Book 1), Skjöld was succeeded by a son named
Gram. Since
gram is also a simple adjective meaning "fierce" and a common kenning for "king", it might be that Saxo or a source has misunderstood some account referring to Beaw as being
gram or a
gram and wrongly taken it here as a personal name. Saxo has much to tell of this Gram who becomes the father of
Hadingus of whom he's even more to relate, Hadingus in turn becomes the father of a king
Frotho I who is father of
Haldanus I.
Snorri Sturluson in his
Edda, along with some other Old Norse texts, makes Skjöld to be father of
Fridleif father of
Fróði under whose reign the world was at peace. Snorri mentions this Fróði son of Fridleif in the
Ynglinga saga also. But in this work Snorri also introduces a second, later Fróði, said to be son of certain
Dan Mikilláti. The second Fróði is known both as Fróði Mikilláti and Fróði the Peace-lover and looks suspiciously like a duplicate of the other peaceful Fróði. Snorri makes this second Fróði the father of Halfdan and of another son named Fridleif.
Saxo in Books 4–5, long after the reign of Halfdan and the fall of the Skjöldung dynasty, also introduces a king named Dan, the third king with that name in his account, whose son is Fridleif whose son is Fróði under whose reign the world achieves peace. This Fróði is also the father of a son named Fridleif according to Saxo.
There are other differing accounts of Halfdan's ancestors. The names, number, and order of legendary Danish kings are very inconsistent in extant texts and it would appear that different writers and story tellers differently arranged what tales of
legendary Danish kings they knew in whatever order seemed best to them.
Halfdan and his descendants
In all accounts Halfdan is father of
Helgi (called Halga in
Beowulf) and Hróar (called
Hrothgar in
Beowulf). Helgi is father of the famous
Hrólf Kraki (called Hrothulf in
Beowulf). In
Beowulf, another son of Healfdene/Halfdan named Heorogar is father of
Heoroweard who corresponds to Hjörvard in the Old Norse accounts where Hjörvard's parentage isn't told. The Old Norse accounts make Hjörvard to be the husband of Hrólf's sister and tell how Hjörvard rebelled against King Hrólf and burned him in his hall. But Hjörvard was himself soon slain and with him the rule of the Skjöldung dynasty ended. See also
Origins for Beowulf and Hrólf Kraki.
Other Skjöldungar
A later lineage said to be of Skjöldung descent:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ski Ldungar'.
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