Characters in Beowulf

thumb|An illustration of Grendel by J. R. Skelton from the 1908 Stories of Beowulf. Grendel is described as "very terrible to look upon."

Hrothgar ( ; ) was a semi-legendary Danish king living around the early sixth century AD.

Semi-legendary Danish king

legendary Geatish hero

thumb|Anachronistic portrait depicting a battle between Franks and Danes in 515, from Jean Fouquet's illumination in the [[Grandes Chroniques de France, Tours, c 1455-60]] thumb|Chattuarii|Hettergouw at the lower [[Rhine, inhabited by the Attoarii or Hetware, who killed Hygelac, according to Beowulf, line 2916]]

right|250px|thumb|Eadgils pursuing Hrólfr Kraki on the [[Fyrisvellir, etching by (1830)]] thumb|right|250px|West royal tumulus at Gamla Uppsala|Old Uppsala, suggested grave of King EadgilsEadgils, Adils, Aðils, Adillus, Aðísl at Uppsölum, Athisl, Athislus or Adhel was a semi-legendary king of Sweden, who is estimated to have lived during the 6th century. Beowulf and Old Norse sources present him as the son of Ohthere and as belonging to the ruling Yngling (Scylfing) dynasty. These sources also deal with his war against Onela, which he won with foreign assistance: in Beowulf he gained the thron

thumb|A mention of Scyldings in the Beowulf in the genitive [[plural]] The Scyldings (OE Scyldingas) or Skjǫldungs (ON Skjǫldungar), both meaning "descendants of Scyld/Skjǫldr", were, according to legends, a clan or dynasty of Danish kings, that in its time conquered and ruled Denmark and Sweden together with part of England, Ireland and North Germany. The name is explained in many texts, such as Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann's 'Research on the Field of History' (), by the descent of this family from an eponymous king Scyld, but the title is sometimes applied to rulers who purportedly reigned b

300px|thumb|right|Ohthere's Mound located at Vendel parish, [[Uppland, Sweden.]] Ohthere, also Ohtere (Old Norse: Óttarr vendilkráka, Vendelcrow; in modern Swedish Ottar Vendelkråka), was a semi-legendary king of Sweden of the house of Scylfings, who is said to have lived during the Germanic Heroic Age, possibly during the early 6th century (fl. c. 515 – c. 530).

250px|right|thumb|Illustration by Gerhard Munthe (1899)

mother of the monster Grendel in the epic poem Beowulf

fictional character

legendary king of the Angels

Onela was, according to Beowulf, a Swedish king, the son of Ongentheow and the brother of Ohthere. He usurped the Swedish throne, but was killed by his nephew Eadgils, who won by hiring foreign assistance.

200px|thumb|right|Queen Wealtheow as the hostess of the banquet Wealhtheow (also rendered Wealhþēow or Wealthow; ) is a queen of the Danes in the Old English poem Beowulf, first introduced in line 612. thumb|Queen Wealhtheaow Pledges Beowulf (George T. Tobin, 1909)

Halfdan (, , Medieval : "half Dane") was a late 5th and early 6th century legendary Danish king of the Scylding (Skjöldung) 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 Hróar and Helgi in Old Norse accounts.

right|200px|thumb|Halga seducing his own daughter Yrsa, by Jenny Nyström (1895). Halga, Helgi, Helghe or Helgo was a legendary Danish king living in the early 6th century. His name would in his own language (Proto-Norse) have been *Hailaga (dedicated to the gods).

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 (10th century), Hnæf ruled the Hocings. Hoc is called Hoc Healfdene, suggesting a partly Danish ancestry.

dragon from the Beowulf poem

Wiglaf (Proto-Norse: *Wīgalaibaz, meaning "battle remainder"; ) is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. He is the son of Weohstan, a Swede of the Wægmunding clan who had entered the service of Beowulf, king of the Geats. Wiglaf is called Scylfing as a metonym for Swede, as the Scylfings were the ruling Swedish clan. While in the service of the Scylfing Onela, king of the Swedes, Weohstan killed the rebel prince Eanmund and took his sword as a trophy; Wiglaf later inherited it. Weohstan belonged to the clan of the Wægmundings, the same clan Beowulf's father Ecgþeow belonged to; so

Hrethel (; ) is a king of the Geats.

right|thumb|300px|The Wulfing navy on the move, an illustration from the poems on the Wulfing Helgi HundingsbaneThe Wulfings, Wylfings or Ylfings (the name means the "wolf clan") was a powerful clan in Beowulf, Widsith and in the Norse sagas. While the poet of Beowulf does not locate the Wulfings geographically, Scandinavian sources define the Ylfings (the Old Norse form of the name) as the ruling clan of the Eastern Geats.

Fróði (; ; Middle High German: Vruote) is the name of a number of legendary Danish kings in various texts including Beowulf, Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda and his Ynglinga saga, Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum, and the Grottasǫngr. A Danish king by this name also appears as a minor character in the Middle High German epic Rabenschlacht. The name is possibly an eponym for the god Freyr.

Eanmund was a Swedish prince of the Scylfing dynasty, whose existence is alleged in Beowulf.