Norse clans

right|250px|thumb|The Yngling Ingjald slaying his kinsmen. The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem Ynglingatal. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (, ) in Beowulf. When Beowulf and Ynglingatal were composed sometime in the eighth to tenth centuries, their respective authors (scops and skalds) expected their audience to have a great deal of background information about these kings, which is shown in the allusiveness of the references.

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

right|thumb|Approximate borders of Sweden in the 12th century before the incorporation of Finland during the 13th century. Blue and yellow represents the [[Geats (from Götaland) and Suiones (from Svealand) tribes; their previous unification marks the consolidation of Sweden (in one commonly held view).]] In modern Swedish, Folkung has two meanings, which appear to be opposites:

Scandanavian lineage

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.