Ongenþeow

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Ongenþeow, Ongentheow, Ongendþeow, Egil, Egill, Eigil, or Angantyr (– ca 515) was the name of one or two semi-legendary Swedish kings of the house of Scylfings, who appear in Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian sources.

The names are different and have little etymological connection. Ongenþeow would in Proto-Norse have been *Anganaþewaz, whereas Egil would have been *Agilaz. The reason why they are thought to have been the same is that they have the same position in the line of Swedish kings and are described as the fathers of Ohthere and grand-fathers of Eadgils. As will be shown below, it can be argued that they are based on the same person and the same events, but it should be noted that not every scholar is open to the historicity of the characters in Beowulf and in the Norse sagas.

Contents 1 Scandinavian tradition 2 Anglo-Saxon sources 3 Comments 4 Notes 5 Primary sources 6 Secondary sources

[edit] Scandinavian tradition

In Ari Þorgilsson's Íslendingabók and in Historia Norwegiae, he was called Egil Vendelcrow (Vendilcraca/Vendilkráka, a name traditionally given to those living at the royal estate of Vendel in Sweden). Snorri Sturluson, however, gave the name Vendelcrow to Egil's son Ottar (Ohthere). In these sources, Egil was the son of Aun the Old, and like him, not very warlike. After he had made the thrall Tunni (or Tonne) responsible for the treasury, Tunni rebelled against Egil. They fought eight battles after which Egil fled to Denmark, according to the Ynglinga saga (Ynglingatal does not mention where he fled and Historia Norwegiae does not mention any escape at all). Snorri wrote that Fróði, the Danish king, aided Egil in defeating Tunni, and made Egil a tributary to the Danish king.

Egil was killed by a bull during the sacrifices at the Temple at Uppsala.

Ok lofsæll ór landi fló Týs óttungr Tunna ríki, en flæming farra trjónu jötuns eykr á Agli rauð. Sás of austr áðan hafði brúna hörg of borinn lengi, en skíðlauss Skilfinga nið hœfis hjörr til hjarta stóð.[1][2]

The fair-haired son of Odin's race, Who fled before fierce Tunne's face, Has perished by the demon-beast Who roams the forests of the East. The hero's breast met the full brunt Of the wild bull's shaggy front; The hero's heart's asunder torn By the fell Jotun's spear-like horn.[3][4]

The Historia Norwegiæ presents a Latin summary of Ynglingatal, older than Snorri's quotation:

Auchun vero genuit Eigil cognomento Vendilcraco, quem proprius servus nomine Tonne regno privavit, et cum domino pedisseqvus VIII civilia bella commisit, in omnibus victoria potitus, in nono tandem devictus occubuit; sed paulo post ipsum regem truculentus taurus confodiens trucidavit. Cui successit in regnum filius suus Ottarus [...]^[5]

The even earlier source Íslendingabók also cites the line of descent in Ynglingatal and it also gives Egil as the successor of Aunn and the predecessor of Óttarr: xvi Aun inn gamli. xvii Egill Vendilkráka. xviii Óttarr^[6].

[edit] Anglo-Saxon sources

In the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf Ongenþeow is described as a fearsome warrior and it took two warriors Eofor and Wulf Wonreding to take him down.

The epic tells that the Geats under their new king Hæþcyn captured the Swedish queen, but old king Ongenþeow saved her, at a hill fort called Hrefnesholt, although they lost her gold^[7]. Ongenþeow killed Hæþcyn^[8], and besieged the Geats at Hrefnesholt^[9]. The Geats were, however, rescued by Hygelac, Hæþcyn's brother^[10], who arrived the next day with reinforcements^[11]. Having lost the battle, but rescued his queen, Ongenþeow and his warriors returned home^[12].

However, the war was not over. Hygelac, the new king of the Geats, attacked the Swedes^[13]. The Geatish warriors Eofor and Wulf fought together against the hoary king Ongenþeow^[14]. Wulf hit Ongenþeow's head with his sword so that the old king bled over his hair, but the king hit back and wounded Wulf^[15]. Then, Eofor retaliated by cutting through the Swedish king's shield and through his helmet^[16], giving Ongenþeow a death-blow^[17]. Eofor took the Swedish king's helmet, sword and breastplate and carried them to Hygelac^[18]. When they came home, Eofor and Wulf were richly awarded^[19], and Eofor was given Hygelac's daughter^[20]. Because of this battle, Hygelac is referred to as Ongenþeow's slayer^[21].

Ongenþeow is also mentioned in passing by the earlier poem Widsith as the king of Sweden:

lines 30–33:
Wald Woingum, Wod þyringum,	Wald the Woings, Wod the Thuringians,
Sæferð Sycgum, Sweom Ongendþeow,	Saeferth the Sycgs, the Swedes by Ongendtheow,
Sceafthere Ymbrum, Sceafa Longbeardum	Sceafthere the Ymbers, Sceafa the Lombards,

[edit] Comments

The two versions seem contradictory, but it has been shown that the two stories may very well describe the same event (Schück H. 1907, Nerman B. 1925), and that Ynglingatal was probably misinterpreted by Snorri due to a different dialectal meaning of the word farra. In Ynglingatal, it says

en flæming farra trjónu jötuns eykr á Agli rauð.

If there is any authenticity behind the traditions, the origin of Ynglingatal was most probably a Swedish poem which has not survived (see also Sundquist 2004). In Old Swedish, farra did not mean "bull" but it meant "boar" (cf. English farrow meaning "young pig"). Moreover, in Old Norse Trjóna normally meant a pig's snout (modern Scandinavian tryne). Flæmingr meant "sword" (originally a Flemish sword imported by Vikings).

Moreover, the sword of the snout can hardly refer to the horns of a bull, but it is more natural to interpret it as the tusks of a boar. In English, the lines can be translated as but the giant beast coloured its tusk red on Egil.

In Anglo-Saxon, the name eofor meant "boar" and consequently Ynglingatal could very well relate of Eofor (the boar) killing Egil with kennings for boars. These kennings, sung originally by Swedes, were later misinterpreted by Norwegians and Icelanders as literal expressions due to the different dialectal meanings of farra.

Moreover, according to Schück, the name Tunni which has no meaning in Old Norse should in Proto-Norse have been *Tunþa and derived from *Tunþuz. Consequently, it would have been the same word as the Gothic Tunþus which meant "tooth". This would mean that the name of Egil's enemy, actually meant "tooth" and Tunni and the bull/boar would consequently have been the same enemy, i.e. Eofor.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Ynglinga saga at Norrøne Tekster og Kvad
2. ^ A second online presentation of Ynglingatal
3. ^ Laing's translation at the Internet Sacred Text Archive
4. ^ Laing's translation at Northvegr
5. ^ Storm, Gustav (editor) (1880). Monumenta historica Norwegiæ: Latinske kildeskrifter til Norges historie i middelalderen, Monumenta Historica Norwegiae (Kristiania: Brøgger), p. 100.
6. ^ Guðni Jónsson's edition of Íslendingabók
7. ^ Lines 2931-2936
8. ^ Lines 2483-2485, 2925-2931
9. ^ Lines 2934-2942
10. ^ Lines 2434-2435
11. ^ Lines 2942-2946
12. ^ Lines 2947-2958
13. ^ Lines 2959-2965.
14. ^ Lines 2965-2966.
15. ^ Lines 2966-2977.
16. ^ Lines 2977-2982
17. ^ Lines 2485-2490, 2977-2982
18. ^ Lines 2987-2990
19. ^ Lines 2992-2997
20. ^ Lines 2998-2999
21. ^ Line 1969

[edit] Primary sources

• Ynglingatal
• Ynglinga saga (part of the Heimskringla)
• Historia Norwegiae
• Beowulf
• Widsith
• Íslendingabók

[edit] Secondary sources

• Nerman, B. Det svenska rikets uppkomst. Stockholm, 1925.
• Sundquist, O. "Freyr"s offspring. Rulers and religion in ancient Svea society". (2004)

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