Weohstan

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Weohstan (Proto-Norse *Wīhastainaz, meaning "sacred stone"[1]) is a legendary character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. He is a (probably) Swedish champion, the father of Wiglaf, and he belongs to a clan called the Wægmundings. Ecgþeow, the father of Beowulf, also belonged to this clan, so Weohstan is in some degree related to Beowulf.

Weohstan does not actually appear in Beowulf; he is referred to as having died of old age before the action of the later part of the poem. Weohstan is first mentioned in Beowulf at line 2602. We learn that he had held an estate and rights in common land in Geatland, which Beowulf gave to him [2].

When the Scylfing prince Eanmund rebelled against his uncle, the Scylfing king Onela, Weohstan fought in the service of Onela and killed Eanmund in battle; for this Onela gave Weohstan Eanmund's sword and armor[3]. In his old age, Weohstan gave this sword and armor to his son Wiglaf[4]. By that time both Weohstan and Wiglaf "lived among the Geats"[5].

The scholar Frederick Klaeber speculates that though Onela himself did not seek a feud with Weohstan, once Onela was dead and Eanmund's brother Eadgils became king of the Scylfings, Weohstan found it prudent to leave the service of the Scylfings, and this is how he came to be living among the Geats[6].

His name appears in several places where Wiglaf is described as "the son of Weohstan"[7]. He is not mentioned anywhere outside of the Beowulf manuscript.


[edit] References

  1. ^ Peterson, Lena: Lexikon över urnordiska personnamn, PDF
  2. ^ Lines 2606-8.
  3. ^ Lines 2610-19.
  4. ^ Lines 2623-25.
  5. ^ Line 2623.
  6. ^ Klaeber, Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg, Third Edition, D.C. Heath and Co., Lexington, MA, 1922.
  7. ^ Lines 2752, 2602, 2862, 2907, 3076, 3110, 3120.)
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