Swerting ( Proto-Norse * Swartingaz [1] ) is briefly mentioned in Beowulf , where he had a son or son-in-law, Hrethel , who was the maternal grandfather of the hero Beowulf .
7-629: A Swerting of the same timeframe also appears in Scandinavian traditions as the killer of a Danish king named Fróði/Frotho, who corresponds to Froda , the Heaðobard , in Beowulf . In the Scandinavian traditions, Froda's son Ingeld also appears with the name forms Ingjald or Ingellus . The Skjöldunga saga and the Bjarkarímur tell that the king of Sweden, Jorund , was defeated by
14-612: A banquet that Ingellus had with the sons of Swerting, his father's slayer. Starkad strongly admonished Ingellus and humiliated his queen who tried to calm Starkad with kindness and her costly ribbon. Starkad succeeded in exciting Ingellus to kill Swerting's sons and to divorce his Saxon bride. Kings of the Danes are in bold and marked with an asterisk (*). Kings of the Swedes are marked with a dagger (†). Name spellings are derived from Oliver Elton 's 1905 translation, The First Nine Books of
21-718: A minor character in the Middle High German epic Rabenschlacht . The name is possibly an eponym for the god Freyr . The form Fróði is still in use in Icelandic and Faroese and appears Latinized as Frotho or Frodo . The latter form of the name is used by J. R. R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings for the main character of the story, Frodo Baggins . Alternative anglicizations are Frode , Fródi , Fróthi and Frodhi . The Danish , Norwegian and Swedish form
28-642: Is based on the old warrior who restarted the conflict between the Heaðobards and the Danes. The Danish king Frotho (Froda) was killed through treachery by a Saxon named Swerting (Swertingus) (cf. the Swedish earl, above). Frotho's son Ingellus (Ingeld) lived a wanton life and married one of Swerting's daughters. This angered Starkad so much that he enlisted at the Swedish king Halfdan 's (Haldanus) court instead. As Ingellus continued his sinful life and did not do his duty to avenge his father, Starkad appeared during
35-632: The Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus , via Wikisource . The pedigree of king Aella of Deira given in Historia Brittonum includes the name " Sguerthing " as great-grandfather of the king, and this has been interpreted as a reference to the Swerting of Beowulf . The name does not appear in other versions of the royal pedigree and may represent an attempt by the author of Historia Brittonum to interpose this heroic character into
42-526: The Danish king Fróði , who made him a tributary and took his daughter. The daughter gave birth to Halfdan , but another woman became Fróði's legitimate wife and gave him an heir named Ingjaldr . Together with one of his earls , Swerting, Jorund conspired against Fróði and killed him during the blót . There is also a second version in Gesta Danorum , concerning the adventures of Starkad , and which
49-454: The royal pedigree. Notes Froda Fróði ( Old Norse : Frōði ; Old English : Frōda ; 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
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