Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies facts for kids

The Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies are like very old family trees that show the ancestors of early Anglo-Saxon kings. These family trees were written down between the 8th and 10th centuries. They helped kings show their right to rule by connecting them to famous, sometimes legendary, ancestors.

These genealogies often trace back to semi-legendary founders of kingdoms, like Hengist and Horsa for the Kingdom of Kent. They usually go even further back to legendary heroes and even to Woden, a god in Anglo-Saxon beliefs. In their longest forms, found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, these family trees even connect kings all the way back to Noah and Adam from the Bible! These old records were also used later, in the 13th century, to create family trees for Scandinavian kings.

How We Know About Them

The Anglo-Saxons were special among early Germanic peoples because they kept detailed royal family trees. The oldest source we have is from Bede, a monk who wrote Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum around 731 AD. He wrote about the founders of Kent:

The two first commanders are said to have been Hengest and Horsa ... They were the sons of Victgilsus, whose father was Vecta, son of Woden; from whose stock the royal race of many provinces deduce their original.

Bede also gave similar family lines for the kings of East Anglia.

The Anglian Collection

Another important source is the Anglian collection of royal genealogies. The earliest version of this collection, from around 812 AD, lists the family trees for kings of Deira, Bernicia, Mercia, Lindsey, Kent, and East Anglia. All these lines trace back to Woden, who is named as the son of someone called Frealaf.

These same family trees are also found in some copies of the Historia Brittonum, an older collection of stories from the early 9th century. Later versions of the Anglian collection, from the 10th century, added a family tree for King Ine of Wessex. This tree traced his family from Cerdic, the legendary founder of Wessex, and also back to Woden. This addition likely shows the growing power of Wessex under King Ecgbert.

Later Records

Other family trees are found in lists of kings from the time of King Æthelwulf and later. These lists seem to be based on earlier records from the late 8th or early 9th century. Later additions, made by 892 AD, to both Asser's Vita Ælfredi regis Angul Saxonum and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle show the Wessex family tree going even further back, past Cerdic and Woden, all the way to Adam.

These genealogies were copied by later historians like John of Worcester in his Chronicon ex chronicis. They also influenced Icelandic writings like the Langfeðgatal and were used by Snorri Sturluson in his 13th-century Prologue to the Prose Edda.

Gods Becoming Human Ancestors

Most of these surviving family trees connect the Anglo-Saxon royal families to Woden. Making Woden, a god, the common ancestor of royal families was probably a new idea that came about after the Anglo-Saxons became Christian. This process is called euhemerizing, where gods or mythical figures are treated as real historical people.

Historians like Kenneth Sisam and David Dumville believe that some royal family trees, like those of Wessex and Kent, might have borrowed parts from other kingdoms' genealogies. For example, the Wessex tree might have taken parts from Bernicia's, and Kent's from Deira's.

Connecting to Woden

The family tree of the kings of Essex, for example, originally traced back to Seaxneat, not Woden. But later, Seaxneat was also made a son of Woden to connect the Essex kings to the other royal lines. Dumville suggests these changes were made to show the political power of the Angles over all the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

The idea that kings get their right to rule from being descended from a god might come from ancient Germanic paganism. After the Anglo-Saxons became Christian, this belief changed. Now, being a king in any of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms meant you had to be descended from Woden.

Woden is shown as the father of several figures like Wecta, Beldeg, Wihtgils, and Wihtlaeg. These figures are then listed as ancestors of the kings of Kent, Northumbria (Deira and Bernicia), Wessex, Mercia, and East Anglia. Even Seaxneat, the Essex ancestor, was later added as Woden's son. Once these family lines were connected to Woden, the parts of the tree before Woden were expanded. Mythical heroes and other changes were added, eventually creating a full family tree that went back to the Biblical patriarchs and Adam.

Kent and Deira Royal Lines

The Kentish family tree in the Textus Roffensis

Bede tells us that Hengest and Horsa, the legendary founders of the Kentish royal family, were sons of Wihtgils, who was the son of Wecta, who was the son of Woden. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Historia Brittonum also show this family line. The Anglian Collection gives a similar tree for Hengest, but with some names swapped or slightly different.

The family tree for the kings of Deira also traces back through Woden. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Anglian Collection both show this. Historians believe that the Kent and Deira family trees might have been linked because of political alliances, like the marriage of Edwin of Deira and Æthelburh of Kent.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Anglian Collection, and Historia Brittonum all connect the Deira line to Ælla, the first historically known king of Deira, and his son Edwin. Edwin later joined Deira with Bernicia to form the Kingdom of Northumbria. These different records show slight variations in the names and order of ancestors.

Mercia's Royal Line

The family tree for the kings of Mercia traces their family from Wihtlæg. He is sometimes called a son, grandson, or great-grandson of Woden, depending on the source. His descendants are often seen as legendary Kings of the Angles. Later, in Danish stories, Wihtlæg and his descendants Wermund and Uffa became Danish rulers.

Uffa is known from old English poems like Beowulf. In the Anglo-Saxon genealogies, Uffa is the grandfather of Icel. Icel is the legendary ancestor of the Icling dynasty, which founded the Mercian state. The Historia Brittonum skips some names and goes straight to Pybba, whose son Penda is the first king of Mercia we have historical records for. Penda and his 12 brothers led to many different lines of kings in Mercia.

East Anglia's Royal Line

The East Anglian family tree in the Textus Roffensis

The ruling family of East Anglia, the Wuffingas, were named after Wuffa. He was the son of Wehha, who is listed as an ancestor of the Wuffingas dynasty and also traced back to Woden. The History of the Britons from the 9th century says Wehha's father, Guillem Guercha, was the first king of the East Angles. However, many historians believe Wehha was the true founder of the Wuffingas line.

From Wilhelm, the family tree goes back through several names, including Caser (which means Julius Caesar). This might suggest early ideas that Woden came from 'Greekland'. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not provide a family tree for this dynasty.

Wessex and Bernicia Royal Lines

While not in the earliest records, later copies of the Anglian collection from the 10th century include a family tree for King Ine of Wessex. This tree traces his ancestors from Cerdic, the legendary founder of Wessex, and then back to Woden. This addition probably shows the growing power of Wessex under King Ecgbert.

Later additions to Asser's Vita Ælfredi regis Angul Saxonum and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle extend the Wessex family tree even further, past Cerdic and Woden, all the way to Adam. Historians have noticed some differences in the Wessex family tree over time. For example, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle version has four more generations than the earlier Anglian collection.

When comparing the family trees of Cerdic (Wessex) and Ida of Bernicia (Bernicia), some interesting things appear. Even though these two groups didn't traditionally share an origin, their family trees share the generations right after Woden, like Bældæg and Brand. This is unusual. Also, the name Cerdic might actually be a British (Celtic) name, and some of his successors also have names that could be British. This suggests that the founders of Wessex might not have been Germanic at all, and their family tree might not be entirely accurate.

Sisam's Idea

In 1953, a scholar named Kenneth Sisam studied the Wessex family tree. He noticed similarities between earlier versions of the Wessex tree and Ida's tree. He thought that the shorter version of the Wessex family tree was the original. He believed that extra names were added later, possibly to create alliterative pairs (words starting with the same sound), which was common in Anglo-Saxon poetry.

Sisam concluded that the Wessex royal family tree originally didn't go back further than Cerdic. He thought it was later expanded by borrowing from the Bernician royal family tree, which went back to Woden. This might have been done to show a political alliance between Wessex and Bernicia in the 7th century.

Bernicia's Family Tree

Ida is named as the first king of Bernicia. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says Ida's rule began in 547 AD. He is listed as the son of Eoppa, grandson of Esa, and great-grandson of Ingui. The Historia Brittonum also names him as the first king of Bernicia.

Northumbria was formed when Bernicia joined with the kingdom of Deira under Ida's grandson, Æthelfrith. The genealogies in some copies of the Historia Brittonum give more details about Ida and his family. They say Ida had "one queen" named Bearnoch and twelve sons. Some of his sons became kings, and one, Theodric, fought against a British group led by Urien Rheged.

Ida's successors included Glappa, Adda, Æthelric, Theodric, Frithuwald, Hussa, and finally Æthelfrith (who died around 616 AD). Æthelfrith was the first Northumbrian king known to Bede.

Lindsey's Royal Line

A family tree for the kingdom of Lindsey is also part of the collection. However, we don't have many other historical records for Lindsey, so it's harder to understand this family tree fully. One name, Cædbæd, includes a British element, suggesting that British and Anglo-Saxon cultures mixed early on. Another name, Biscop, means "bishop," which suggests this part of the tree was written after Christianity arrived. The tree traces back to a king named Alfreið, but we don't know much about him from other sources.

Essex's Royal Line

For the kingdom of the East Saxons (Essex), there's a unique family tree that doesn't originally trace the royal family from Woden. This family tree is thought to be separate from the Anglian collection. It ends with Seaxnēat, whose name means "companion of the Saxons." Seaxnēat was a god that early Saxon Christians had to promise to give up. Later, Seaxnēat was made an additional son of Woden, connecting the Essex royal family to the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The first known king, Æscwine of Essex, is listed seven generations after Seaxnēat in this family tree.

Woden's Ancestors

The earliest manuscript that goes back further than Woden is the Vespasian version of the Anglian collection. It only adds one name: Woden's father, Frealeaf. However, the Lindsey family tree in this collection adds more names before Frealeaf: Friothulf, Finn, Godwulf, and Geat. This seems to be a newer addition.

The name at the very top of this family tree is Geat, who is also a legendary Scandinavian hero and possibly a god. He is thought to be the ancestor of the Geats, a Germanic tribe. Historians generally agree that the ancestors listed before Woden were made up during Christian times.

Some medieval sources extend the family tree even further back than Geat, to legendary Scandinavian heroes like Skjöldr and Sceafa. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Anglian collection versions seem to have added more names into older traditions.

The earliest names in these created family trees, connecting them to the Bible, were the last to be added. Noah was made the father, or grandfather (through Shem), of Sceaf, and the line was traced back to Adam.

The Langfeðgatal, which used the Anglo-Saxon family trees for Scandinavian royal families, continued to make them even longer. It took names from Woden to Scef. Then, instead of putting Noah right before Sceaf, it added a long list of names from Norse and Greek mythology. Sceaf's ancestors were traced through figures like Magni and Thor, with Thor being made the son of King Memnon from Troy. Memnon's family was then connected to classical Greek ancestors, including Jupiter and Saturn, which then linked to the Bible through Japheth, Noah's son. This was because medieval tradition believed Japheth was the ancestor of all European peoples.

See Also

• Germanic kingship
• Iclingas
• Scefings
• Scyldings
• Sons of Odin
• Yngling
• Widsith
• Wuffingas

Sources

• Bruce, Alexander M., Scyld and Scef: Expanding the Analogues, London, Routledge, 2002 (https://books.google.com/books?id=hDFIeCj0xasC at Google Books)
• Chambers, R. W., Beowulf, an Introduction to the Study of the Poem with a Discussion of the Stories of Offa and Finn, Cambridge: University Press, 1921
• Dumville, David, "Kingship, Genealogies and Regnal Lists", in Early Medieval Kingship, P.W. Sawyer and Ian N. Wood, eds., Leeds University, 1977, pp. 72–104
• Dumville, David "The Anglian collection of royal genealogies and regnal lists", in Anglo-Saxon England, Clemoes, ed., 5 (1976), pp. 23–50.
• Grimm, Jacob (James Steven Stallybrass, trans.), Teutonic Mythologies, London: George Bell, 1888, vol. iv (Appendix I: "Anglo-Saxon Genealogies"), pp. 1709–1736.
• 

• Moisl, Hermann, "Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies and Germanic oral tradition", Journal of Medieval History, 7:3 (1981), pp. 215–48.
• Murray, Alexander Callander, "Beowulf, the Danish invasion, and royal genealogy", The Dating of Beowulf, Colin Chase, ed. University of Toronto Center for Medieval Studies, 1997, pp. 101–111.
• Newton, Sam, The Origin of Beowulf and the Pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia, Rochester, NY, Boydell & Brewer, 1993.
• North, Richard, Heathen Gods in Old English Literature, Cambridge: University Press, 1997
• Sisam, Kenneth "Anglo-Saxon Royal Genealogies", Proceedings of the British Academy, 39 (1953), pp. 287–348
• The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle at Project Gutenberg - Public domain copy.