Kings of the Angles facts for kids

The Angles were an important Germanic group who helped settle Britain. They gave their name to the English, the country of England, and the area called East Anglia. They originally came from a place called Angeln, which is now part of Schleswig-Holstein. Old stories and poems like Widsith, Beowulf, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tell us about their legendary kings.

Who Were the Legendary Kings of the Angles?

Ancient Anglo-Saxon stories, like those found in Widsith and writings by Æthelweard, talk about the earliest ancestor of the Angles. This was a hero named Sceaf. The legend says he arrived as a baby in an empty boat, carrying a bundle of corn. This happened on an island called Scani or Scandza (which is Scania today). Later, William of Malmesbury wrote that Sceaf was chosen as King of the Angles and ruled from Schleswig. His family became known as the Scefings or Scyldings.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a very old book that traces the royal families of the early English kingdoms (called the Heptarchy) back to a common ancestor: Woden. Woden was a human version of a Germanic god, and the stories say he was a descendant of Sceaf. The most important family line from this history was that of Mercia, which came from the rulers of the Angles.

The real Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain happened between the 400s and 600s AD. We don't have many written records from that time until the late 600s, after the Anglo-Saxons became Christian. This means we only have reliable information about royal families from the early 600s onwards. Bede wrote his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum in the early 700s and had good information about the 600s, but not much about the 500s. The family trees that go back to the 500s or even 400s, and then to Woden, are now thought to be stories made up later in the Anglo-Saxon period.

Famous Legendary Kings

The family trees in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle include many legendary Germanic heroes. For example, there's Wihtlæg, who supposedly defeated and killed Amleth, the King of the Jutes. Under Wermund, the Angles' fortress at Schleswig was said to be captured by a group of Saxons called the Myrgings. But then, Offa took it back. Many stories were told about Offa, and he is often called Offa of Angel to tell him apart from a later king named Offa of Mercia. Legends say Offa married the daughter of Freawine, who was the governor of Schleswig. When Offa became king, he secured the Angles' southern border with the Saxons along the River Eider.

Like Offa, Freawine is also said to be a descendant of Woden. Freawine was the father of Wig. Wihtlæg, Wermund, and Offa also appear in a long list of legendary Danish kings written by Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum.

Most other sources say these figures were kings of the Angles. However, Matthew Paris wrote that Offa and his family ruled over the West Angles. This suggests that other parts of the Angle tribe might have had their own smaller rulers. In the poem Beowulf, Offa is described as ruling a large "empire." While Offa's family line went on to create the Kingdom of Mercia, other Angle families might have started the ruling families of East Anglia, Deira, and possibly Bernicia. The kings of Lindsey seem to have come from the Mercian line. The kings of Wessex claimed to be descendants of Freawine, even though their people were Saxons. The kings of Essex and Sussex were Saxon, and those of Kent were Jutish.

The Icling Dynasty and Woden

The family tree that connects the Icling dynasty (the earliest kings of Mercia) to Woden includes at least five generations who lived in Angeln:

• Wihtlæg: Said to be a son, grandson, or great-grandson of Woden.
• Wermund: Son of Wihtlæg.
• Offa: Son of Wermund.
• Angeltheow: Son of Offa.
• Eomer: Son of Angeltheow.
• Icel: Son of Eomer, who supposedly took part in the invasion of Britain.

Stories from Gesta Danorum

Some of these names also appear in the Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus:

• Wihtlæg (called Wiglecus): He married Nanna. He removed Fiallar, King of Scania, from power and defeated and killed Amleth, King of the Jutes.
• Wermund (called Wermundus): After ruling for a long time, Wermund faced an invasion by Eadgils of the Myrgings. Eadgils killed Freawine (called Frowin), who was the governor of Schleswig.
• Offa (called Uffa): Offa married a daughter of Freawine. Even though he was thought to be simple-minded when he was young, Offa fought the Saxons at Rendsburg on an island in the River Eider. This battle helped secure his southern border with them.

Eomer in Beowulf

In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle family tree, Eomer (called Ēomǣr in Old English) is the son of Angeltheow. However, in the famous poem Beowulf, Eomer is described as the son of Offa and the grandson of Wermund. The poem says:

The name Eomer was later used for a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's famous book The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien often used names from Mercian history and legends for his characters in Rohan.

See also

• Angul (king) - a mythical ancestor of the Angles and Danes
• Mercia
• List of monarchs of Mercia
• Kings of Mercia family tree