Ælfhere

lfhere - a kinsman of Wiglaf and Beowulf
schere - Hrogar's closests counselor and comrade, killed by Grendel's Mother.

Banstan - the father of Breca.
Beowulf - an early Danish king and the son of Scyld, but not the same character as the hero of
the poem.
Beowulf - the eponymous hero of the Anglo-Saxon poem.
Breca - Beowulf's childhood friend who competed with him in a swimming match.
Cain - biblical character described as an ancestor of Grendel who is infamous for killing his
brother Abel, the first murder. Killing your kin was the greatest sin in Anglo-Saxon culture.
Dghrefn - a Frankish warrior killed by Beowulf.
The Dragon - beast (Old English, wyrm) that ravages Beowulf's kingdom and which Beowulf
must slay at the end of the poem. It is the cause of Beowulf's death.
Eadgils - a Swedish king also mentioned extensively in the Norse sagas.
Eanmund - a Swedish prince, and the brother of Eadgils.
Ecglaf - Unfer's father.
Ecgeow - Beowulf's father who belonged to the Swedish Wgmunding clan. He joined the
Geats after having been banished for killing the Wulfing Heaolaf, and married a Geatish
princess.
Ecgwela - an earlier Danish king.
Elan - possibly an incomplete name for Hrogar's sister, see Yrsa, below.
Eofor - the "boar". A Geatish warrior who avenged the death of Hcyn by
slaying Ongeneow during the Swedish-Geatish wars. He was recompensed with the daughter
of king Hygelac.
Eomr - son of king Offa of Angel
Eormenric - a legendary Gothic king.
Finn, a Frisian lord whose tale picks up where the Finnsburg Fragment ends.
Fitela - a Germanic hero
Folcwalda - the father of Finn
Freawaru - the daughter of King Hrogar and Queen Wealheow and wife of Ingeld, king of
the Heaobards.
Froda king of the Heaobard's and father of Ingeld. He also appears in Norse tradition.
Garmund - the father of Offa of Angel
Grendel - one of three antagonists (along with Grendel's Mother and the dragon).
Grendel's mother - one of three antagonists (along with Grendel and the dragon).
Gulaf - a warrior in Hnf's retinue.
Healfdene - Hrogar's father and predecessor, also prominent in Norse tradition.
Hama - a Germanic hero
Halga - Hrogar's brother. He is hardly mentioned in Beowulf but he is a prominent character in
Norse tradition.
Hcyn - the son of the Geatish king Hreel.
Hre - the father of Hygd, queen of the Geats.
Heaolaf - Wulfing killed by Beowulf's father Ecgeow.
Heardred - the son of Hygelac, king of the Geats, and his queen Hygd.
Heming - a kinsman of Garmund
Hengest - a Danish lord who attacked the Frisians to avenge Hnf
Heorogar - Hrogar's brother and predecessor.
Heoroweard - Heorogar's son; Hrogar's nephew. According to Norse tradition, his attempt to
become king would cause the end of the Scylding clan.
Herebeald - the son of the Geatish king Hreel.
Heremod - an early Danish king.
Hereric - a relative of Heardred
Hildeburh - the daughter of the Danish king Hoc and the wife of the Finn - king of the Frisians.
Hnf - the son of the Danish lord Hoc and brother of Hildeburh. He was killed by Finn.
Hoc - a Danish lord and the father of Hildeburh and Hnf.
Hondscio - a Geatish warrior. He is killed and devoured by Grendel, right before Beowulf fights
and defeats the monster.
Hreel - king of the Geats.
Hreric and Hromund, the two sons of Hrogar.
Hrogar - king of the Danes; married to Wealheow. Also prominent in Norse tradition.
Hroulf (also known as Hrlfr Kraki), Hrogar's nephew, but more prominent in Norse tradition.
Hun - a Frisian warrior who gives Hengest the sword Lafing.
Hygd - queen of the Geats; the wife of King Hygelac.
Hygelac - king of the Geats; the husband of Hygd. Existence attested by other sources. Death
during the poem dated to c 516.
Ingeld - a Heaobard lord; married to Freawaru, daughter of Hrogar. He also appears in Norse
tradition.
Merewing - a Frankish king.
Modry - a princess, later queen, who punished inferiors who looked her directly in the eye;
later marries, and is reformed by, Offa of Angel.
Offa of Angel, a king of the Angles who also appears in Norse tradition.
Ohthere - king of the Swedish house of Scylfings, and also mentioned in Norse tradition. The
father of Eadgils and Eanmund, and the brother of Onela.
Onela - king of the Swedish house of Scylfings, and also mentioned in Norse tradition. The
brother of Ohthere.
Ongeneow - king of Sweden. Slew the Geatish king Hcyn, but was himself killed by Eofor,
during the Swedish-Geatish wars.
Oslaf - a warrior in Hnf's retinue.
Scyld - (Scyld Scfing) warrior king who founded the ruling house in Denmark.
Sigemund - a legendary Germanic hero whom Beowulf is compared to.
Swerting - the grandfather of Hygelac
Unfer - a thegn of the Danish lord Hrogar.
Wls - the father of Sigemund
Wayland Smith - a smith of Germanic legend who forged Beowulf's breast plate.
Wealheow - queen of the Danes; married to Hrogar.
Weohstan - the father of Wiglaf and a Swedish warrior fighting for Onela. He also appears to be
mentioned in a stanza in the Prose Edda.
Wiglaf - Beowulf's relative. A Swedish warrior of the Waegmunding clan who helps Beowulf slay
the dragon.
Wondred - the father of Eofor and Wulf.
Wulf - the brother of Eofor
Wulfgar - (wolf + spear) the herald of Hrogar, renowned for his great wisdom.
Yrmenlaf - younger brother of schere.
Yrs(e) - a character borrowed from Norse tradition that appears in some translations
(e.g., Burton Raffel) and commentaries, as an emendation of a corrupt line (62) where Hrogar's
sister is mentioned. His sister is, however, named Signy in Norse tradition (Skjldunga
saga and Hrlfr Kraki's saga), whereas Yrsa was Halga's daughter and lover with whom he
had Hroulf.

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lfhere - a kinsman of Wiglaf and Beowulf

schere - Hrogar's closests counselor and comrade, killed by Grendel's Mother.

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