Poem or not but Widsith gives us a feeling of the ideal world for the bard or the hall singer during the Golden Age of migration. It is more like a list of people and clans involved in the history. Small fragments of real history are in between the lists of people
Widsith, Exeter Book, Wandering Bard, earl, bretwalda, teoden-stool, footstool, mead-hall, Offa, Uffe, Gesta Danorum, Finn Folcwalding, Wulfing, Heruli
Goths|
back to essays | links |litterature |sitemap | home |Widsith spoke unlocked the word-hoard
he travelled most of all men
through folklands across the earth
Often he gained great treasure in hall
He belonged to the Myrging tribe
Along with Ealhild the kind peace-weaver
for the first time on the Baltic coast
he sought the home of Eormanric
king of the Ostrogoths hostile to traitors
He began then to speak at length
‘I have heard of many foremen of folklands
who's people follow each one the usage
earl after earl gently rule
so that his footstool prosper
Hwala for a time the best of all
and Alexander too the noblest of men
who prospered most of all of those
I have heard of across the earth
Attila ruled the Huns Eormanric the Goths,
Becca the Baningas Gifica the Burgundians
Caesar ruled the Greeks Caelic the Finns
Hagena the Holmrycgas Henden the Glomman
Witta ruled the Swaefe Wada the Haelsingas,
Meaca the Myrgingas Mearc the Hundingas
Theodric ruled the Franks Thyle the Rondingas
Breoca the Brondingas Billa the Waerne
Oswine ruled the Eowan Gefwulf the Jutes
Finn, son of Folcwalda the Frisian race
Sigehere for many years ruled the Sea-Danes
Hnaef the Hocingas Helm the Wulfingas
Wald the Woingas Wod the Thuringians
Saeferth the Sycgan Ongentheow the Swedes
Sceafthere the Ymbran Sceaf the Langobards
Hun the Haetware Holen the Wrosnan
Hringwald was called king of the Herefaran
Offa ruled the Angles Alewih the Danes
He was the bravest of all those men
but could not defeat Offa in deeds of arms
The noble Offa while still a boy
won in battle the greatest of kingdoms
No-one of that age ever achieved
more glory than he did with his sword alone
he marked the border against the Myrgings
at the mouth of the Eider
Fifeldore secured the retreat
Angles and Swedes told he won
Hrothwulf and Hrothgar nephew and uncle
held peace together for many years
after they had driven off the Heathobard tribe
and beaten down Ingeld's line of battle
cut down at Heorot the Heathobard force
So I travelled widely through foreign lands
through distant countries and there I met
both good and bad fortune far from my kin
and served as a follower far and wide
And so I can sing and tell a tale
declare to the company in the mead-hall
how noble rulers rewarded me with gifts
I was with the Huns and the Hreth-Goths
with the Swedes with the Geats and the South-Danes
I was with the Wenlas the Waerne and the Wicingas
I was with the Gefthan the Winedas and the Gefflegan
I was with the Angles the Swaefe and the Aenenas
I was with the Saxons the Sycgan and the Sweordweras
I was with the Hronan the Dean and the Heathoreamas.
I was with the Thuringians and with the Throwendas
and with the Burgundians there I gained a torc
There Guthhere granted me splendid treasure
as reward for my song that king was not tight-fisted
I was with the Franks with the Frisians and the Frumtingas
I was with the Rugians the Glomman and the Romans
I was in Italy with Aelfwine too
of all men he had as I have heard
the readiest hand to do brave deeds
the most generous heart in giving out rings
and shining torcs Eadwine's son
I was with the Sercings and with the Serings
I was with the Greeks and Finns and also with Caesar
who had the power over prosperous cities
riches and treasure and the Roman Empire
I was with the Scotts with the Picts and the Scridefinns
I was with the Lidwicingas the Leonas and the Langobards
with the Haethenas and the Haelethas and with the Hundingas
I was with the Israelites and with the Assyrians,
with the Hebrews and the Indians and with the Egyptians.
I was with the Medes and the Persians and with the Myrgingas
with the Moabites and Ongendmyrgingas and with the Amothingas
I was with the East-Thuringians and with the Ofdingas
with the Eolas and the Philistines and with the Idumeans
And I was with Eormanric throughout his reign
There the king of the Goths granted me treasure
the king of the city gave me a torc
made from pure gold coins worth six hundred scilling
I gave that to Eadgils when I came home
as thanks to my lord ruler of the Myrgingas
because he gave me land which once was my father's
And then Ealhhild Eadwine's daughter
noble queen of the household gave me another
her fame extended through many lands
when I used my song to spread the word
of where under the heavens I knew a queen
adorned with gold most generous of all
Then Scilling and I with our clear voices
before our glorious lord struck up our song
sung to the harp it rang out loudly.
Then many men with noble hearts
who understood these things openly said
that they had never heard a better song
From there I travelled through the Gothic homeland
I always sought out the best companions
that was Eormanric's household guard!
I visited Hehca and Beadeca and the Herelingas
Emerca and Fridla and Eastgota
the wise and virtuous father of Unwen
I visited Secca and Becca Seafola and Theodric
Heathoric and Sifeca Hlith and Incgentheow
I visited Eadwine and Elsa Aegelmund and Hungar
and the proud household of the Withmyrgingas
I visited Wulfhere and Wyrmhere there battle often raged
in the Vistula woods when the Gothic army
with their sharp swords had to defend
their ancestral seat against Attila's host.
I visited Raedhere and Rondhere Rumstan and Gislhere
Withergield and Freotheric Wudga and Hama
They were by no means the worst of companions
even though I happen to mention them last
Often a whistling spear flew from the army
screaming on its way to the enemy line
there the exiles Wudga and Hama
gained twisted gold men and women
So I have always found throughout my travels
that the lord who is dearest to all his subjects
is the one God grants a kingdom of men
to have and to hold while he lives on earth
Wandering like this driven by chance
minstrels travel through many lands
they state their needs say words of thanks
always south or north they find some man
well-versed in songs generous in gifts
who wishes to raise his renown with his men
to do great things until everything passes
light and life together he who wins fame
has lasting glory under the heavens.
Comments
Widsith is maybe the oldest poem of 143 lines included in the Exeter Book. The copy is from 10th century but they think the agenda is the Migration Age 4th to 6th centuries. We can immediately note that we meet a few names we know from Beowulf also supposed to have been written down in 7th century.
I have used the translation from the University of Southampton
http://www.soton.ac.uk/~enm/widsith.htmHowever I made some alteration up to my knowledge of the age. I have also compared it with the original version because I wanted to get the feeling of the short laconic style in the original text. We meet that also in the Old Edda. Naturally it very difficult to translate word by word but here we stick to the original names. Understanding them fully does not help us much.
Widsið maðolade, wordhord onleac,
se þe monna mæst mægþa ofer eorþan,
folca geondferde; oft he on flette geþah
mynelicne maþþum. Him from Myrgingum
æþele onwocon. He mid Ealhhilde,
fælre freoþuwebban, forman siþe
Hreðcyninges ham gesohte
eastan of Ongle, Eormanrices,
wraþes wærlogan. Ongon þa worn sprecan:
Widsith is the Wandering Bard and we get associations to Sumerian Gilgamesh as well as Odysseus and Homer. Those days the listeners could fill out with what they knew about the names in the poem.
We can recognise three parts and in the first we hear about great leaders of the age. Second part is about people in folklands and maybe some are just clans since it was the time of growing feudalism where the clan was a unit of more or less noble people. It is maybe the only way to remember as here about 60 people or clans of the time. Third part is about people Widsith has visited on his fictive journey in the time machine.
In a few verses he tells about real happenings and people we know and we can learn a few things from them. The Goths were naturally the heroic people of the time. He starts with Eormanric /Ermanaric the first Ostrogothic leader we know of. He was killed by the Huns around 370 AD.
Hard to know if the writer copied the ruling system of the time he knows of. The early Anglo-Saxons had no king but earls and the thanes as ritual leaders as far as I understand. The first generation of
Anglo-Saxons were a league with elected bretwalda = overlord. The bretwalda was elected within the witan / hird and we know the system already among the Hittitians. The same system we see in the League of Erils the federation of folklands in Scandinavia, Pomerania and maybe Frisia with the neckring as the ritual item.It was the age when they began to build big halls as place for trade as well as seat for the bretwalda. It would be natural if they traded with fleets. In most place we find one or a few halls from the Golden Age but in Feddersen Wierde Niedersachesen or former North Friesland they build the earliest hall. In fact they have found 32 halls and 12 smaller houses. That must have been a big market place.
A few kilometres from there they have found a teodenstool /footstool that as idea was the ritual and legal seat of the leader. On the chair is engraved an elk, a dog and runes that could be read "The Elkhunters high seat". Occasionally there was a dog race special breed for the elk game in that part of the world. But when we read such texts they could also be metaphors for something else like hunting for enterprises that was the game for the noble class. They were mainly traders and the merchant was of the same class as the local ritual leader the thane.
We should mention the concept hall and mead-hall since during the Golden Age they began to build big
halls and at Funen the Gudme hall has some more in the neighbourhood. They seem to have been surrounded by industries of the time. Naturally the bard would glorify the mead-hall since it was his rostrum. But it was much more than that.Historians for some reason are always searching for power structures. However everyone knows that without money no armour. Trade was the real road to prospering. And with so many friends as Widsith lists it would have been a good market. We have to remember that North Europe was sparsely populated. When the feudalism began to rise they build halls, when they build big estates and soon castles in South Europe
The Myrgingas are related to Anglians and Langobards and must have been a Svebian tribe and maybe known as Suevi. That seems to have been the early ritual league. The Finns / Estonians surely associate to the mythic hero Kaleva when they hear the name Caelic. Still there is place name Kalevala in northern Karelia. It was also the mythic people of the Kalevala epos.
The Anglian king Offa could be compared to Uffe in the tale from Gesta Danorum of Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus early 13th century. It tells about his father old Vermund and his seemingly slow-thinker son Uffe that wakened to deeds when the neighbours wanted to overtake the kingdom. It ended in the duel = holmgang at an island = holm in Eider. So maybe that is real historical event.
We can note the Haelsingas = Helsingland as the border- and coastland to Jemtland that was known for the iron trade. It was also the suitable place for the skin trade on Norrland. As an answer to that we have the early hall at Hoghom build around 300 AD. We can also note that the cruciform fibula occurs in Helsingland while there are no finds in East Sweden so far. It would be natural for noble traders to remember such a place where there maybe was time for the elk as well as the bear game. In the few rune texts we have there is the concept "gestir" with several meanings for the guest.
The name Finn Folcwalding as a known Friesian made the Finns think the was from Finland. Finn is an old name for the mythic Celtic hero Finn Mac Cool and we should remember that Celtic culture was still going strong in Scandinavia and it is the real old heritage of Germania. The hero Finn was known for catching the salmon of wisdom and when he got some blood on his finger he suck it and became wise. We see the motif on some golden bracts and also Sigurd at the great rune rock in Ramsund Saudermanland Sweden suck his finger but the salmon grew to a dragon in time. That is the syndrome of in time escalating violence.
The other name means maybe that people elected the leader. In Denmark they did it for some kings in 11th century until the Pope told the Danes that kingdom is given to the chosen by god. Naturally with the pope in the gateway.
The Wulfingas / Wuffingas are mentioned here. Some of the supporters of Sutton Hoo want that the graves contends the Wuffingas and other means it is Readwald. It is also possible that both clans have been there but at different times. They also want to make the Wuffingas Swedes. Of course we know of the much later noble clan with the Wolf in shield. But still such things are very near speculation.
However together with the halls and noble estates began the feudalism with clans making their own manor. There was plenty of space in most places so the could make an "ornum" = for the boars that was a "take" of land from the free land. The suffix ingas/ ungas became use approximately from 5th century onward. It means the same as ing/ inge in place names and that is "to give in" to the clan or the root name a god/ virtual concept. Yet some of the names mentioned could mean a clan and not a people.
The name Ongentheow = Ongen's servant occurs also in Beowulf as theoden of Swedes. The suffix means "servant" and the name form have very old roots. They used to give name to the noble as servant of the idol/ god of the tribe and that they did more than 4000 years ago.
Aelfwine was in Italy and that we could associate to the Heruli with their auxiliary legion in Concordia Veneti Italy for some time at least around 400 AD. They think the Heruli are hidden in the name Eolas but could maybe also be the Herelingar. There is the normal talk about golden rings but little of them in findings from the Golden Age. In Viking Age there were more but made of silver. The neckrings were ritual rings and hardly given away to anyone. But interesting that he mentions that the ring was made from golden coins, since we think they gathered solidus for the ritual gold.
In Viking Age occurs twisted neckring I would call "torque" to separate it from the big ritual neckrings. We see also smaller ring with diameter maybe 6 inch and they are maybe oath rings. In the end he sing to pairs of different kinds. It was like a holly concept for the traders and all people since mankind gains from it.