Heoroweard is a legendary noble in Germanic folklore, from Denmark. Heoroweard is a human figure of Germanic heroic legend attested in Old English and Norse sources as a claimant and rival within the Scylding/Skjöldung dynasty. He appears in Beowulf as a genealogical mention and in Norse and medieval chronicles/sagas (under forms Hjörvarðr/Hiartuar) as a pretender who rebels against and in some accounts kills Hrólf Kraki, with his origins, seat, and fate varying between traditions.
Heoroweard appears first in the Old English poem Beowulf as a single genealogical reference (lines 2160–2161) naming him son of Heorogar. Later medieval Scandinavian and continental sources expand him into a rival claimant to Hroðulf/Hrólf Kraki: in Norse sagas and epitomes he is Hjörvarðr/Hiartuar who rebels against Hrólf, and in varying accounts he is described as a jarl or king associated with Öland, Sweden, Skåne or German territory. Sources disagree on details such as whether he was married to Skuld (daughter in some traditions of Aðils/Adils or in others of Helgi/Halga), whether he ruled Öland or served as jarl, and whether he died in battle or was briefly king before being killed.
The surviving sources provide no physical description of Heoroweard. He is characterized wholly by lineage, political role, and actions in the genealogical and saga material; portrayals focus on his status as son of Heorogar and as a rival/pretender rather than on bodily features or dress.
Heoroweard possesses no supernatural powers in the attested material; his 'abilities' are political and martial. He is presented as a claimant with a strong hereditary argument (being son of Heorogar) whose challenge to Hroðulf/Hrólf Kraki culminates in rebellion. In Norse-derived accounts he is credited with killing Hrólf Kraki (sources vary on particulars), sometimes aided by Swedish or Geatish support; other accounts make him a jarl who seizes power briefly and is killed the same day. His principal behaviors are rebellion, alliance-seeking with neighboring powers, and involvement in dynastic succession violence.
Weaknesses
- otherpolitical vulnerability (contested legitimacy, reliance on foreign support)
Wards
None recorded.
Abdiel
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Abiel
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Abigail
Abigail is a female figure in the Hebrew Bible portrayed in 1 Samuel 25 as the intelligent and beautiful wife of Nabal who intervenes to prevent David from committing violence; later tradition regards her as one of the Tanakh's seven female prophets and as a model of beauty and wisdom.
Abraun
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Accolon
Accolon is a mortal knight of the Arthurian court, presented in the Post-Vulgate Merlin tradition and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur as Morgan le Fay's paramour and instrument in a plot to supplant King Arthur; his tale centers on enchanted weapons (Excalibur and its scabbard), love-manipulation, and a tragic duel with Arthur.
Adils
Adils (Old Norse Aðils; also Eadgils, Adillus, Athisl, Adhel) is a semi‑legendary sixth‑century Swedish king attested in Old Norse saga material and later medieval traditions. He appears in saga episodes as a storied royal figure involved in warfare, court acts, and marriage suits rather than as a supernatural being.
Adsullata
Adsullata is attested as a Continental Celtic river goddess associated with the River Savus (modern Sava) in the Roman province of Noricum. Later traditions record her presence in Brittany as a goddess of hot springs and present her as an antecedent or origin-form of the Anglo‑Celtic sun goddess Sul.
Afaon fab Taliesin
Afaon fab Taliesin is a medieval Welsh warrior-counsellor, named as a son of the bard Taliesin and recorded among Arthur’s retinue in Welsh tradition. He appears in the Welsh Triads and in the tale Breuddwyd Rhonabwy (The Dream of Rhonabwy) as a notable martial figure and proverb-speaker rather than as a supernatural being.
Agilaz (Egil)
Agilaz (reconstructed Proto-Germanic) — commonly recorded in medieval sources as Egil or Ægil — is a legendary archer attested in Germanic heroic tradition. He appears as the brother of Völund (Wayland/Weland) in the Old Norse poem Völundarkviða and in the Thidreks saga, and his name is also inscribed on early medieval objects (Franks Casket, Pforzen buckle). The attested material presents him as a named heroic human archer within saga and inscriptional contexts rather than as a recurrent supernatural species.
Aglovale
Aglovale (also Agloval, Aglovan, Aglovaus, Acglavael) is a human knight of Arthurian romance, presented as the eldest legitimate son of King Pellinore and a Knight of the Round Table in the Vulgate/Post‑Vulgate cycles, Malory, and later adaptations. He brings his long‑lost brother Perceval to Camelot, takes part in military actions (including slaying Agrippa in one account), and his death is related in varying ways across traditions (accidental at Gawain's hand, deliberate murder by Orkney kin, or killed during Lancelot's rescue of Guinevere).
Agnarr Geirröðsson
Agnarr Geirröðsson is a mortal prince attested only in the Poetic Edda poem Grímnismál; he aids Odin (disguised as Grímnir) during Geirröðr's torture and, after Odin reveals himself and King Geirröðr dies, Agnarr succeeds as king.
Agne
Agne (also attested Agni, Hogne, Agni Skjálfarbondi) is a semi-legendary king of Sweden in Old Norse saga tradition, preserved in the Ynglingatal corpus and prose expansions such as Snorri Sturluson's Ynglinga saga. He is portrayed as a mighty and famous warrior-king whose campaign in Finland, marriage to Skjalf, and death by hanging form a remembered episode connected to local place-names and a burial mound.
Community Record
- [1]Heoroweard — Wikipedia. Wikipedia article 'Heoroweard'wiki
- [2]Heoroweard — Wikidata. Wikidata item Q3785031wiki