Heathobards: The scop refers to the Heathobards on p. 28, when he notes that Heorot will be burnt to the ground, and on p. 53, when Beowulf, upon returning to Hygelac and the Geats after defeating Grendel and his dam, warns Hygelac about the possibility of future war between the Danes and Heathobards. The Danes and Heathobards are traditionally enemies, but Hrothgar gives his daughter Freawaru to Ingeld in marriage, hoping finally to bring peace to the two nations. Freawaru therefore acts as a "peace-weaver." Beowulf himself foresees a situation in which some old Heathobard thane sees a sword or some other item being worn by a Dane who had captured it from its rightful Heathobard owner sometime during the long feud between the two nations. This old thane, Beowulf surmises, will remind younger, more hot-blooded Heathobards that these Danes once murdered their fathers, and a deadly feud will break out. Ingeld, by burning down Heorot (the mead-hall of his father-in-law) proves Beowulf's fears to be correct.

Finnsburgh episode: On p. 41 ff, the scop sings the story of Hildeburgh to celebrate Beowulf's victory over Grendel. (The revenge of Grendel's mother, remember, is yet to come; so this dark story, which parallels the tragedy of Freawaru, also foreshadows the new sorrow that will come to the Danes in the person of Grendel's dam.) We can piece together missing parts of this story from another extant poem called the "Finnsburgh Fragment." This story involves a feud between the Danes and the Jutes (or Frisians). Some sixty Danes are visiting King Finn of Jutland. Finn is married to Hildeburgh (sister to Hnaef), who has already borne him a son or sons. Presumably, Hildeburgh was also given as a "peace-weaver" to end a feud between the Danes and Jutes. One night, for reasons that are never specified, some of the Jutes make a surprise attack on the hall where the Danes are sleeping. From the Danish point of view, this is unmitigated treachery, so the Danish scop naturally puts full blame on the Jutes. We do not know whether or not Finn ordered the attack, however. Hnaef and Hildeburgh's son by Finn are both killed; Hengest, one of Hnaef's thanes, leads the Danish defense. Some Danes are lost, but many more of the Jutes are killed. A truce is made, and the surviving Danes now accept Finn as their lord, as a part of the truce. The Danes are disgraced, because they now swear loyalty to a man (Finn) who has killed their lord (Hnaef). Finn swears that he will treat the Danes honorably, however, and Hengest becomes the Danes' leader under Finn. Then the son of a thane killed in the fight (son of Hunlaf) places his sword in Hengest's lap, demanding vengeance against Finn. Although he is torn between old and new loyalties, Hengest carries out the revenge: Finn is killed in the ensuing fight. Hildeburgh is the real loser in this feud, for she loses her brother (Hnaef), her son, and her husband (Finn).

Geats: On p. 58 you will find a reference to a parallel situation involving a conflict of loyalties within the family of Beowulf's lord Hygelac. King Hrethel had three sons, Herebeald, Haethcyn, and Hygelac. His daughter marries Ecgtheow, the father of Beowulf himself. Haethcyn accidentally kills his elder brother Herebeald with an arrow while they are out hunting. Because Hrethel cannot avenge the death of his son or receive wergild, he dies of grief. Now begins the conflict between the Geats and the Swedes.

The Swedes started this war, making a raid on the Southern Geats. Haethcyn and Hygelac make an expedition to take revenge on the Swedes. It is a pretty successful raid; they even capture the Swedish queen. But later Ongentheow, King of the Swedes, falls upon the Geats, rescues his queen, and kills Haethcyn, the present Geatish king. The Geatish troops retire in disarray to Ravenswood. But at dawn Hygelac (later Beowulf's lord) appears with an army and forces the terrified Swedes to flee. Here he behaves with perfect valor.

Now Beowulf comes onto the scene, and at this point in the Geatish history he goes on to save Hrothgar and the Danes from Grendel and other things that go bump in the night.

After Beowulf returns home, Hygelac makes a raid on the Franks. Beowulf accompanies him and performs bravely; Hygelac, however, is killed. When Beowulf returns to Geatland, Hygelac's queen (Hygd) offers Beowulf the crown. He declines, however, remaining an agent for Hygelac's son Heardred.

Swedes: In Sweden, meanwhile, Ongentheow's son Othere has become kind. When Othere dies, his brother Onela seizes the throne (more family treachery!) Othere's two sons, Eanmund and Eadgils, have to flee to Geatland and the court of Heardred, where Beowulf is acting as regent. In revenge Onela, now the illegitimate king of the Swedes, enters Geatland with an army. Heardred (king of the Geats) and Eanmund (rightful king of the Swedes) are both killed. Beowulf now becomes king of the Geats. Now that Beowulf is king, Onela beats a hasty retreat back to Sweden. Later Eadgils (rightful heir to the Swedish throne after Eanmund dies) opens another war with Geatish help, marches back to Sweden and kills his usurper uncle Onela.

Hrothulf: One last tidbit of family treachery from p. 40. After Hrothgar's death, his nephew Hrothulf deposes Hrothgar's son and successor Hrethric from the Danish throne. Such is life among the Geats and Danes: you wouldn't want to marry your brother or sister to one of them.

Adapted from Robert Bjork and Carol Pasternak (1978) by Christy Desmet (1984, 1996)