Geatish kings existed since the provinces of Götaland/Gautland/Geatland are considered to have been more or less independent with their own petty kings. This is a list of the kings who appear in the sources, which does not claim to be comprehensive. It also follows the generally accepted identification between the names Götar (modern Swedish), Gautar (Old Norse) and Geatas (Old English), which is based both on tradition, literary sources and on etymology. However, unlike some translations[1] it does not identify this tribe with the Goths, since the Goths were far away from Scandinavia, when these kings are said to have lived. Moreover, the land of the Goths is not called Gautland, in these sources, but Reidgotaland.
Kings from legend
Some names appear in Norse mythology and in Germanic legend and in at least one case, they were probably historical (Hygelac). Their order of succession is uncertain (if they ever lived).
Siklings
Hrethelings
"Historical" kings
When the sources become more reliable, Götaland is well integrated into the Swedish kingdom and from Stenkil and onwards most of the medieval Swedish kings did actually belong to Geatish clans (House of Stenkil, Houses of Sverker and Erik and the house of Folkung). During the civil wars, however, certain kings appeared as the kings of Geatish provinces, failing to hold the Swedish core provinces in Svealand.
Last updated: 10-18-2005 06:05:04
