The Wulfings or Wylfings was a prominent family/clan in Beowulf and Widsith. According to one theory (Newton 1993), the East Anglian Wuffing dynasty was derived from the Wulfings, and it was at their court that Beowulf was first composed.
In Old Norse the name would have been Ylfing, and a powerful
Scandinavian clan by that name figures prominently in the Heimskringla and in Sögubrot, where Hjörvard and his son Hjörmund belong to it. It is also mentioned in the Lay of Hyndla and in Skáldskaparmál where Eiríkr the Wise was one of its members. However, its most famous member was Helge Hundingsbane who had two poems of his own, in the Edda, and whose story is also retold in the Völsunga saga.
According to the Norse sagas, the Wulfings ruled the Geatish petty kingdom of Ostrogothia.
Norse sagas
In the first poem (Helgakviða Hundingsbana I), Sinfjotli has his residence on the Bravellir (in East Götaland, see Battle of Bråvalla) and Helgi Hundingsbane resides at Hringstaðir (probably modern Ringstad , an old royal estate on the same plain).
In the Heimskringla, the Ylfing Hjörvard was the co-ruler of Eastern Götaland together with his father-in-law Högne. The legends of Helge Hundingsbane relate that Högne lost his throne to Helgi Hundingsbane. On the other hand, Sögubrot relates that Ivar Vidfamne gave the East Geatish throne to Hjörmund, the son of Hjörvard, after Ingjald's death since it had been the kingdom of Hjörmund's father Hjörvard.
- Hann setti konunga ok jarla ok lét ser skatta gjalda; han setti Hjörmund konung, on Hervardar Ylfings, yfir Eystra-Gautland, er átt hafði faðir hans ok Granmarr konungr.
However, this contradicts both the legend of Helge Hundingsbane and the Heimskringla in which the dynasty never lost East Götaland, unless Ivar killed either Högne or Helgi Hundingsbane before giving the throne to their relative Hjörmund.
Beowulf
Neither in Widsith nor in Beowulf is the location precisely defined, but scholars identifying them with the Ylfings have pointed out that East Götaland is the most likely location of the Wulfings. This clan plays an important role in Beowulf as Beowulf's father Ecgtheow of the Wægmunding clan had slain one of its members, and was banished for not paying the wergild. The Danish king Hrothgar graciously paid the wergild, and when Beowulf arrived at the Danish court in order to slay Grendel, Hrothgar interprets this as a son's gratitude.
Known Wulfings
Primary sources
Secondary sources
Nerman, B. Det svenska rikets uppkomst. Stockholm, 1925.
Newton, S., 1993. The Origins of Beowulf and the Pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia. Cambridge.
