Essay: History of the Geats and Beowulf

The Geats were a fifth and early sixth century tribe, believed to be inhabiting the Gotaland region of Southern Sweden. This certain tribe has many terms attributed to its people that has been around for years on end, some of which many Americans have not even heard about. These names include, “Sea-Geats,” “Geatland,” and “Weather-Geats.” These particular names have been in existence ever since the Middle Ages, but of course the actual spelling has developed over time.
Though much can be said of the Geats, there still remains the prominent question whether or not the Geatish people actually existed. “It is a curious fact that the people most prominently mentioned in Anglo-Saxon epic poetry are not yet certainly identified. As late as 1907 the nationality of the Geats was still being discussed, and even to-day the question would seem to be an open one” (Gudmund Schütte).
Scholars of today’s time have attributed the Geats’ origin to that of the Gotland. This land was an independent state until middle of the sixth century, other claim their independence might have ended before that time period. It is possible that the proper way to pronounce the word Geats/Geatas, would be to understand the English language in the 16th century. The following statement describes the notion of certainty of one thing about the Geats and another that may be contradicting the opposing claim. “It is obvious that this suppression makes nonsense of the argument that Alfred’s ‘Geatas’ for Bede’s ‘Iutae’ is some mistake or other¬¬¬—scribal confusion of eo with ae, Alfredian uncertainty, or what not” (Malone). In this era, the tribe’s name would have been “zeats,” but when you take into consideration the pronunciation of such a word, it is certain that the precise spelling would be “Yeats.”
“Their name was sometimes confused by medieval writers with that of the Jutes, but while they are almost certainly a separate group, there is always the possibility that they and the Jutes were related. To the north-west of the Geat lands lay the kingdom of Alfheim, while the Swedes and the small territory of Nærríki lay to the north and Scania lay to the south” (Peter Kessler).
The definition of the word Geat, in reference to the Old English origins is that of a member of the Scandinavian people of Southern Sweden. Among the literature scholars, if you were to mention the tribe of the Geats, it is with utmost assurance that the one you are conversing with will include the name of Beowulf. The reason being is that he himself was a mighty hero from the tribe of the Geats. To go further, some even go so far as to say he is Christ-like in his life story presented in the story of Beowulf, who is the central figure of the epic poem.
The poem is believed to be composed near the years of 700 A.D. through the early 11th century. Its in poem set is actually a few centuries prior to the composition date, it is that of the 5th or 6th century. During this time of composition, the Geatish people were not the most significant tribe in this land, for these people were surrounded by a vast number of other Germanic tribes. “Further theorizing has suggested that if Beowulf was set in the first century AD (the time at which the earlier Scyld probably lived) then the Geats must be the Goths who probably migrated from that region at that time” (European Kingdoms).
If truth be told, Beowulf is quite accurately set near the 6th century as stated above. Therefore, the Geats feasibly could be a duplication of the Goths, after all they could be a recent emerge of the Scandinavian tribes. In comparison, the pair of the Old Norse and of Old English records vividly persuade us of the differences of the Geats from the Goths, all the while they both are closely related.
Due to this, there was an utter confusion of the certainty of this tribe. Consequently, the Danes were falsely attributed to be Geats along with other tribes according to tribes by the churchmen and Roman authors. In the same way, Vikings and Goths lived nearby thus this contributed to the confusion. The many Germanic tribes that occupied the land of Southern Scandinavia remained there up until the 12th century.
This time in history was in the Middle Ages, wherein many of these tribes were actively engaging in combat with neighbors. Ever since the Roman Empire fell, and it was assured that the empire would not arise once more. Thus, the tribes of Germanic people, over time, became exceedingly triumphant in their invading of different territories along with conquering the land of the British Isles even to Rome.
It is safe to say that these Geatish people were surely not a great contributing factor in the Middle Ages for their numbers were not high in number. The Geats actually have a reputation within history when examining the origin of such countries. When studying their foundations, you will find immense evidence towards the Geatish population.
Västergötland and Östergötland are two Swedish countries where the name of the Geats still reside in. Furthermore, former western and eastern lands of the Geats, Göteborg was an eponym. The city was named after the Geats, to expound upon, the city’s name meaning is the fortress of the Geats.
The Geats made their name known in the world today, but what has spiked their popularity among the people, maybe that of the well-known epic novel Beowulf. This indeed is without a doubt the contributing factor to their recognition in the world today. “The most important achievement of the Geat people is that they are the center of medieval epic Beowulf, the first and possibly the most significant work written in Old English. Manuscript of Beowulf was preserved till our times almost in full. (On the Origins of Geat).
Though the epic poem of Beowulf is fictional, it is the vital contribution to the history of the Geats. Throughout the epic the Geats are described as those who are brave in character. These descriptions could be biased and erroneous, but the family tree of Geatish rulers are plausible or close to since the poem is known to correctly list a vast number of historically accurate events that are possible to verify being truthful in proclamation.
The Geat lineage is along these lines, the Geats firstly were under the authority of Hrethel who passed away after his offspring, Haethcyn. His son, in a horrific manner, by accident killed his older brother, Herebeald. What followed after this was Haethcyn becoming the Geatish king, after his kingship came along Hygelac, which was his older brother and relative to Beowulf. Soon after his death, the throne that was previously Haethcyn, was directed to his son, Heardred. Lastly, after the time period of Heardred’s reign, the kingship was followed by the notorious Beowulf, kin to himself.
More evidence is actually given to attribute Beowulf and the Waegmundings, in whether or not they are of Geatish the people. “If Beowulf’s family, the Waegmundings, had been Swedish—much more, if, as Miss Wardale urges, Beowulf’s father had been a Swede—this course of events would appear incredible. From the account of Swedish of the ultimate fate of the Geats it is apparent that the warfare between the two peoples constituted really a national struggle and was not merely a series of contests between individual kinds” (W. F. Bryan).
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