justanotherelf-deactivated20200 asked:
Hi Fjörn, the other day I was reading the annotated elder edda I have, and I came up to a note that said that Ylfings are asome kind of a “wolf clan”. I thought that wolves were seeing as (sort of) evil in the scandinavian tradition. The thing is that in my family’s coat of arms there is a wolf… so I find this quite interesting… could you explain something about it? P.S.: I know that I’m not being quite speciffic , but I trust you! Thank you.
The Ylfings were a very renown clan, and their deeds have been told in sagas and poems alike. Many today know them by their Old English name, the Wylfings (also Wulfings). In Beowulf, Beowulf’s father, Ecgtheow, blood-feuded with them over killing one of their own, a man named Heatholaf. They named a wergeld price (compensation) too high for Ecgetheow to pay, and so he fled to King Hrothgar, who latter paid the ‘debt’ for him, thus ending the feud.(1) Yet, the name appears even in the poems of the Elder Edda(as you know), primarily when concerning another man bearing their blood: Helgi Hundingsbani.
Unfortunately there does not seem to be a saga dedicated to the Ylfings, like Ynglinga saga for the Ynglings and Vǫlsunga saga for the Volsungs (although members of the Ylfing clan do appear in both). Instead, the Ylfings cling to our memory through indirect references involving individuals with connections to the dynasty. We know of some important heroes who bore Ylfing blood, after all, such as Helgi (mentioned above) and Hjǫrmundr, son of Hjǫrvarðr Ylfingr, who “was made king of Östergötland.”(2) In fact, J.N.L. O’Loughlin has argued that Östergötland is the clan’s place of origin, thus placing them in Sweden as neighbors to the Geats.(3) Despite their vague nature, the Ylfings were a respectable clan. They had their enemies, of course, but a few of their members were definitely worth singing about, with Helgi seeming to be the most famous.
I should get to the root of your true question, though, which is how a “wolf clan” could gain such prominence when wolves seem to have such a negative tone in the Scandinavian tradition. We talk much about the ‘evil’ wolves, those that arrive at Ragnarok (Garm), those that devour the sun and moon (Skoll and Hati), and Fenrir, of course. Yet, wolves are also associated with Odin, the Lord of Hosts. Their connection with him arises from their associations with war and battle, for they feast upon the slain.(4) A similar reference is made in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I (The First Lay of Helgi Hundingabani) when Helgi is born:
“Just one thing concerned the kinsman of the Ylfings
and that girl who’d given birth to the dear boy:
one raven said to another—he sat on a tree,
lacking for food: ‘I know something‘The son of Sigmund stands in his mail-coat,
one day old; now the day has dawned!
sharp his eyes like fighters;
he’s the friend of wolves, we should be cheerful.’ ”(5)
A raven tells us that Helgi, the son of Sigmund, was a warrior at one day old, which then made him a “friend of wolves.” He will, after all, provide them with many corpses to feast upon, as great warriors always do. Furthermore, his father was the Sigmund, the son of Volsung, the son of Rerir, the son of Sigi, the son of Odin.(6) Thus, Helgi was a descendant of Odin. The genealogies get a bit convoluted, but Helgi ends up being attributed to both the Volsungs and Ylfings.(7) Either way, I believe that the imagery of the wolf is meant to relate to their battle-prowess, and perhaps even a connection with Odin.
In Norse mythology, wolves are a dangerously uncontrollable force, but one that gains respect in the eyes of the warrior. Associating one’s self with the wolf meant promising success on the battlefield. One did not necessarily fight like a wolf, but appeased them by giving them the slain. Regardless of their nature throughout the myth, which is rather complex, they are associated with Odin, the Lord of Hosts and Master of the Slain. The family who bore the name or imagery of the wolf would have been a fearsome family with great warriors on their side, like Helgi. It was a risk to fight among the wolves, but those who succeeded gained great fame. The Ylfings seem to attest to that quite well.
I hope my words were what you were looking for. Wolves are a bit of tricky subject, I must say. I am no expert on the subject, but hopefully my words have at least given you some interesting thoughts to ponder. If there is anything else you need, feel free to ask. I may have a lot of questions to sift through at the moment, but I will get to them all eventually.
ENDNOTES:
1. “Thy father with the sword ended one of the greatest feuds: Heatholaf with his own hands he slew among the Wylfings. Then the kindred of the Wederas could no longer keep him for the dread of war. Thence he sought the South-Danish folk over the surges of the sea, even the glorious Scyldings, when first I ruled the people of the Danes and in youth governed a spacious realm, treasury and stronghold of mighty men. Heorogar was then dead, mine elder brother, no longer lived the son of Healfdene; better was he than I! Thereafter that feud I settled with payment, sending [to the Wylfings] over the backs of the sea ancient treasures; oaths he swore to me.” J.R.R. Tolkien trans., Beowulf (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014), 26. (Lines 369—380). This is not regarded as the best version, though. It just happens to be the version that I currently own. See Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf for a more comprehensive and bilingual edition.
2. R.T. Farrell, Beowulf, Swedes, and Geats (London: Viking Society for Northern Research, University College London, 1972), 249.
3. Ibid.
4. H.R. Ellis Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (repr., 1964; London: Penguin Books, 1990), 48.
5. Carolyne Larrington trans., The Poetic Edda (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 111. (Stanzas 5 and 6).
6. This genealogy can be traced in Vǫlsunga saga.
7. As the son of Sigmund and Borghild, and the brother of Sigurd, he is a Volsung by right. Yet, in the Eddic poems, he is described as a Ylfing, and not a Volsung.
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