TheWulfings,Wylfings orYlfings[a] (the name means the "wolf clan") was a powerfulclan inBeowulf,Widsith and in the Norsesagas. While the poet ofBeowulf does not locate the Wulfings geographically, Scandinavian sources define the Ylfings (theOld Norse form of the name) as the ruling clan of theEastern Geats.[1]
The Wulfings play an important role inBeowulf asBeowulf's fatherEcgþeow of theWægmunding clan had slain one of its members, and was banished for not paying theweregild. The Danish kingHroðgar, who was married toWealhþeow, a Wulfing woman, graciously paid the weregild, and when Beowulf arrived at theDanish court in order to slayGrendel, Hroðgar interpreted this as a son's gratitude.
InOld Norse sources, the clan figure prominently in theHeimskringla and inSögubrot, whereHjörvard and his son Hjörmund belong to it. It is also mentioned in theLay of Hyndla and inSkáldskaparmál where Eiríkr the Wise was one of its members. However, its most famous member wasHelgi Hundingsbane who had two poems of his own (Helgakviða Hundingsbana I andHelgakviða Hundingsbana II), in thePoetic Edda, and whose story is also retold in theVölsunga saga.
Sam Newton and others (includingRupert Bruce-Mitford), have proposed that theEast AnglianWuffing dynasty was derived from the Wulfings, and it was at their court thatBeowulf was first composed.[2]
According to theNorse sagas, the Wulfings ruled theGeatishpetty kingdom ofÖstergötland.
In the first poem (Helgakviða Hundingsbana I),Sinfjötli has his residence on theBrávellir (seeBattle of the Brávellir).Stanza 42:
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Helgi Hundingsbane resides at Hringstaðir (probably modernRingstad, an old royal estate on the same plain).
In the Heimskringla, Högni was the ruler of Östergötland. The legends of Helge Hundingsbane relate that Högni lost his throne to Helgi Hundingsbane. On the other hand,Sögubrot relates thatIvar Vidfamne gave the East Geatish throne to Hjörmund, the son of Hjörvard, afterIngjald's death since it had been the kingdom of Hjörmund's father Hjörvard.
However, this contradicts both the legend of Helge Hundingsbane and theHeimskringla in which the dynasty never lost Östergötland, unless Ivar killed either Högne or Helgi Hundingsbane before giving the throne to their relative Hjörmund.