Onela was, according toBeowulf, aSwedish king, the son ofOngentheow and the brother ofOhthere. He usurped the Swedish throne, but was killed by his nephewEadgils, who won by hiring foreign assistance.

In Scandinavian sagas a Norwegian king by the same name exists,Áli (theOld Norse form ofOnela, also rendered asOle,Åle orAle), who had the cognomenhinn Upplenzki ("fromOppland").

The name stems from theProto-NorseAnulā, attested on the spear shaft SJy 68 fromNydam Mose.^[1][2] It is adiminutive with l-suffix to a name starting with *anu-, or directly of an appellative*anuz, "ancestor".^[3]

In theAnglo-SaxonpoemBeowulf, Onela plays a central part in theSwedish-Geatish wars. Onela and his brotherOhthere were the sons of the Swedish kingOngenþeow. When theGeatish kingHreðel died, Onela and Ohthere saw the opportunity to pillage inGeatland starting theSwedish-Geatish wars:

The war ended with Ongenþeow's death.^[6]

It is implied by the poem that Onela eventually became king, because Ohthere's two sons,Eanmund andEadgils, had to seek refuge withHeardred,Hygelac's successor asking of the Geats.^[7] This caused Onela to attack the Geats. During the battle, Eanmund was killed by Onela's championWeohstan^[8] andHeardred was killed as well,^[9] after which Onela returned home.^[10]

Eadgils, however, survived and later,Beowulf helped him avenge Eanmund by slaying Onela.^[11]

By a conjectural emendation of line 62 of this poem some editors represent Onela as the son-in-law ofHealfdene/Halfdan king of Denmark.

The animosity between Eadgils and Onela also appears in Scandinavian tradition. In the Norse sagas, which were mostly based on Norwegian versions of Scandinavian legends, Onela seems to appear asÁli of Uppland, and is called Norwegian. By the timeYnglingatal was used as a source by Snorri Sturluson, there appears no longer to have been a Scandinavian tradition of Áli as a relation of Eadgils.^[12]

The earliest extant Scandinavian source where Onela appears is the 9th centuryskaldic poemYnglingatal, Eadgils (Aðils) is called Onela's enemy (Ála dólgr).Ála is the genitive case ofÁli, theOld Norse form of the name Onela.^[3]

InSkáldskaparmál, compiled bySnorri Sturluson and inArngrímur Jónsson's Latin summary ofSkjöldunga saga, the battle hinted at inBeowulf is treated in more detail.

Snorri first quotes theKálfsvísa but only small parts of it:^[15]

Snorri then relates that Aðils was in war with a Norwegian king named Áli, and they fought in theBattle on the Ice of Lake Vänern. Aðils was married toYrsa, the mother of Hrólfr (Hroðulf) and so sent an embassy to Hrólfr asking him for help against Áli. He would receive three valuable gifts in recompense. Hrólfr was involved in a war against theSaxons and could not come in person but sent his twelve berserkers, includingBödvar Bjarki. Áli died in the war, and Aðils took Áli's helmetBattle-boar and his horse Raven. The berserkers demanded three pounds of gold each in pay, and they demanded to choose the gifts that Aðils had promised Hrólfr, that is the two pieces of armour that nothing could pierce: the helmet battle-boar and the mailcoatFinn's heritage. They also wanted the famous ring Svíagris. Aðils considered the pay outrageous and refused.

In theYnglinga saga, Snorri relates that king Eadgils fought hard battles with the Norwegian king who was calledÁli hinn upplenzki. They fought on the ice of LakeVänern, where Áli fell and Adils won. Snorri relates that much is told about this event in theSkjöldunga saga, and that Adils took Hrafn (Raven), Áli's horse.

TheSaga of the Skjöldungs is lost but in the end of the 16th century,Arngrímur Jónsson saved a piece of information from this saga in Latin. He wrote:There was animosity between king Adils of Sweden and the Norwegian king Áli of Uppland. They decided to fight on the ice of LakeVänern. Adils won and took his helmet, chainmail and horse.

Nerman, B.,Det svenska rikets uppkomst. Stockholm, 1925.

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