Family and Marital Relations in BeowulfTwo Works Cited For the reader of Old English Beowulf, family and marital relationships are not so obvious, especially when one concentrates all one's mental energies on translating the thousand-year-old vocabulary of the poem. The following essay aims to clarify these relationships while moving through the poem sequentially. First of all, Scyld Scefing, historical king of the Danes (Scyldings), had a son Beow (ulf) to occupy the throne: “Then in the strongholds [Beow] the Scylding was the king of all Denmark, beloved by his people” (53-55). Then [Beow] “had in turn a son, Healfdene the great, who, in his lifetime, aged, fierce in war, reigned over the lordly Scyldings” (56-58). Healfdene's offspring were numerous: “Of Healfdene are numbered four children in all; from the leader of the hosts they awoke to the world, Heorogar, Hrothgar and Halga the good; it is said that [Yrse was the queen of Onela]” (59-62). Heorogar begat Heoroweard; Halga fathered Hrothulf who lived with Hrothgar ("the mighty in spirit, Hrothgar and Hrothulf" (1016-17). What is implicit in these and subsequent lines is the allusion that Hrothulf will kill the eldest son of Hrothgar, Hrethic, and will take the throne: “Wealth came forth, glittering with gold, to greet the good couple, uncle and nephew [Hrothulf] their peace was ever firm, each faithful to the other” ( 1162-5) (Chickering 280). and Freawaru ("I heard the men call her Freawaru when she passed the jeweled cup to these heroes" (2022-23). Beowulf, upon arriving in Denmark with his band of Geats, states his geneology: "My own father was well known abroad... middle of paper ...... raised in King Hrethel's house with his own sons of the king: "In no case was I, a man of his fortress, more hateful to him than his own sons, Herebeald, Haethcyn, or Hygelac my lord" (2432-34). Haethcyn accidentally killed "his brother [Herebeald]...with an arrow from his bow" (2437-38), causing the father's death by Perhaps this essay will elucidate vague family and marital relationships for Beowulf's new student, who is grappling with so many problems in translating Old English that it can be difficult to discern all the complex relationships.BIBLIOGRAPHYChickering, Howell D.. Beowulf A bilingual edition. New York: Anchor Books, 1977. Wilbur, Richard. “Beowulf.” In TheBeowulf Poet, edited by Donald K. Fry. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc..., 1968.