View source for Weohstan

{{Short description|Legendary character from Anglo-Saxon and Norse writing}}
{{for|the founder of Wilton Abbey|Weohstan, ealdorman of Wiltshire}}
[[File:Beowulf - Wihstan.jpg|thumb|A mention of Weohstan in the ''Beowulf'']]
'''Weohstan''', '''Wēohstān''' or '''Wīhstān''' ([[Proto-Norse]] *''[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wīhaz|Wīha]][[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/stainaz|stainaz]]'', meaning "sacred stone",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sofi.se/images/NA/pdf/urnord.pdf |title=Lexikon över urnordiska personnamn |last=Peterson |first=Lena |year=2007 |publisher=[[Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore]] |pages=40 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518012642/http://www.sofi.se/images/NA/pdf/urnord.pdf |archivedate=2011-05-18 }}(Lexicon of nordic personal names before the 8th century)</ref> {{langx|non|Vésteinn}} {{IPA|non|ˈweːˌstɛinː|}} and ''Wǣstēn''<ref>Nerman, B. ''Det svenska rikets uppkomst''. Stockholm, 1925. p. 79.</ref>) is a legendary character who appears in the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] [[epic poem]] ''[[Beowulf]]'', and scholars have pointed out that he also appears to be present in the Norse ''[[Kálfsvísa]]''.<ref>[http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=240367 ''Beowulf and some fictions of the Geatish succession'' by Frederick M. Biggs].</ref>

In both ''Beowulf'' and ''Kálfsvísa'', Weohstan (''Vésteinn'') fought for his king Onela (''Áli'') against Eadgils (''Aðils'').

==''Beowulf''==
According to ''Beowulf'', Weohstan is the father of [[Wiglaf]], and he belongs to a [[Norse clans|clan]] called the ''[[Waegmundings|Wægmundings]]''.  [[Ecgþeow]], the father of Beowulf, also belonged to this clan, so Weohstan is in some degree related to Beowulf. Thus he counts Weohstan's son Wiglaf as his kinsman.

Weohstan is said to have died of old age before the action of the later part of the poem. Weohstan is first mentioned at line 2602. We learn that he had held a [[Götaland|Geatland]] estate and rights in [[common land]] which Beowulf gave to him.<ref>Lines 2606-8.</ref>

When the [[Yngling|Scylfing]] prince [[Eanmund]] rebelled against his uncle, [[Onela]], the king of Sweden, Weohstan fought in the service of Onela and killed Eanmund in battle; for this Onela gave Weohstan Eanmund's sword and armour.<ref>Lines 2610-19.</ref> In his old age, Weohstan gave this sword and armour to his son Wiglaf.<ref>Lines 2623-25.</ref> By that time both Weohstan and Wiglaf "lived among the [[Geat]]s".<ref>Line 2623.</ref> His name appears in several places where Wiglaf is described as "the son of Weohstan".<ref>Lines 2752, 2602, 2862, 2907, 3076, 3110, 3120.)</ref>

The scholar [[Frederick Klaeber]] speculated that though Onela himself did not seek a feud with Weohstan, once Onela was dead and Eanmund's brother [[Eadgils]] became king of the Swedes, Weohstan found it prudent to leave the service of the Scylfings, and this was how he came to be living among the Geats.<ref>[[Friedrich Klaeber|Klaeber, Friedrich]]. ''Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg'', Third Edition, D.C. Heath and Co., Lexington, MA, 1922.</ref>

==''Kálfsvísa''==
In the part of [[Snorri Sturluson]]'s ''[[Skáldskaparmál]]'' which is called the ''[[Kálfsvísa]]'', the name Weohstan appears in its [[Old Norse]] form ''Vésteinn''. Moreover, he is mentioned together with his lord [[Onela]] (Áli) and enemy [[Eadgils]] (Aðils), and the section concerns the [[Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern]]<ref>Nerman, B. ''Det svenska rikets uppkomst''. Stockholm, 1925. pp. 102-103.</ref> after which the exile suggested by Klaeber would have taken place:

{|
|
:Vésteinn Vali, 
:en Vífill Stúfi, 
:Meinþjófr Mói, 
:en Morginn Vakri, 
:Áli Hrafni, 
:er til íss riðu, 
:en annarr austr 
:und Aðilsi 
:grár hvarfaði, 
:geiri undaðr.<ref>[http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Skáldskaparmál ''Skálskaparmál'' at Norrøne Tekster og Kvad, Norway.]</ref>
|
:Vésteinn rode Valr,
:And Vifill rode Stúfr;
:Meinthjófr rode Mór,
:And Morginn on Vakr ("Watchful, Nimble, Ambling, or perhaps Hawk");
:[[Onela|Áli]] rode Hrafn,
:They who rode onto the ice:
:But another, southward,
:Under [[Eadgils|Adils]],
:A gray one, wandered,
:Wounded with the spear.<ref>Translation by [[Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur]] [http://www.cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/ProseEdda/SkaldskaparmalLXXI-LXXX.htm#skald72 at Cybersamurai] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070507052044/http://www.cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/ProseEdda/SkaldskaparmalLXXI-LXXX.htm |date=2007-05-07 }}.</ref>
|
|}

The section apparently mentions Weohstan and his fellow warriors riding together with their king Onela out on the ice, where they meet Eadgils. However, the [[skald]] of the ''Kálfsvísa'' expected the listener to be familiar with these characters and mentions no more of what happened. However, as is told in passing in ''Beowulf'' and more in detail by Snorri, Eadgils won the battle.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Beowulf}}

[[Category:Heroes in Norse myths and legends]]
[[Category:English heroic legends]]
[[Category:Characters in Beowulf]]