Battle of Finnsburg The Battle of Finnsburg ( or Finnsburh ) was a conflict in the Germanic heroic age between Frisians with a possible Jutish contingent , and a primarily Danish party . Described only in later Anglo - Saxon poetry , if the conflict had an historical basis it most likely occurred around 450 AD . In the story , the young prince Hnæf , described as a Hocing , Half - Dane , and Scylding , was staying as an invited guest of the Frisian king Finn . For reasons unknown , a battle broke out between the two parties , probably started by the Frisian side , and Hnæf was killed . Hnæf ' s retainer Hengest took command , and the sides engaged in a peace treaty ; but Hengest and the Danes later avenged Hnæf ' s death and slaughtered the Frisians . The primary descriptive sources of the events are the fragmentary Finnsburg Fragment , and an allusive section of Beowulf . Since the battle is well represented amongst such a small corpus of Anglo - Saxon heroic poetry , it was probably significant and once widely known . Due to the fragmentary and allusive condition of the sources , however , the story is difficult to reconstruct . Sources . Finnsburg Fragment . In 1705 a fragment of Anglo - Saxon epic poetry discovered in Lambeth Palace by George Hickes was published . Because of the fragmentary state of the manuscript , the action starts in medias res . It describes a young prince called Hnæf spurring his 60 men into battle , besieged inside a great hall . Some of his men are then named and their actions in battle followed . Two characters from the attacking force are also named , and one of these dies along with others in his force . The killed attacker is said to be of the Frisian Islands , hinting at a location for the battle , and the specific location is identified as Finnsburg . The action closes with prince Hnæf and his men having been besieged for five days of battle , without any fatalities on their side . The Finnsburg Fragment is short , at around 50 lines long , and almost entirely lacking in internal context . Most of the context must instead be derived from the parallel episode in Beowulf , which describes events that take place mainly after the action narrated in the Finnsburg Fragment . Episode in Beowulf . Beowulf as a poem primarily follows the exploits of its eponymous hero . After one of Beowulf ' s victories , a " scop " or court - poet narrates an old tale to the assembled guests . This tale narrates the events that follow after the story found in the Finnsburg Fragment . The Beowulf poet , however , makes his " scop " give the account in an extremely compact and allusive way . The audience of the poem were probably expected to already know about the episode in some detail . Because of this , summarising the scenario described in Beowulf will necessarily involve an element of either fragmentation or interpretative reconstruction . The " scop " ' s story of the " Freswæle " ( " English " : Frisian slaughter ) begins with Hildeburh , daughter of Hoc , lamenting the loss of her son and brother . Both factions involved in the battle are said to have suffered heavy losses , but especially the " þegnas " ( " English " : thanes or barons ) of Finn . Because of this , Finn enters into a peace treaty with the besieged party led now by Hengest . Finn was to honour the Danes with feasts and gifts of treasure . Hnæf and his unnamed nephew , said also to be Hildeburh ' s son , are placed on a funeral pyre . After this most of the Danish warriors leave , but Hengest and probably some of the Danes stay throughout winter . Eventually a figure referred to as the son of Hunlaf places a sword on Hengest ' s lap to remind him of his loyalties . Other Danes also return , and probably together they wreak havoc on the Frisians and slay king Finn . The Danes take the unnamed Frisian queen back to what appear to be her own people in Denmark , identifying the Frisian queen as probably Danish . Other sources . The Anglo - Saxon poem fragment Widsith mentions a Finn who is referred to by the patronymic " Folcwalding " , probably explaining the patronymic allusion in Beowulf to " Folcwald ' s son " as a reference to Finn . Widsith also mentions a Hnæf who is said to have ruled the Hocings . Since Hildeburh is said in Beowulf to be the daughter of Hoc and the sister of Hnæf , and since Widsith mentions a Hnæf ruling the people of Hoc , it seems clear that Widsith refers to the same Hnæf of the Battle of Finnsburg . It also mentions a Sæferð or Sasferth who can be identified with one of Hnæf ' s men , Sigeferth . The only other source to perhaps allude to the battle is the Skáldskaparmál , where Snorri Sturluson mentions a coat of mail called " Finnsleif " ( " English " : Finn ' s legacy ) . The names of some of the characters in the Battle of Finnsburg are mentioned in other sources , usually in genealogies such as the reference to Folcwald and Finn in the Historia Brittonum . Hengest is mentioned in several works , but his identity and exploits are unclear . One argument , still supported by some recent scholars , is that he is the same figure as the Anglo - Saxon founder of the Kingdom of Kent . Background . Since the unnamed Frisian queen in Beowulf is probably said to be of the Danish people , it seems very likely that Hildeburh is this Frisian queen . This means that Hnæf was probably staying as an invited guest of Finn at his home , Finnsburg ( " English " : fortified stronghold of Finn ) , in Frisia , with Hildeburh connecting the two factions together : She was clearly a Danish ( or at least ' half - Danish ' ) princess , who had married Finn , prince of the Frisians , doubtless a political move to secure peace between Danes and Frisians . Hildeburh had a brother , Hnæf , who apparently went to Finn with his Danish retinue in friendship . Though the identification of Hnæf and Finn being brothers - in - law makes the situation much clearer , it shifts the emphasis of explanation onto the reason behind the subsequent battle . The battle may reflect a reoccurrence of the tensions which Hildeburh ' s marriage may have been a diplomatic move to quell . If the identification between the characters holds , moreover , then the son of Hildeburh and nephew of Hnæf who dies in the battle is probably therefore the son of Finn ; he may even have been heir to the Frisian kingdom . In this respect it is especially notable that Hildeburh ' s son is laid on Hnæf ' s pyre . Tolkien suggested that Hildeburh ' s son was raised by Hnæf , and was being brought back to Finn at his coming of age ; even that Hildeburh ' s son was one of the party besieged with Hnæf inside the great hall . Such a theory would add an extra layer of complexity , of a feeling of possible responsibility for filicide , to the already complicated psychological motivations of Finn . Battle phases . Phase One : The siege battle . The siege is described primarily in the Finnsburg Fragment . Hnæf rouses his troops with a short but powerful speech . Two of his men , Sigeferth and Eaha go to one door ( Door A ) , and another two of his men Ordlaf and Guthlaf go to another door ( Door B ) of the great hall in which they were trapped at Finnsburg . In Beowulf the pair " Guthlaf and Oslaf " are mentioned returning later to their home , so that Oslaf in Beowulf is probably to be identified with Ordlaf from the Finnsburg Fragment . Hengest follows Ordlaf / Oslaf and Guthlaf to Door B . Outside the great hall , Guthere is planning to launch the first attack . Garulf counsels him not to do so , saying that Guthere ' s life is too valuable . Guthere proceeds anyway , and asks who holds that door . Sigeferth replies to Guthere ' s taunt from within , showing that the attack is being mounted at Door A . Sigeferth is said to be a lord of the Secgena ; in Widsith a Sæferð or Sasferth is said to be lord of the Sycges or Secgan , apparently referring to the same character . The two sides fight at that door , and Garulf , the counsellor , and many of the attackers die . It is not clear what happens to Guthere whom he counselled . Garulf the counsellor is said to be Guthlaf ' s son ; it is not clear whether or not this is the same Guthlaf who holds the door as a defender at Door B . The battle continues for five days , and none of the besieged defenders of Hnæf and his men are killed . Then one of the defenders is wounded , and Hnæf asks the unnamed wounded defender how the other men are coping . There the Finnsburg Fragment ends . The narrative continues in Beowulf after the battle has ended ; immediately Hnæf and his nephew are said to have been slain . On the attackers ' side , the Beowulf " scop " says that " all of the thanes of Finn , except a few " were slain . Hengest is now the commander of the defenders . Interim : Swearing of oaths . Since Finn had lost most of his thanes , he was unable to fight Hengest , and the Beowulf poet says that for this reason they drew up a peace treaty . Nicola Zocco clarifies that the " Frisians offer to come to terms with the Danes because they need to resolve the situation in a bloodless way , given that they cannot afford a military victory . " This gives the motivation for the attackers to enter into a peace bargain , but not for the motivation of the defenders . Perhaps the toll on them would also have been too large , that Hengest and his men would not have been able to break the deadlock of the siege . The peace treaty must have been reasonable to both commanders as the best way out of the stalemate . The fact that the two sides did not fight to the death may indicate that Finn felt some remorse for the rules of hospitality having been broken against his brother - in - law Hnæf and his men . Seiichi Suzuki points out that the Beowulf poet implies twice that Finn was to blame and was blamed . Still , Finn may not have been a primary belligerent , only responsible in the capacity of a figurehead ; and the picture is made more complex by the role of the " eotena " ( see below ) . The Beowulf poet seems to allude to Finn ' s sincerity about the peace treaty when he says that Finn swore oaths to Hengest " with unfeigned zeal " . Not only were the peace terms probably offered by the Frisians to the Danes , but the Frisians were very submissive in the deal . Though under the treaty the Danes are not to complain about the death of Hnæf , Finn more extremely swears that any Frisian who provokes further violence would be , in the language of the poet , settled with the edge of the sword . The defenders are also to be given half of a new building , which , confusingly they are to share with Finn and the " eotena " sons ( see below ) , and also to be given feasts and treasure by Finn . The concessions by Finn may reflect his remorse at the events , or it may have been seen as a suitable weregild for the defenders not avenging the killing of Hnæf . The Beowulf poet describes how Finn stuck to his oath by giving treasure . Meanwhile , Hnæf and his nephew are placed on the funeral pyre and Hildeburh laments . Later most of the warriors go home , " to seek their native lands , / bereft of friends , to behold Frisia , / their homes and high fortresses . " Hengest , and some retainers , stayed however with Finn over the winter ; it is not clear why they do so . Donald K . Fry contends that Hengest stayed " by his own choice , by his own design . " Phase Two : The Frisian slaughter . Eventually a man described as the son of Hunlaf , but given no more specific name or description , places a sword on the lap of Hengest . The sword , a " hildeleoma " ( " English " : battle - light ) which may either be the name of the sword or a description of it , is said to be renowned to the " eotenum " ( see " eotena " below ) . Olivieri suggests that probably " Hunlaf had died in the fight at the castle — the sword had been used with the Jutes — and his son asked for revenge . " Meanwhile , Guthlaf and Oslaf / Ordlaf , presumably the same pair who held Door A in the siege , go back to the Danish people and tell them what has occurred . The Beowulf poet says that as a consequence , without naming the antecedents , Finn and all the Frisians were slaughtered . Most likely the antecedents are both of the actions described above , that Hengest and a returning faction of Danes banded together in force to slaughter Finn and the remnants of his forces , avenge Hnæf , pillage Finnsburg , and return to the Danish people with Hildeburh . This is usually understood to mean that Hengest had been brooding over whether fealty or oaths were strongest , and that he and the Danes broke the terms of the peace treaty , though Zocco argues otherwise . Eotena . Jutes or giants ? The words " eotena " and " eotenum " in the Beowulf episode appear in several places to describe the opponents of the Danes : This has given rise to three basic theories about the term " eoten " - in Beowulf : The first theory was held by Tolkien in the early 20th century , and is now widely accepted amongst scholars . But the second and third theories have seen increasing popularity ; more recent dissenters include Williams , Kaske , Stuhmiller , Gwara , Vickrey , and Slade . As three Beowulf editors wrote in 2008 : The terms for Frisians and Jutes seem to be used interchangeably in the Episode ( see " Beo " 1088 and 1093 ) , but it is impossible to be certain , given the fragmentary and allusive nature of the evidence , and the alternate ways of construing the term " eotenas " that has been thought to designate the Jutes . Historically , scholarship has favored the assumption that MS " eotena " and " eotenum " refer to Jutes [ … ] , though quite a few scholars , especially in recent years , have seen here common nouns referring to giants Arguments for giants . The dissatisfaction with the first theory , of the " Eotan " or Jutes , can be perceived along two axes : morphological and semantic . Vickrey summarises the morphological evidence for a reading of giants , the numbers referring to Beowulf line numbers : the form " eotena " , the expected genitive plural of " eoten " ' giant ' ( " eotena " 421 , 883 ) , is anomalous as a declensional form of * " Eote " , * " Eotan " ' Jutes ' ; and the form " eotenum " , along with " eotenum " 902 , the expected dative plural of " eoten " ' giant , ' a disyllabic masculine noun with a short first syllable , is , as a dative plural of * " Eote " , * " Eotan " ' Jutes , ' without parallel elsewhere in the poem either in weak noun s or i - nouns . [ … ] On philological grounds , then , it is more likely that " eoten " - meant ' giant ' and not ' Jute ' in the Finn Episode : if ' Jute , ' " eoten " - is suspect and doubtful ; if ' giant , ' expected and normal . Vickrey ' s point about " eotenum " refers to line 1145 , where the dative plural " eotenum " is used . The dative plural for Jutes would be " eotum " , whereas " eotenum " is the correct dative plural for the sense of giants ; despite this , the word in this line is still often translated " Jutes " in accordance with the first theory . Williams argued of " eoten " that " it is not fact but only possibility that the scribe confused therewith the tribal name , or that this tribal name had a dative " Éotenum " . A possibility cannot upset a fact ! " Benjamin Slade gives a summary of the semantic and contextual evidence , leaning towards the second theory , of a pun between giants and Jutes : The reading of ' giants ' is difficult for it is hard to imagine that Germanic ' giants ' could have non - antagonistic relations with any human people . It seems likely that there is perhaps intentional ambiguity here between ' giants ' and ' Jutes / Frisians ' . [ … ] Stuhmiller makes the keen observation that after the Finn Episode , no form of " eoten " or " eotan " occurs in the poem , ambiguous or otherwise . This is striking because ' giants ' certainly do not disappear from the poem at this point [ … ] . The poet ' s song of Finn occurs immediately Beowulf has slain Grendel , the " eotan " who has been tormenting the Danes Understanding whether the references are to Jutes or giants has a large bearing on the presented social dynamic of the battle . In a more cautious appraisal Fry summarises that " Whoever the " eoten " - are , they are probably not Danes and not subject to Hengest . " Good faith . The " eotena " " good faith " referred to at the beginning of the Beowulf episode is puzzling , in any of the theorised senses of " eotena " . Though the peace treaty has not yet been mentioned by the narrator at that point in the text , this good faith may refer to the very submissive terms of the peace treaty . If so , this would indicate that it was not only Finn who swore the oath of peace " with unfeigned zeal " to Hengest , but that the " eoten " - force had good faith too . If so , then it is a particular disadvantage to have lost the description of what , and who , provoked the siege .