Widsith is an Old English poem of 144 lines. It is from the 6th or 7th century. It first appeared in the Exeter Book. The poem is for the most part an overview of the peoples, kings, and heroes of Europe in the Heroic Age. Excluding the introduction, closing, and brief comments in between, the poem is divided into three 'catalogues', called in Old English þulas (Old Norse þula, see e.g. Rígþula). The first þula runs through a list of the various kings of the time, the model being '(name of a king) ruled (name of a tribe)'. The second þula contains the names of the peoples the narrator visited, the model being 'With the (name of a tribe) I was, and with the (name of another tribe).' In the third and final þula, the narrator lists the Gothic heroes he visited, with the model '(Hero's name) I sought and (hero's name) and (hero's name).' Old English poetry is based upon one system of verse construction which was used for all poems. ... The Exeter Book, also known as the Codex Exoniensis, is a book (or, as some prefer, a codex) of Anglo-Saxon poetry from the 10th century. ... The Heroic Age was the period of Greek mythological history that lay between the purely divine events of the Theogony and Titanomachy and the advent of historical time after the Trojan War. ... Old Norse or Danish tongue is the Germanic language once spoken by the inhabitants of the Nordic countries (for instance during the Viking Age). ... In the eddic poem Rígthula (Old Norse Rígþula ) Song of Ríg, the name Ríg is applied to a god who is called old and wise, mighty and strong who wandered through the world and brought into being (apparently by fathering them) the progenitors of the...

The poem contains the first mention of the Vikings by name (lines 47, 59, 80). The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, Europe and the British Isles from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ...

See also: The Widsith Archers, Tribes of Widsith Hrolf Kraki fleeing the Swedish king Adils on the Fýrisvellir Hrólf Kraki (Old Norse), Rolf Kraki or Rolf Krake was a legendary king at Lejre on the isle of Zealand, Denmark, described in several old sagas and other documents such as the Leire chronicle and Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus. ... Hroðgar (Hrothgar, Hróar, Ro), legendary Danish king. ... Heorot is the stronghold of king Hrothgar in the epic poem Beowulf. ... The Heathobards was a group which appears in the Anglo-Saxon poems Widsith and Beowulf. ... In Widsith, there is a long recital of people, clans and tribes who were known in the Germanic world of the 6th century. ...

External links

• A Verse Translation by Douglas B. Killings
• The original text of the verse.