Gamla Uppsala -
Ancient Burial
Mounds Held
Ongentheow's
Ashes 
One
of the three great burial mounds at Gamla Uppsala probably held the
ashes of the Swedish King Ongentheow (aka Egill), the wily, tough old warrior
killed by Hygelac's men after being chased back to his stronghold by
the invading Geats (pronounced 'yachts'), around 510 CE.
This
site goes back 2,000 years. It is an ancient holy place and capital for
Swedish kings, and it was probably here or nearby that Ongentheow met
his end.
Ongentheow's Last StandAs the Beowulf poet tells it:
"Then the brave fellow, old and in trouble,
moved with his tribesmen to a defensive position, 2950
Earl Ongentheow retreated back...
...behind his earth-wall. Then chase was given
to the Swedish people; the banner of Hygelac
ran right over the rampart's yard,
until the Hrethlings [i.e. the Geats] thronged the enclosure.
There Ongentheow, the grey-haired king,
was driven to bay by the sword's edge,
so the tribal king had to suffer
Eofor's mercy alone. ... [Ongentheow knocks down
Eofor's brother, and] ...
As his brother lay there, the sturdy thane
of Hygelac brought his broad sword,
an old giants' blade, breaking the huge helmet,
over
the shield-wall; then the king fell,
2980
the people's protector; he was mortally wounded...."
Ongentheow's
son Ohtere, father of Eanmund and Eadgils, was probably the Ottar
buried under Ottarshogen (Ottar's Mound), Vendel, about 30 kilometers
north of Uppsala. I didn't visit this site (next trip, I hope); you can
get a brief report on it at this page.
Gamla Uppsala Museum - Weapons and Jewellery On
the information board to the left, you can see three circles numbered
2,3 and 4 representing the three great mounds: Osthogen, Mitthogen and
Vasthogen (East, Middle and West Mound). There are more, and smaller,
burial mounds to the southwest of the big three.
The Gamla Uppsala Museum, which we'll visit in a moment, is behind Brenda's head. At 12 is the wonderful 12th-century church, Gamla Uppsala kyrka, which alone is worth the trip up here.
The Museum (below) is an unpretentious building with a big picture window framing the great mounds.
I believe that though Scandinavians treasure their past, they don't want to live there; they want to bring it into the present.
This is the policy at the Roskilde Vikingeskibs Museet, and seems to be so here.
The
display case below holds weapons, harness ornaments and other items
from a warrior-king's grave. The free-standing plexiglas cases allow us to walk all
round the objects to get a three-dimensional view. Plexiglas is also
cleverly used to support and set off some of the objects.
The displays are well done, though the reflections present interesting challenges for the would-be photographer.
Below is a helmet from a grave at Valsgarde, just northeast of here. Note the similarity to the Sutton Hoo helmet,
particularly in the serpent form of the crest and the cast bronze
eyebrows. This is one of many hints at a Swedish connection to Sutton
Hoo.
 
This
helmet (known as Valsgarde 5) is different in that the neck guard is
formed of hanging iron strips, rather than the continuous "Darth Vader"
style of the Sutton Hoo helmet.
For historical re-enactors interested in the Migration Period, a replica of a helmet such as this one is offered at Get Dressed for Battle (Australia).
To the left is a sword corroded into its scabbard, with the scabbard tip intact.
Below are six silver pendants about two inches (ca. 5 cm.) long. Four are Thor's hammers (associated with the god Thursday is named after), one is a cross, and two are ladies.
In
the closeup, right, is a pendant found at Tuna, Uppland, Sweden dating
from about 700 to 800 CE - within a century of Beowulf's time. This
little figure suggests a lot: she's holding herself proudly, wears an
enormous necklace, her hair's in a long ornamental braid, she's wearing
a kind of stole and her skirt has a long train.
 
The
lady below doesn't look downtrodden, either. Her hair's tied up, but
she too wears a dress with a long train and holds her head high.
Perhaps because she's proferring a drinking cup she's sometimes seen as
a
visualization of Hrothgar's queen, Wealhtheow. This figure is from Oland and dated between 800 and 900 CE.
Several times in Beowulf
Wealhtheow is shown handing out cups (as well as treasures and
encouragement) to the warriors in Heorot. See for example lines
612-629, 1162-1231.
She is depicted as stately, courteous,
richly adorned and politically powerful (though it could be argued that
her power is too limited to achieve her goals, the same is true for
Hrothgar and ultimately Beowulf.)
 Above is a contour model of the Gamla Uppsala site.
Through the Museum's picture windows (below) you get a good view of the three great mounds and some Swedish countryside.
Within
a few yards of the East Mound lay a sunbathing couple, an image of
Scandinavians who love to be outdoors, especially at this time of year
(it was July 3).
Next we'll step outside and take a walk around the Gamla Uppsala burial mounds themselves.
Links off this siteFor more information about Gamla Uppsala, visit Wikipedia here. For more on Ongentheow's last battle as told in Beowulf (Gummere translation), and the Gamla Uppsala connection, visit Wikipedia here. For notes on the site and Gamla Uppsala Museum, visit the Riksantikvarieambetet site. Greg Fearon comments on the Beowulf-Uppsala connection and gives a brief report on his visit, at: GFPK Travels to Gamla UppsalaThe Global Oneness Commitment has a page with links for prospective visitors to Gamla Uppsala re accommodations, etc.
Links to other pages in beowulf-country.org
Copyright: The
above translation is from Mike Walton's The
Book of Beowulf (Cayuga, Ontario: Copyright 2007),
pages 119-120. You may
use the material above in an essay or for private Beowulf
study, but not commercially. Do credit
your source!
-- Mike Walton
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