Key Info

- Dynasty of Kings who claimed descent from the gods Njörðr and Freyr

Brief Bio

The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem Ynglingatal. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings in Beowulf. When Beowulf and Ynglingatal were composed sometime in the eighth to tenth centuries, their respective authors (scops and skalds) expected their audience to have a great deal of background information about these kings, which is shown in the allusiveness of the references.

According to sources such as Ynglingatal and Íslendingabók, the Fairhair dynasty in Oppland, Norway was in fact a branch of the Ynglings (here Yngling is explicitly used as the name of the dynasty). Saxo Grammaticus held that the Ynglings also included Eric the Victorious, who is usually the first king in modern regnal lists, and his descendants. However, this does not tally with Icelandic sources.

The dynasty claimed descent from the gods Njörðr and Freyr, and other kings were likely mythical as well, whereas others may have been real: especially Egil, Ottar, Ale and Adils that are mentioned in Beowulf as well as Nordic sources.