Woden
Further information: WodenThe derivation of a claim of kingship from descent from a god may be rooted in ancient Germanic paganism. In Anglo-Saxon England after Christianization, this tradition appears to have been euhemerized to kingship of any of the realms of the Heptarchy being conditional on descent from Woden.
Woden is made father of Wecta, Beldeg, Wihtgils and Wihtlaeg who are given as ancestors of the Kings of Kent, Deira, Wessex, Bernicia, Mercia and East Anglia:
These men came from three tribes of Germany: from the Old Saxons, from the Angles, and from the Jutes ... their commanders were two brothers, Hengest and Horsa, that were the sons of Wihtgils. Wihtgils was Witta's offspring, Witta Wecta's offspring, Wecta Woden's offspring. From that Woden originated all our royal family ...
Read more about this topic: Anglo-Saxon Royal Genealogies
Famous quotes containing the word woden:
“There are knives that glitter like altars
In a dark church
Where they bring the cripple and the imbecile
To be healed.
There’s a woden block where bones are broken,
Scraped clean—a river dried to its bed”
—Charles Simic (b. 1938)