30. _Thuringians._ These people dwelt near the mouths of the Rhine and the Maas.
31. _Ongentheow_, the king of Sweden, is frequently mentioned in _Beowulf_ (e.g., vv. 2476 and 2783). _The Secgans_ are unknown, but they are mentioned in v. 62, below, and in _The Fight at Finnsburg_, v. 26.
32. The ancient home of the _Longobards_ (or Lombards) was between the Baltic and the Elbe.
35. _Offa_: a legendary king of the Angles, while they still lived on the continent toward the end of the fourth century. Legends of him are found in Denmark and in England. Chambers concludes that the Danish form is perhaps very near that known to the author of _Widsith_. Offa, the son of the king, though a giant in stature, is dumb from his youth, and when the German prince from the south challenges the aged king to send a champion to defend his realm in single combat, Offa's speech is restored and he goes to the combat. The fight was held at Fifeldore, the River Eider, which was along the frontier between the Germans and the Danes. Here Offa fought against two champions and defeated them both, thus establishing the frontier for many years. Note that the author of _Widsith_, who is of the Myrging race, is here celebrating the defeat of his own people.
44. _Swabians_ probably refers to the Myrgings, who were of the stock of the Suevi.
45. _Hrothwulf and Hrothgar._ See _Beowulf_, vv. 1017 and 1181 ff. Hrothgar is Hrothwulf's uncle, and they live on friendly terms at Heorot (Hrothgar's hall). Later it seems that Hrothwulf fails to perform his duties as the guardian of Hrothgar's son, thus bringing to an end his years of friendliness to Hrothgar and his sons. The fight referred to is against Ingeld, Hrothgar's son-in-law who invaded the Danish kingdom. (See _Beowulf_, vv. 84, 2024 ff.)
58. The _Geats_ were probably settled in southern Sweden. They were the tribe to which Beowulf belonged.
60. The _Gepidæ_ were closely related to the Goths and were originally located near them at the mouth of the Vistula River. The _Wends_ were a Slavonic tribe who finally pressed up into the lands vacated in the great migrations by the Germans between the Elbe and the Vistula.
61. _Angles._ See vv. 8 and 44, above. _Swæfe._ See line 44, above.