Hrodgar

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Legendary king of the Danes in the Old English epic Beowulf, who built the great hall Heorot and was aided by the hero Beowulf
2. The aged Danish ruler in the Old English poem Beowulf, whose mead hall Heorot is terrorized by the monster Grendel
3. A figure from Old English heroic verse, the wise Danish king of the Scyldings who ruled from Heorot in the epic Beowulf

Etymology: Hrothgar is the Old English form of the name of a legendary Danish king, the ruler of the great hall Heorot in the poem "Beowulf." The name is built from two Germanic elements: "hrōþ," meaning "fame" or "glory," and "gār," meaning "spear." Together they form a name that means roughly "famous with the spear," a common pattern in early Germanic naming. The name survives in Old Norse as Hróarr, and in the Danish tradition as Hrólfr or Rolf, showing that the figure was known across the North Sea and Scandinavian worlds. Because the Old English poem is the main surviving source for him, most English readers meet the name only through that text.