Wætlingas
| Wætlingas | |
|---|---|
| Anglo-Saxons | |
| Biographical Information | |
| Location | England |
| Language | Old English |
| Family | |
| Parentage | Watol |
| Physical Description | |
| Gender | Male |
The Wætlingas were the sons of an Anglo-Saxon king called Watol, according to the early version of the legendarium associated with The Book of Lost Tales.[1]
History[edit | edit source]
Their father Watol commissioned a Man from Íwerin called Íring, the son of King Ír, to build a road through his lands, which he had done in the span of seven years. However, the Wætlingas were angered by Íring's arrogance, and therefore wagered that they could build an even better road in only three years - possibly due to their friendship with the Elves[note 1] of Péac.
Therefore, Íring asked his father King Ír for help, and, since Ír was allied with the Orcs of Íwerin, he sent "all kinds of secret evils" in order to stop the progress of the Wætlingas.
Finally however, when three years had passed, Íring, "despairing of his wager", killed the Wætlingas.
Presumably trying to redress the situation, Íring was allowed by the god Wóden (i.e. Manweg)[note 2] to build a road out of star-dust "across the heavens" running parallel to Íringesweg, the road that he had built.
That heavenly road later became known as the Watling Street, in the honour of the Wætlingas, the sons of Watol, but it was also known as Íringesweg as well, so that Íring's "name shall not fade".[1]
Inspiration[edit | edit source]
The story of Íring building a road in the heavens, afterwards named after the Wætlingas Wæclinga-strǽt (that is, the Watling Street), was an attempt by Tolkien to provide an answer, through his own mythology, to an etymological issue concerning the Watling Street.
According to the English chronicler Florence of Worcester, the sons of Watol (Wætlingas) built the Watling Street in the year 1013 AD; there, Florence of Worcester also said that the name Watling Street was afterwards applied to the Milky Way.
Tolkien, however, argued that the original meaning of the Old English Wæclinga-strǽt (Watling Street) referred to the Milky Way, and it was only following the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain that the term Wæclinga-strǽt was applied to the old Roman road running from Dover to Chester.
The name Íringesweg (or Iringes weg) was another Old English name for the Milky Way which Tolkien wanted to incorporate into his mythology at this point.
Also, the name Péac (where the Elves lived) was an Old English name of the modern-day Peak District in the northwestern Derbyshire. Péac might have been a name for a demon, cognate with the Old English Púca (or Puck in modern English).[2]
Notes
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 J.R.R. Tolkien, "Sí Qente Feanor and Other Elvish Writings", in Parma Eldalamberon XV (edited by Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, Patrick H. Wynne, and Bill Welden), "Early Runic Documents", ER1d: Fourth page, p. 96
- ↑ J.R.R. Tolkien, "Sí Qente Feanor and Other Elvish Writings", in Parma Eldalamberon XV (edited by Christopher Gilson, Arden R. Smith, Patrick H. Wynne, and Bill Welden), "Early Runic Documents", Commentary on ER1, pp. 100-1
