Hygd

Hygd is a figure in the Old English epic Beowulf, serving as queen of the Geats. She is the wife of Hygelac and the mother of Heardred, who succeeds Hygelac after his death.

In Beowulf, Hygd is portrayed as prudent, generous, and protective of her people. She contributes to the stability of Geatland during a time of political change and is remembered for her measured counsel and dignified bearing. The poem presents her as a stabilizing influence in the royal court and as an exemplar of queenly virtue.

Historically, Hygd’s figure sits at the intersection of legend and the Beowulf narrative, with little independent evidence outside the poem. Consequently, her historicity is uncertain, and she is understood primarily as a literary portrait of idealized queenship within the Beowulf tradition.

Name and legacy: The given name Hygd derives from Old English hyg d, meaning mind, thought, or care. In scholarship, she is regarded as one of the notable female figures in Beowulf, illustrating ideals of leadership, mercy, and domestic wisdom within the context of Germanic epic literature.