Note 185 — Chapter VI · SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS IN THE HEROIC STORIES.

It does not of course remove all difficulties. The chief of these perhaps is the presence of Wiglaf, who seems clearly to belong to Beowulf, the son of Ecgtheow. The discrepancy between the names Beowulf and Fróði is of minor account, since the latter may very well have originated in a title (cf. Beow. v. 2928). On the other hand if this person is really a mythical national hero the name Beowa (perhaps for an earlier form Biowi) would seem more natural than Beowulf. Yet there may have been intermediate stages between the original hero and the person finally credited with the exploit.