Offa of Angel

Offa Of Angel

Offa is a legendary king of the Angles in the genealogy of the kings of Mercia presented in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. He is the son of Wermund and the father of Angeltheow. His name is also mentioned in the Old English poem Widsith. He has been identified with Uffo (also Uffe, Uffi of Jutland), a legendary Danish king in the Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus.

The Old English poem Widsith (9th century) refers briefly to his victorious single combat, a story which is related at length by the 12th-century Danish historians Saxo and Svend Aggesen.

Offa is also mentioned in the Annales Ryenses, Vita Offae Primi and Vitae duorum Offarum.

According to Widsith and the Danish sources Offa successfully conquered the Myrgings, possibly a clan of Saxon origin, and incorporated their land into Angel or Danish lands, by slaying two Myrging princes in single combat and installing himself as their king. According to Widsith, Offa's opponents belonged to a tribe or dynasty called Myrgingas

It is probable that the Offa whose marriage with Modþryð, a lady of murderous disposition, is mentioned in Beowulf (lines 1949 and 1957), is the same person.