1. Hildeburh, Finn
All we know of these two figures comes from the so-called “Finnsburg Episode” within Beowulf (lines 1067–1158). Just 91 lines long, this scop’s tale nested within the broader epic recounts a violent conflict between forces loyal to Hnæf and those sworn to King Finn. Hildeburh is mentioned three times—at the opening, the turning point, and the final lines. She is central to the tale’s emotional gravity.
I wanted to explore her story: how she came to marry Finn, what bound her to her brother, her husband, her father Hoc, and her unnamed children. My approach in writing this novel was to honor the fragmentary nature of early sources while crafting emotionally plausible character arcs. I knew I had found her voice when, in one scene, Femke revealed a truth about her mother that caught Hildeburh off guard—and surprised me most of all as I typed her words.
2. Femke/Friðumærth, Frealaf (and Friðuwulf)
The Finnsburg Episode does not name Hildeburh’s child. Fortunately, Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic genealogies list two names beneath Finn: variations of Friðuwulf and Frealaf. In these genealogies, multiple names often indicate succession order rather than direct lineage. So I’ve made Friðuwulf the elder and Frealaf (“surviving lord”) the younger.
While writing, I decided to add a middle child—a daughter. What to name her? Royal names often echo the father’s. I was drawn to the Frisian diminutive Femke, which derives from a name containing the elements Friðu- (perfect!) and a second beginning with ‘m.’ No well-attested female suffixes begin with ‘m,’ so I searched for a plausible word and chose mærð (“famous,” “glorious,” “wonderful”)—a term that recurs throughout Beowulf. Thus, Femke’s adult name was Friðumærth.
3. Shadow-stepper
This is an epithet for Grendel (sceadugenga). I borrowed it to describe the bogey that haunts Hildeburh—a figure I imagine she carried from childhood.
4. “But the closest coastline was north, across the Rith.”
I’ve based Finnsburg on the Wijnaldum mounds: six terps east of Harlingen and south of the Ried in the Netherlands. Migrants from northern Germany re-inhabited the site around AD 425.
