First-time readers of Beowulf are sometimes surprised to learn that only one English character exists in the poem, barely meriting twelve lines. King Offa was the husband of the wicked Thryth or Modthrytho, a woman who condemned men to death for minor offenses. After she married him, according to the epic, she ceased her evil ways. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, two Offas existed, Offa I and Offa II. Since Offa I was related to Waermund and Eomer, we can only assume that this is the Offa of Beowulf, who is kin to Garmund and Eomer as well. The son of king Waermund, Offa I was mute as a youth and his fellow tribesmen considered him to be useless. One day, however, he settled a land dispute in hand-to-hand combat with a Saxon prince in which he sliced his adversary in two with one stroke. (Beowulf: An introduction to the story of the poem with a discussion of the stories of Offa and Finn, 33)
There is no mention of this battle in Beowulf. In fact, the Offa in Beowulf bears a closer resemblance to Offa II. There is a tale in which an evil woman Drida was set adrift as punishment for her wrongdoings. King Offa found her, fell in love, and married her. She changed her name to Quendrida (or Cwoenthryth) but did not cease to sin. Through treacherous means, she caused the death of St. Aethelbert. Historically, the wife of Offa II was named Cynethryth, but her reputation was very pious. R.W. Chambers speculates that monks deliberately confused the story of Cynethryth with the mythical Drida/Cwoenthryth, wife of Offa I. They may have done this because Offa II was in fact responsible to St. Aethelbert's death (it is historical fact that he did put him to death -- whether his wife deceived him as to Aethelbert's guilt is uncertain) and they wished to exonerate him by implicating his wife as the deceiver.(ibid, 38)
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