Editing Sceafa (section)

==In genealogies==
Other than this, Sceaf is mentioned only in chronicles tracing the lineage of the English kings, although variants are found in similar genealogies for the rulers of the Danes, Norwegians and Icelanders in the sagas. Most such genealogies stop at the god [[Odin]], but some trace the supposed ancestors of Odin up to a certain [[Gaut|Geat]]. The account in the ''[[Historia Britonum]]'' calls Geat a son of a god. [[Asser]] in his ''Life of Alfred'' writes instead that the pagans worshipped Geat himself for a long time as a god.

Modern scholars speculate on whether this Geat is any eponym of the people known as [[Geats]], or whether it may be the name of a god, or whether it is both. The apparent [[Old Norse language|Old Norse]] cognate form ''[[Gautr]]'' is a very common byname for Odin. The [[Iceland]]ic ''Herrauðssaga'' speaks of King [[Hring]] who ruled East [[Götaland]] and was son of [[Gauti]] son of Odin. [[Jordanes]] in his ''[[The origin and deeds of the Goths]]'' traces the line of the [[Amelungs]] up to [[Hulmul]] son of [[Gapt]], purportedly the first Gothic hero of record. This ''Gapt'' is felt by many commentators to be an error for ''Gaut''.

A few of these genealogies provide mortal ancestors to Geat, tracing his ancestry to Sceaf and then tell of Sceaf's origin. [[Æthelweard (historian)|Æthelweard]] in his ''Chronica'' writes of Sceaf:

<blockquote>This Scef came in a light boat to an island of the ocean which is called Scani, arms around about him, and he was a very young boy, unknown to the dwellers in the land. But he was accepted by them and cared for like one of their own kind, and afterwards they chose him as king, from whose family descended King [[Æthelwulf]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Medieval Chronicle V.|last=Kooper|first=Erik|publisher=Rodopi|year=2008|isbn=978-9042023543}}</ref></blockquote>

[[William of Malmesbury]] in his ''[[Gesta Regum Anglorum]]'' wrote:
<blockquote>. . . Sceaf. Iste, ut ferunt, in quondam insulam Germaniae Scandzam (de qua Jordanes, historiographus Gothorum, loquitur) appulsus, navi sine remige, puerulus, posito ad caput frumenti manipulo, dormiens, ideoque Sceaf nuncupatus, ab hominibus regionis illius pro miraculo exceptus, et sedulo nutritus: adulta aetate regnavit in oppido quod tunc Slaswic, nunc vero Haithebi appellatur. Est autem regio illa Anglia Vetus dicta, unde Angli venerunt in Britanniam, inter Saxones et Gothos constituta.</blockquote>
<blockquote>. . . Sceaf; who, as some affirm, was driven on a certain island in Germany, called [[Scandza]], (of which Jordanes, the historian of the [[Goths]], speaks), a little boy in a skiff, without any attendant, asleep, with a handful of corn (barley) at his head, whence he was called Sceaf; and, on account of his singular appearance, being well received by the men of that country, and carefully educated, in his riper age he reigned in a town which was called [[City of Schleswig|Slaswic]], but at present [[Hedeby|Haithebi]]; which country, called old [[Angeln|Anglia]], whence the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] came into [[Great Britain|Britain]], is situated between the [[Saxon people|Saxons]] and the Goths.<ref>{{Cite book|title=William of Malmesbury: Gesta Regum Anglorum, The History of the English Kings: Volume I|last=Mynors|first=R.A.B.|publisher=Clarendon Press|year=1998|isbn=9780198206781}}</ref></blockquote>

However the genealogy in the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' year 855, versions B and C, explains instead that Scef was born in [[Noah's Ark]], interpreting Sceaf as [[Fourth son of Noah|Noah's fourth non-Biblical son]], and then continuing with the ancestry of Noah up to [[Adam and Eve|Adam]] as found in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]].

Sceaf is unknown outside of English sources except for one mention in [[Snorri Sturluson]]'s [[Prologue (Prose Edda)|Prologue to the ''Prose Edda'']], which is informed by  English sources.