Q: Did Grimbeorn the Old Have Any Sons?
ANSWER: In The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien shares a foretelling about Beorn and his descendants:
…Beorn indeed became a great chief afterwards in those regions and ruled a wide land between the mountains and the wood; and it is said that for many generations the men of his line had the power of taking bear’s shape, and some were grim men and bad, but most were in heart like Beorn, if less in size and strength. In their day the last goblins were hunted from the Misty Mountains and a new peace came over the edge of the Wild….
We only hear of one of these descendants in The Lord of the Rings, in the passage from “Many Meetings” where Tolkien describes Frodo’s conversion with Glóin:
Throughout the rest of the meal they talked together, but Frodo listened more than he spoke; for the news of the Shire, apart from the Ring, seemed small and far-away and unimportant, while Glóin had much to tell of events in the northern regions of Wilderland. Frodo learned that Grimbeorn the Old, son of Beorn, was now the lord of many sturdy men, and to their land between the Mountains and Mirkwood neither orc nor wolf dared to go.
There is no further mention of Grimbeorn in any published writing of which I am aware, much less word of whether he had children. I think that Tolkien would have imagined Grimbeorn having children, but one must concede that Beorn’s line could have been preserved through younger brothers (as sometimes happens in the genealogies for the Dunadan realms and Rohan).
If you are writing any fan fiction or developing campaigns for role-playing games I cannot point you to any sources for good names to use for Beorn’s family. Beorn and Grimbeorn are Old English (Anglo-Saxon) names. In my article “Horror in the Woods: How Men Live in Mirkwood” I drew upon names that could be found in both Gothic and Anglo-Saxon name lists, as Tolkien seems to have followed this style for some of the names of early chieftains of the Éothéod. I chose that style because the Woodmen of Mirkwood seemed to me to represent a bridge between the Beornings and the ancient Kingdom of Rhovanion, but that is only my own extrapolation.
The word Beorn was used poetically in Old English to describe great warriors. There is debate over its possible connection to Old Norse bjorn (“bear”), although Tolkien clearly associates the character with the vague etymological references. The meaning of Grimbeorn was probably “fierce warrior” (rather than “fierce bear” as some sources suggest). It seems improbable to me that Tolkien meant for everyone to understand that the chieftains of the Beornings were bears, bear-men, or were-bears. Tolkien specifically said that “though a skin-changer and no doubt a bit of a magician, Beorn was a Man” in Letter No. 144. Their magical abilities would probably have been known or recognized, especially if men were introduced to Beorn’s enchanted animal servants.
If you want to devise a list of names that might be suitable for Beorn’s family, you may want to think in terms of poetic applications rather than literal words. That is not to say you necessarily want to use kennings (such as “spear-din” for battle, “blood-ember” for axe, “wood bane” for fire) but rather honorics or descriptives.
For example, Hardbeorn could be translated as “fierce warrior”. StrangBeorn would mean “strong warrior”. MickelBeorn would mean “large warrior”. GingBeorn would mean “young warrior”. AethelBeorn would mean “noble family warrior”.
Of course, you don’t have to use -Beorn as a suffix. There are other words which may be appropriate. Do some research and don’t worry about what Beorn’s family tree looks like. Until such time as some obscure Tolkien note comes to light with a list of Beorn’s descendants, I think it’s okay for you to devise your own name lists.
See also:
- How Much Land did the Beornings Control?
- What Were the Beornings Like?
- Who Were Beorn’s Followers?
- What Does Beorn Mean?
- What Were the Honey-cakes of the Beornings?
- Was Beorn in the Hobbit a Were-bear?
- Beorning Questions
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