King of the Geats


Geatish kings, ruling over the provinces of Götaland, appear in several sources for early Swedish history. Today, most of them are not considered historical.
This list follows the generally accepted identification between the names Götar, Gautar and Geatas, which is based both on tradition, literary sources and on etymology. However, unlike some translations it does not identify this tribe with the Goths. Both Old Norse and Old English records clearly separate the Geats from the Goths, while still depicting them as closely related to each other.
From the Middle Ages until 1974, the king of Sweden claimed the title King of the Geats as "King of Sweden and Geats/Goths" or "Rex Sweorum et Gothorum". Danish monarchs used the similar title "King of the Goths" from 1362 until 1972.

Legendary kings

Some names appear in Norse mythology and in Germanic legend and in at least one case, they were probably historical. Their order of succession is uncertain.
Kings of East Gotland
Chronologically assigned to the 8th century, but poorly attested historically, the Battle of Bråvalla was fought between the "King of Sweden" who is said to have ruled Westrogothians, and the "King of Denmark" whose realm is said to have included Ostrogothians.

Historical kings

When sources become more reliable, Götaland is an integrated part of the Swedish kingdom and from Stenkil and onwards most of the medieval Swedish kings actually belonged to Geatish clans. In the early high Middle Ages some kings in Sweden were titled rex Visigothorum and rex Gothorum, failing to hold the Swedish core provinces in Svealand. The non-Geatish King Ragnvald Knaphövde was killed by the Geats as he despised them and travelled among them without Geatish hostages.