East Danes Explained

East Dane is an Anglo-Saxon ethnonym which was used in the epic Beowulf.

It was also used in an Anglo-Saxon runic poem describing the first appearance of the god Frey (called Ing, see Yngvi):

Ing wæs ærest mid Eástdenum

gesewen secgum, oð he síððan eást

ofer wæg gewát. wæn æfter ran.

þus Heardingas þone hæle nemdon.

Ing was first amidst the East Danes

so seen, until he went eastward

over the sea. His wagon ran after.

Thus the Heardings named that hero.