People / group

Geats

Also known as Götar, Gautar

The Geats were a North Germanic people of what is now southern Sweden, centred on Västergötland and Östergötland around lakes Vänern and Vättern. They appear in Ptolemy and Jordanes and as the hero's people in the Old English poem Beowulf. Around 1000 they came under the kings of the Svear, and their union with them formed the medieval Kingdom of Sweden.

Geats
Image: The map is based on · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 profile

Kingdom of SwedenFoundation, Summary

Mentioned in 3 state histories

Kingdom of the GeatsKingdom of the SwedesKingdom of Sweden

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Geats. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/geats
MLA
“Geats.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/geats. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Geats.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/geats.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Geats’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/geats (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻