Wehha of East Anglia

Who was Wehha of East Anglia?

Wehha was a pagan king of the East Angles who, if he actually existed, ruled the kingdom of East Anglia during the 6th century, at the time the kingdom was being established by migrants from the Jutland peninsula. Early sources identify him as a member of the Wuffingas dynasty, which became established around the east coast of Suffolk. Nothing of his reign is known.

According to the East Anglian tally from the Textus Roffensis, Wehha was the son of Wilhelm. The 9th century History of the Britons lists both Wehha, who is named as 'Guillem Guercha', as the first king of the East Angles, and his son and successor Wuffa, after whom the dynasty was named. It has been claimed that the name Wehha was a hypocoristic version of Wihstān, from the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf, which, along with evidence such as the finds discovered at Sutton Hoo in 1939, suggests a connection between the Wuffingas and a Swedish dynasty, the Scylfings.