Old English Scylding (plural
Scyldingas) and
Old Norse Skjöldung (plural
Skjöldungar), meaning in both languages "People of
Scyld/
Skjöld" refers to members of a legendary royal family of
Danes and sometimes to their people. The name is explained in many texts by the descent of this family from an eponymous king
Scyld/
Skjöld. But the title is sometimes applied to rulers who purportedly reigned before Scyld/Skjöld and the supposed king Scyld/Skjöld may be an invention to explain the name. There was once a
Norse saga on the dynasty, the
Skjöldunga saga, but it only survives in a Latin summary by
Arngrímur Jónsson.