Geats

Geats is the Old English spelling of the name of a Scandinavian people living in an area of Scandinavia currently within the borders of modern Sweden. In old Swedish, their name was Götar. As such, the names of the Swedish regions Västergötland and Östergötland take their names from being in the territory of the Geats, as does the city known in English as Gothenburg (Sw. Göteborg). Lake Vänern, the largest lake in Sweden, is the major physical feature of the Geatish territory; from it, the Göta älv, or 'Geatish River,' flows through Gothenburg into the Atlantic.

The Geats were formerly politically independent of the Swedes, whose old name was Svear. Starting in the 500s, the Geats slowly lost their independence and became tributaries of the Swedish kings.

The relationship between Geats and Goths, the wandering Germanic tribe that had a major part in the fall of the Western Roman Empire, is subject to great dispute. The chief reason the Geats are remembered is that the Old English epic poem Beowulf takes place in Geatish territory. From the geography described in the poem, it would appear that its events take place along the shores of Lake Vänern, and it was in this lake that the monster Grendel dwelled.