What is "folcwald"

Folcwald, Folcpald, Folcbald or Folcwalda (which means leader of folk or people) is the father of Finn, a legendary Frisian king. He is mentioned in Widsith and in Beowulf; a passage from Beowulf as translated by Seamus Heaney (lines 1089–1090) reads:

"Finn, son of Folcwald, should honor the Danes, ...".

In the range of persons mentioned in the Widsith, only Finn's father is named, which seems to be particular.

Richard North notes that Folcwalda is "identical with the first element of fólcvaldi goða ('ruler of the host of gods') which is an epithet reserved for Freyr". He also notes similarities with "fólkum stýrir ('he leads peoples', Húsdrápa) which celebrates Freyr".