Wade ( ) is the English name for a common Germanic mythological character who, depending on location, is also known as Vadi (Norse) and Wate (Middle High German). Overview The earliest mention occurs in the Old English poem Widsith. According to the Þiðrekssaga, he was born between king Wilkinus and a serpent-legged mermaid named Wachilt, who was a goddess of the sea and sometimes referred to as a "sea witch". His famous son is Wayland, and grandson Wudga. Though not explicitly given as such, Egil and Slagfin may be Wade's sons, since they are Wayland's brothers according to the Poetic Edda. The medieval English romance about Wade once existed, for Chaucer alluded to the "Tale of Wade" in one of his works, Troilus and Criseyde, and used the phrase "Wade's boat" (), meaning some sort of trickery, in The Merchant's Tale. The tale and the boat was apparently familiar, at the end of the 16th century, to an editor of Chaucer's works Thomas Speght, who remarked that Wade's boat bore the name Guingelot. To the Angles, Wade was the Keeper of the Ford, and acted as both ferryman and protector. Thidrekssaga Wade has always had a strong association with the sea or water. In the saga about Wade's family, the Vilkina saga (also known as the (Þiðrekssaga), it is said that Wade (Vadi; ) was born between King Vilkinus and a mermaid (normalized spelling, ; text: gen. , lit. "sea woman"). Wade first apprenticed his son Wayland () to Mimir, from age 9 to 12, and later to two dwarfs living in mount Kallava. He went from his home in Sjoland (Sjælland, i.e., Zealand) to Grœnasund sound (in Denmark), and finding no ship sailing out, he waded across the sound in waters nine ells deep while carrying his young son Wayland on his shoulder. After the boy studied for two stretches of 12 months, Wade came to fetch his son from the reluctant dwarfs, and was killed in a landslide caused by an earthquake. In the aftermath, the son (Wayland) slays the dwarfs and sets off in a boat he crafts, windowed with glass, reaching the land of king Nidung. Wade's boat in Chaucer In Chaucer's Merchant' Tale occurs the following reference to Wade's boat: It is clear that, in this context, Wade's boat is being used as a sexual euphemism. However, it is debatable whether this single indirect reference