Chlochilaicus

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Chlochilaicus († between 516 and 522) is the Latinized form of the name of a minor king who invaded Gaul with his fleet in the first historically documented raid of the Vikings .

Battle between Danes and Franks (illustration from the 15th century)

Gregory of Tours reports in his historical work Decem libri historiarum (III, 3) that the Danish King Chlochilaicus invaded Gaul with his fleet. There he attacked and robbed the territory of the Austrasian Frankish king Theuderich I and took many prisoners. When the fleet wanted to move back, however, they had to wait for the tide. During this time, Theuderich's son Theudebert advanced with a strong army and a fleet, was able to kill the king and defeat the Danes in a naval battle and thus get the booty back. Gregory does not exactly date this incident, but it must have occurred between 516 and 522. The considerably more recent Liber Historiae Francorum (around 728) also reports on this Viking invasion in partly identical wording. A mention in the Liber Monstrorum (“Book of the miraculous beings”, 8th century?) Shows, however, that apart from the scholarly historiographical reports in the people over several generations a legend has been preserved that goes back to the incident: namely, miraculous beings existed by amazing body size, such as the king Huiglaucus, who ruled over the Gauten ( Getae ) and was slain by the Franks. From the age of twelve onwards, no horse could carry him. His bones have been preserved on an island in the mouth of the Rhine and are shown to visitors from far away as a sign of miracles.

In the Old English epic Beowulf a king is Hygelac (reconstructed Proto-Germanic : * Hugilaikaz ) the tribe of the Geats (see. Gauts , Götaland and Goths attributed), which in a raid on the Franks and Friesen (V. 1207, 1210) finds death. It is not entirely certain whether this refers to the little king Chlochilaicus of Gregory of Tours. The similarities between the two events were first discovered in 1812 by Nikolai Frederik Severin Grundtvig .

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SURNAME Chlochilaicus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Petty king
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century
DATE OF DEATH between 516 and 522