St. Gregory of Tours (c. 540 - 594)

Encyclopædia Orbis Latini

Bishop of Tours, whose Historia Francorum is the chief authority for the early Merovingian period of French history. He places in 520 the raid against the Frisian territory of the Franks by a Scandinavian leader 'Chochilaicus' (in Latin) who has been identified with the Geatish king Hygelac in Beowulf; the raid is mentioned in Beowulf at lines 1207, 2357, 2503, and 2912. Gregory's identification provides the only historical corroboration for any character or event in the poem.

The Historia has been translated by O. M. Dalton (1927).

Feast day: 17 November.