# Hygelac's Raid on the Franks (c. 516)

URL: https://allhistories.com/sweden/timeline/516-hygelac-s-raid-on-the-franks
Location: Rhine delta, Frisia
Themes: War

Around 516 a Scandinavian king named Chlochilaicus led a seaborne raid into Frankish territory near the lower Rhine. According to the chronicler Gregory of Tours, the raiders plundered the land and loaded their ships, but the king was killed by a Frankish army under Theudebert, son of King Theuderic I. Scholars generally identify Chlochilaicus with Hygelac, king of the Geats in the Old English poem Beowulf, where his fatal raid on the Frisians is mentioned several times. The Geats are usually located in Götaland in southern Sweden, particularly Västergötland, and their name survives in the Swedish word götar. The raid is one of the very few fixed dates linking Scandinavian legend to history. It provides a historical anchor for Beowulf and shows that sixth-century Geatish rulers were powerful enough to launch expeditions across the North Sea.

## Why it matters
Hygelac's raid anchors the world of Beowulf, with its Geats and Swedes, in real history.

Ruler at the Time: [Prehistoric Sweden](https://allhistories.com/sweden/rulers/prehistoric-sweden)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Hygelac](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygelac)
- [Wikipedia — Geats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geats)
- [Wikipedia — Beowulf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf)
- [Wikipedia — Gregory of Tours](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_of_Tours)
- [Wikipedia — Prehistoric Sweden (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Sweden)