they found the Scandinavian monarch (Hygelac)'s corpse so awe-inspiring due his extraordinary height—which is implied by his name, perhaps a sobriquet like Longshanks (Edward I) and not his real one—that as a pagan barbarian not entitled to burial, his remains were exposed for a long time in the nearest Merovingian Court as a curiosity, following the usual triumphal trophy exhibition customary after battle or pirate captures. There are two theories on how the account of Chlochilaicus' raid came to be preserved in the epic Beowulf, and they have a bearing upon the date assigned to the poem. It may date to the early 8th century, but some have suggested that it was composed as late as the 10th century, the date of the sole surviving manuscript. One view considers the account to have kept alive by the oral tradition of heroic poetry until it was included in the epos. It has also been suggested that the poem is dependent on Liber historiae Francorum (727), because it mentions the Attoarii, which in Beowulf become Hetware. One scholar considers it to be inconceivable that independent oral tradition would have faithfully transmitted such a detail. Walter Goffart estimated that Beowulf could not have been written with these historical details before 923. See also Hugleik Chlochilaicus Sources and notes Further reading Characters in Beowulf English heroic legends Kings of the Geats Germanic warriors 6th-century monarchs in Europe