Was Pippin named after Gandalf?

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

I think you meant first Carolingian king of the Franks. The house of Merovech had been ruling them for some two and a half centuries.

That is what I meant; unfortunately, that is not what I typed.

Interestingly enough, there is a Chronicle of Fredegar who compiled the annals of the Franks, including the eras of Roman, Merovingian and Carolingian rule.

No word on Fredegar's weight (or whether there was actually a "Fredegar" who wrote the chronicle), but the mythological aspects of the chronicle are interesting. For instance, the line of Merovech included a creature referred to as a "quinotaur"

It is said that while Chlodio was staying at the seaside with his wife one summer, his wife went into the sea at midday to bathe, and a beast of Neptune rather like a Quinotaur found her. In the event she was made pregnant, either by the beast or by her husband, and she gave birth to a son called Merovech, from whom the kings of the Franks have subsequently been called Merovingians.

No bull.