Merowig
Merowig (fl. c.
450, died c.
458) (
Latin:
Meroveus or
Merovius;
German:
Merowech;
Spanish:
Meroveo;
French:
Mérovée, other spellings include Merovech, Merovich, Merwich) is the legendary founder of the
Merovingian Dynasty of
Frankish kings. He was ruler over the
Salian Franks in the years after 450, but no contemporary record of him exists, and there is little information about him in the later histories of the Franks
Gregory of Tours records him as the possible son of
Clodio. He was supposed to have led the Franks in the
Battle of Chalons in
451.
According to legend, Merowig was conceived when Clodio's wife encountered a
Quinotaur, a sea monster which could change shapes while swimming. Though never stated, it is implied that she was impregnated by it. This legend was related by
Fredegar in the seventh century, and may have been known earlier. The legend is probably a
back-formation or
folk etymology used to explain the Salian Franks' origin as a sea coast dwelling people, and based on the name itself. The "Mero-" or "Mer-" element in the name suggests a sea or ocean (see
Old English "mere,"
Latin "mare," or even the Modern English word "
mermaid," etc.). The "Salian" in "
Salian Franks" may be a reference to
salt, a reminder of their pre-migration home on the shores of the North Sea (alternatively, it may refer to the
Isala or
Ijssel river behind which their homeland, the
Salland, may have been located).
The "-wig/weg/veus" part of the name could have been seen as a reference to a traveller, trail, or conveyance (see
German "weg,"
Latin "via," or even the
Modern English word "way"). By this interpretation, "Merowig," "Mérovée,"
et al. would simply mean "from the sea." A slight variant of this interpretation would follow through the
Old High German/
Old Saxon word "wiht," (thing or demon"), related to the now-obsolete English word "
wight" (meaning a human or human-like creature). Thus, "Merowig" and its spelling variants could easily have been rationalized by
Frankish chroniclers as a reference to a sea-creature of some sort, thereby giving rise to the sea-origin legend â€" whatever the original meaning of the name. Merowig was the father of
Childeric I who succeeded him.
The legend about Merowig's conception was adapted in 1982 by authors
Henry Lincoln and
Richard Leigh in the 1982 book
Holy Blood Holy Grail, as the seed of a new idea. They hypothesized that this "descended from a fish" legend was actually referring to the concept that the Merovingian line had married into the bloodline of
Jesus Christ, since the symbol for early Christians had also been a
fish. This theory, with no other basis than Lincoln and Leigh's concoction, was further popularized in 2003 via
Dan Brown's bestselling novel,
The Da Vinci Code.
*
List of Frankish Kings*Wood, Ian.
The Merovingian Kingdoms 450-751. London: Longman Group, 1994.
Encyclopædia BritannicaBehind the Da Vinci Code, 2006,
History Channel documentary about Henry Lincoln
