Huoching of Alamannia (c. 675–744) was an Alemannic nobleman. According to the 9th century '' Vita Hiudowici'' by Thegan, he was the son of

Gotfrid :''See Gottfried for the given name.'' Gotfrid (also ''Gotefrid'', modernized ''Gottfried''; la, Gotfridus or ''Cotefredus''; (c. 650–709) was the Duke of Alemannia in the late seventh century and until his death. He was of the house of the Agil ...

Agilolfing The Agilolfings were a noble family that ruled the Duchy of Bavaria on behalf of their Merovingian suzerains from about 550 until 788. A cadet branch of the Agilolfings also ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards intermittently from 616 to 712. T ...

(c. 650–709). Huoching's son Hnabi (Nebi) was the founder of the

Ahalolfings The Alaholfings (occasionally Ahalolfings) were a noble family of Alemannia in the Early Middle Ages. They were related to the previous rulers of Alemannia, to the Bavarian Agilolfings and to the Geroldings. Their original power base was around t ...

dynasty which rose to prominence in Alamannia in the Carolingian period. The Agilofing descent has been doubted in scholarship. Wenskus (:497–500) has suggested a connection of Huoching and Hnabi to the historical Nibelungs. Jänichen (1976) compares the father-and-son pair Hoc and Hnaef in Old English heroic poetry ('' Beowulf, Finnsburgh fragment,

Widsith "Widsith" ( ang, Wīdsīþ, "far-traveller", lit. "wide-journey"), also known as "The Traveller's Song", is an Old English poem of 143 lines. It survives only in the ''Exeter Book'', a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late-10th c ...

'') suggesting that Huoching and Hnabi are the historical template for these names in later

heroic poetry An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

. In this, Jänichen is following a suggestion made as early as 1849 by

John Mitchell Kemble John Mitchell Kemble (2 April 1807 – 26 March 1857), English scholar and historian, was the eldest son of Charles Kemble the actor and Maria Theresa Kemble. He is known for his major contribution to the history of the Anglo-Saxons and philolog ...

in ''History of the Saxons in England'' (p. 419).

References

*Michael Borgolte, ''Die Grafen Alemanniens'' (1986), p. 184. *Hans Jänichen ''Die alemannischen Fürsten Nebi und Berthold und ihre Beziehungen zu den Klöstern St. Gallen und Reichenau'', Blätter für deutsche Landesgeschichte (1976), pp. 30–4

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huoching 670s births 744 deaths Alemannic people Ahalolfing dynasty Year of birth uncertain