 The Franks must have taken back whatever had been taken in pillage as well as spoils of the battlefield; and it is reported by Gregory that 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.