Editing Odoacer (section)

== Before Italy ==
There are two recorded incidents involving military leaders with the name Odoacer preserved in the [[Gregory of Tours#History of the Franks|''History of the Franks'']] of [[Gregory of Tours]], using two different spellings and involving two different regions. These involve events which were early enough to be Odoacer before his appearance in Italy. Both were during the lifetime of [[Childeric I]], king of the Franks, who died about 481.{{sfn|Gregory of Tours|1974|p=132 [II.18–19]}}  

In the first mention, a confused or confusing report is given of a number of battles in about 463 fought by Childeric, [[Aegidius]], Count Paul, and one "[[Adovacrius]]" (with an "a") who was leading a group of Saxons based at the mouth of the [[Loire]].{{sfn|Gregory of Tours|1974|p=132 [II.18–19]}} Though there is no consensus, some historians, such as Reynolds and Lopez, have suggested that this Adovacrius may be the same person as the future king of Italy.{{sfn|Reynolds|Lopez|1946|p=45}} Matthias Springer has noted that Odoacer's involvement with northern European Saxons in this period would be consistent with the proposal that he had Thuringian ancestry, pointing out that the term Saxon in this period was probably not a distinct ethnic label.{{sfn|Springer|2004|pp=52-55}}

In a second mention by Gregory of Tours, an Odovacrius (with an "o") made an alliance with the same Childeric, and together they fought the [[Alamanni]], who had been causing problems in Italy. This Odoacer, with his  connection to the region north of Italy, and his "o" spelling, is probably the future king of Italy, before he was king.{{sfn|MacGeorge|2002|p=110}}

Another early recorded event which is more certainly about Odoacer the future king, was shortly before he arrived in Italy. [[Eugippius]], in his ''Life of Saint Severinus'', records how a group of barbarians on their way to Italy stopped to pay their respects to the holy man. Odoacer, at the time "a young man, of tall figure, clad in poor clothes", learned from [[Severinus of Noricum|Severinus]] that he would one day become famous.{{sfn|Thompson|1982|p=63}} Despite the fact that Odoacer was an [[Arianism|Arian]] Christian and Severinus was Catholic, the latter left a deep impression on him.{{sfn|Thompson|1982|p=63}} When Odoacer took his leave, Severinus made one final comment which proved prophetic: "Go to Italy, go, now covered with mean hides; soon you will make rich gifts to many."{{sfn|Eugippius|1965|p=64}}{{efn|Translator of Eugippius' ''The Life of Saint Severin'', Ludwig Bieler, explains in a footnote that "make rich gifts to many" refers to the custom of Germanic war leaders giving lavishly to their followers, because "generosity was one of the virtues which a king was supposed to have."{{sfn|Eugippius|1965|p=65fn}}}}

[[File:Romulus Augustulus and Odoacer.jpg|thumb|left|Romulus Augustus resigns the Crown (from a 19th-century illustration).]]