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Merowig (born c.411?, 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 being the son of Pharamond. According to the existing historical data, there is no evidence that Merowig ever lived. The most probable reason (according to most of European historians, see M. Todd's, "The early Germans") he is even referred at the chronicles written by Gregory of Tours, is the creation of a mythological past needed to back up the fast-rising Frankish rule in Western Europe.