Rodulf, Herule king
Historians such as Andrew Merrill have pointed out that the similar elements in the accounts of Jordanes and Procopius may come from a common source, such as Cassiodorus, who worked for Theoderic.
More speculatively, another debated issue is whether Rodulf could be the inspiration for certain aspects of later heroic poetry, possibly including the Norse saga character Hrólfr Kraki.
After his murder in 493, the Herules still ruled a kingdom north of the Danube: When [...] Anastasius took over the Roman empire [491], the Eruli, having no longer anyone in the world whom they could assail, laid down their arms and remained quiet, and they observed peace in this way for a space of three years.
But the people themselves, being exceedingly vexed, began to abuse their leader Rodolphus without restraint, and going to him constantly they called him cowardly and effeminate, and railed at him in a most unruly manner, taunting him with certain other names besides.
"[8] In another letter from the collection of Cassiodorus, probably from between 507 and 514, Theodoric asks for the assistance of the kings of the Heruli, Thuringi and Varni for a counter-attack against the pressure from the Franks, who were in conflict with the Visigoths.
Although he wrote some generations later, one of his sources was the now lost Historia Gothorum ("History of the Goths") of Cassiodorus, who had written his account at the request of Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths and ruler of Italy.
[11] Some modern historians have speculated that it could have been this Rodulf or a similar traveler who provided Cassiodorus or Jordanes with the information for their extensive lists and details of Scandinavian peoples and tribes.
The passage, as translated by Christensen, is as follows: The Dani [...] drove from their homes the Heruli, who lay claim to preeminence among all the nations of Scandza for their tallness.
[11] Historian Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen, who accepted Mommsen's identification, thought Rodulf should actually be read as king of the Heruli, with the short list of neighbouring tribes inserted confusingly, namely the "Granii, Augandzi, Eunixi, Taetel, Rugii, Arochi, Ranii.
[19] The vast geographic distances between the tribes, scattered throughout the Norwegian coast, and the unlikeliness of a unified kingdom of such a magnitude at this early point has been cited as an argument against such a possibility.
[11][20] The name of the Rugii, on the other hand, matches another Middle Danubian people, who were neighbours of the Heruli, and they are thought to have migrated from the Baltic Sea.
Historian Axel Kristinsson has speculated that it could have been natural for Rodulf to seek out some of his kinsmen, namely the Danubian Rugians who had joined the Ostrogoths after their kingdom was destroyed in 487.
[21] The scientist-explorer Fridtjof Nansen proposed that "Heruli" at first perhaps was a common name for bands of northern warriors, who to a certain degree consisted of Norwegians.
Nansen believed this could have happened before Theodoric's invasion of Italy in 489, at the same time that the Heruli were just north of the Danube, and were the nearest neighbours of the Goths.
[29] It has been debated whether Rodulf may have influenced later heroic poetry, since the causes of the war between the Lombards and the Heruli (as reported by Paul the Deacon) concerns related issues.
