Hnæf son of Hoc is a prince mentioned in the Old English

Old English language

Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...

 poems Beowulf

Beowulf

Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...

and the Finnsburg Fragment.
According to the listing of tribes

Tribes of Widsith

In Widsith, there is a long recital of people, clans and tribes who were known in the Germanic world of the 6th century. Here follow many excerpts from this poem with a translation and links to the tribes and people which have articles in Wikipedia, for easy...

 in the poem Widsith

Widsith

Widsith is an Old English poem of 144 lines that appears to date from the 9th century, drawing on earlier oral traditions of Anglo-Saxon tale singing. The only text of the fragment is copied in the Exeter Book, a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late 10th century containing...

(10th century), Hnæf ruled the Hocings. Hoc is called Hoc Healfdene, suggesting a partly Danish

Daner

The Danes were a North Germanic tribe residing in modern day Denmark. They are mentioned in the 6th century in Jordanes' Getica, by Procopius, and by Gregory of Tours....

 ancestry.

According to the narrative, Hnæf was the brother of Hildeburh

Hildeburh

Hildeburh, introduced in line 1071 of the poem, Beowulf, is the daughter of the Danish King Hoc and the wife of the Finn, King of the Frisians. Her story is sung by a scop during festivities in lines 1071-1158....

 and brother-in-law of Finn

Finn (Frisian)

Finn, son of Folcwald, was a legendary Frisian lord. He is mentioned in Widsith, in Beowulf, and in the Finnsburg Fragment. There is also a Finn mentioned in Historia Brittonum....

, who ruled the Frisians

Frisians

The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal parts of the Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia, that was a part of Denmark until 1864. They inhabit an area known as Frisia...

 and was killed during a Danish expedition to Frisian territory.

Hoc may be identical to the chieftain Haki

Haki

Hake, Haki or Haco, the brother of Hagbard, was a famous Scandinavian sea-king, in Norse mythology. He is mentioned in the 12th century Gesta Danorum, and in 13th-century sources including Ynglinga saga, Nafnaþulur, Völsunga saga...

mentioned in the Ynglinga Saga

Ynglinga saga

Ynglinga saga is a legendary saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It was first translated into English and published in 1844....

 by Snorri Sturlason. This Haki conquered the kingdom of Uppsala

Uppsala

- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...

 and reigned there for ten years before he was cast out by king Jorund

Jorund

Jorund or Jörundr was a Swedish king of the House of Yngling. He was the son of Yngvi, and he had reclaimed the throne of Sweden for his dynasty from Haki .Snorri Sturluson relates...

.

The father-son pair Hoc and Hnæf has been associated with the historical Alamanni

Alamanni

The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...

c noblemen, possibly of Nibelung extraction, Huoching

Huoching

Huoching of Alamannia was an Alamannic nobleman.According to the 9th century Vita Hiudowici by Thegan, he was the son of Gotfrid Agilolfing ....

 (d. 744) and Hnabi

Hnabi

Hnabi or Nebi was an Alemannic duke in the eighth century. He was a son of Huoching and perhaps a grandson of the duke Gotfrid, which would make him a scion of the Agilolfing dynasty of Bavaria. He was the founder of the "old" line of the Ahalolfings...

 (d. 788), the founder of the Ahalolfings

Ahalolfings

The Ahalolfings or Alaholfings were a noble family of Alemannia in the Early Middle Ages. The family rose in the Carolingian Empire to possess lands in not only Alemannia, but Bavaria, Franconia, and Italy. Their original power base was around the upper Neckar and Danube rivers.The Ahalolfings are...

. This suggestion was first made in 1849 by John Mitchell Kemble

John Mitchell Kemble

John Mitchell Kemble , English scholar and historian, was the eldest son of Charles Kemble the actor and Maria Theresa Kemble....

in History of the Saxons in England (p. 419). If the Old English legendary characters have been influenced by these historical characters, this would set the late 8th century as a terminus post quem for the date of Beowulf.