Goar is first mentioned as 'Goare' in the Frigeridus fragment, embedded in Gregory of Tours's work, describing the Vandal–Frankish war that preceded the Crossing of the Rhine (the crossing was dated to 31 December 406 by Prosper of Aquitaine). According to Frigeridus, the Roman-allied Franks were inflicting heavy casualties on the Vandals over the course of probably several battles, killing 20,000 Vandal warriors and their king Godigisel, and were on the verge of exterminating the tribe. At that point – according to MacDowall (2016) probably in the summer or autumn of 406 – another Alan king, Respendial, came to the Vandals' rescue and defeated the Franks, "although Goar had gone over to the Romans." It's unclear from Frigeridus' account whether Goar actually joined the Franks in fighting against the Vandals and Respendial's Alans; but in any case, other sources make clear that Goar's Alans were eventually settled in Gaul near Orléans by the Romans, while the Vandals, Suevi, and Respendial's Alans continued into Spain. According to bishop Hydatius' chronicle, the Vandals were the first to arrive in Spain in September or October 409, while Gregory notes that Suebi and Alans (presumably those led by Respendial) followed them later. It is not stated where these groups originated, although most historians identify these Alans with those settled by Gratian in Pannonia c. 380.