The romances of Arthur give him, among his many nephews, one named Hoel, Duke of Brittany, whose niece Helena was seized upon by the horrible giant Ritho, and devoured upon the top of Tombelaine.
    This Hoel does not seem to have been a real character.  His name Higuel, the lordly or conspicuous, was a common one in Wales and Brittany; and a prince so called seems really to have fled to Arthur for aid against the Franks, and to have returned with a fresh colony of Britons, by whose aid he became king of Armorica.
   He reigned for thirty years, and died in 545.  Other Hoels reigned after him, the third of whom is said to have been killed at Roncevalles... 
    Another Hoel was that unfortunate relative of Owen Glendower whom he was said to have killed and hidden in the blasted tree. (History of Christian Names, Yonge, 1884)