Primary sources on Clovis:

• The Ten books of History (usually entitled History of the Franks) of Gregory of Tours, and in particular its book II, arguably is the most important one. It really provides historians with the backbone of their narrative on Clovis. On the downside, it is somewhat removed from the reigns of Clovis and his sons.

• Letters of Avitus of Vienne and Remigius of Reims are the only contemporary witnesses we have to the reign of Clovis. They are unfortunately quite difficult to use, let alone to understand in some cases, because of the generally convoluted nature of Late Antique rhetoric. A very good edition and translation of Avitus' work and correspondance has however been published by Wood & Shanzer. A later letter of Nicetius of Trier is also important with regard to our perception of the chronology of Clovis' reign. Cassiodorus' Variæ (besides being a fascinating instance of Romano-Germanic cooperation) also give interesting bits of evidence on the conquests of Clovis, that usually supplement Gregory's accounts.

• A couple of minor sources can also be useful (Procopius' Gothic War, the continuation to the chronicle of Prosper in Aquitaine, or the fragmentary chronicle of Zaragoza), but they probably are better approached through articles than directly. Overall, the only source I'd really recommand is Gregory of Tours, and maybe Wood & Shanzer's commentaries on Avitus.

• Alexander C. Murray has gathered an excellent selection of texts in his From Roman to Merovingian Gaul: A Reader. A great choice to get a global feeling of the period. Oh, and I think he includes the Salic Law, which may have been issued by Clovis and is a crucial text. The letters of Sidonius offer a vivid depiction of a Late Roman aristocratic mind.

Commentary on the primary sources:

• Dating the baptism of Clovis is a fairly complicated issue. I recommand Mark Spencer's 'Dating the baptism of Clovis, 1886–1993' (in Early Medieval History 3), who does a good job of marshalling the relevant evidence, and whose conclusion (i.e. that a 5th-century date is more plausible than a 6th-century one) happens to side with my own opinions (I have proposed on this sub another piece of evidence that reinforces the same point of view). I feel I should also point you towards Danuta Shanzer's 'Dating the baptism of Clovis: the bishop of Vienne vs the bishop of Tours' (Early Medieval History 7), who does have some sensible remarks to offer on the most important letter of Avitus (though I don't buy his conclusion).

• A good overview of Gregory's coverage of Clovis can be found in I. Wood, 'Gregory of Tours and Clovis' (Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire, 63). Many other articles or monographs have been written in the last few years about Gregory, but most of them are unlikely to be very useful to you (the fact that I have failed to be convinced by the recent trend of biblical reinterpretation of Gregory might also factor in this assessment). I can however recommand I. Wood's '‘The Secret Histories of Gregory of Tours' (Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire 72), which gives a good sense of how important someone like Gregory might be. Edward James' 'Gregory of Tours and the Franks' (in After Rome's Fall) is interesting.

Secondary sources on Merovingian France (centred on early 6th century and Clovis):

• Ian Wood's The Merovingian Kingdoms is the authoritative account of the period. Edward James' The Franks, on top of being a good introduction to the period, also has many good points to make on Gregory's narrative. One of his most important contributions being his criticism of the so-called 'kingdom of Syagrius' (see this commentary for a summary). It is also quite strong on archæological evidence. The Cambridge Medieval History, 500 - 700 AD is quite recent and the few articles I have read were very good.

• One of the most important steps forward of Merovingian scholarship is our newly gained insight on the early partitions of the Merovingian kingdoms (one of the very few examples where historians actually tried to 'predict' the existence of things sources do not mention that really convinced me). See: I. Wood, 'Deconstructing the Merovingian Family,' (in The Construction of Communities in the Early Middle Ages: Texts, Resources and Artefacts) and M. Widdowson 'Merovingian Partitions: a “Genealogical Charter”?' (Early Medieval Europe 17). For another example of creative scholarship, see I. Wood, 'Frankish Hegemony in England' (in The Age of Sutton Hoo; a recapitulation of the arguments of his semi-legendary pamphlet The Merovingian North Sea).

• A vital piece of evidence is the tomb of Childeric, Clovis' father. There's a variety of good articles on this, such as S. Lebecq's 'The Two Faces of King Childeric: History, Archaeology, Historiography' (in From Roman Provinces to Medieval Kingdoms among others), G. Halsall's 'Childeric’s Grave, Clovis’ Succession, and the Origins of the Merovingian Kingdom' (in Society and Culture in Late Antique Gaul: Revisiting the Sources). Other interesting articles include '‘Frankish Royal Tombs in the Cathedrals of Cologne and Saint-Denis' (Antiquity 38) (the burial of Cologne in particularly interesting since it suggests that Frankish royal branches may have outlived Clovis). For general informations (e.g. on Frankish settlement), Edward James' The Franks probably includes everything you might want to know.

• On post-Roman law (in relation with the Salic Law), P. Wormald 'Lex Scripta and Verbum Regis: Legislation and Germanic Kingship from Euric to Cnut' (in various collections, among others Early Medieval Kingship) is seminal.

General bibliography on Late Antiquity:

• Chris Wickham has written two important books on the period: Framing the Early Middle Ages (an account based on social structures) and The Inheritance of Rome (a more general take on the Early Middle Ages). Framing… is undoubtedly brilliant, if somewhat technical; for a general account that includes the Eastern Roman Empire, however, I would rather recommand Peter Sarris' Empires of Faith, an artful integration of Late Antique history from Afghanistan to Britain, with one of the clearest chapters I have ever read on the 5th century.

• For a more specific approach on the 'barbarian West', Guy Halsall (who humbly self-describes as 'the most significant historian of early medieval Europe under the age of 60') has written some of the best general books on the topic, such as Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376-568. His remarks on ethnogenesis and cultural dynamics are particularly smart. B. Ward-Perkins' The Fall of Rome (and the End of Civilisation) is also, in my opinion, vital to build a balanced view of the period (though you may consider it somewhat removed from your main interests).

• Everything by Peter Brown is a good introduction to LA religion. The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, AD 200-1000 is a general account with a specific chapter on Merovingian Gaul. For cities, the standard account is by Liebeschuetz, but I tend to find Loseby more entertaining. His articles on Marseille show the dynamism and the 'Roman-ness' of Southern Gaul in the 6th century.

Here is a somewhat impressionistic (though already very dense) bibliography. As a last note (and even though I am not sure of what you mean by the composition of a narrative), you might also want to consider other less well-known characters as foci of interest (I am pretty sure that it would, in any case, impress whoever grades you).

Some suggestions (on which I may elaborate if you want) could be Gregory of Tours himself (we do have some first-person narratives of his experiences, such as his own trial), his friend, the poet Venantius Fortunatus (who incidentally pronounced a panegyric of the king who was attacking Gregory during the aforementioned trial, and had a close relation with a Merovingian queen and nun) or members of what has been called the 'Gogo connection,' a court circle of the Eastern Franks that we know particularly well thanks to the survival of a compendium of their letters, the Epistolæ Austrasicæ (a very important source for late 6th-century Francia). If you have a preference for royalty, Gundovald, a royal pretender (and probable illegitimate child of Chlothar I, son of Clovis) has a fascinating story (involving Byzantine conspiracies, Œdipus complex, treason and a tragic death) which is well-covered by recent articles.

So there are a few places to start. First off, if you've just taken a class go back and check the text-book/assigned readings for a bibliography and/or footnotes. Both of these will lead you to sources. This is how historians find stuff, we look at other historians footnotes and follow rabbit holes. Second, keyword or subject searches in your library catalog will take you far. Try a variety, Clovis, Merovingians, Franks, etc. You should do the same on JSTOR, articles are great because they are short and generally to the point. You might also want to look at the Journal Early Medieval Europe, many of the heavy hitters publish there and it has great articles.

Newer is generally better, if its earlier than the 90s, turn a wary eye on it. Gather books, skim, see whats useful, follow foot notes, get used to looking for certain authors, and thats how you build a bibliography.

On to some sources for Clovis and the Merovingians:

Primary:

If you haven't already, you should of course read Gregory of Tours, he is the primary source for this period. Numerous translations exist. You could also check out work by Venantius Fortunatus, a poet who lived shortly after Clovis did, though this may be less accessible given that it is poetry.

There is also a sourcebook published by University of Toronto Press that might be helpful, it has a whole bunch of varied sources. It's title is From Roman to Merovingian Gaul ed. and trans. by Alexander Murray

Secondary: If you happen to read French you can find tons of stuff. If not, here are some good places to start in English.

For the Merovingians as a whole, Ian Wood's The Merovingian Kingdom's is a solid book by one of the greats in the field.

The essay collection The world of Gregory of Tours edited by Wood and Kathleen Mitchell has a whole bunch of articles, some of which will certainly be helpful.

Paul Fouracre is another author to check out, many of his articles have been collected in a volume called Frankish history : studies in the construction of power

Chris Wickham's Framing the Early Middle Ages is immense, but you can pick the sections you want to read. His The Inheritance of Rome is less in depth but shorter and more accessible.

Patrick Geary's Before France and Germany is another good, accessible book.

Enjoy the Early Middle Ages. It is a strange place, but lots of fun.