A Germanic People called 'Huns'? By Gunivortus Goos

Being a raw and uncorrected translation by the author of his original German text. © Copyright, Gunivortus Goos, 2020.

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At times, the human mind can embark on confused and unpaved side paths. I'm no exception on that, and it happened again the other day while enjoying a cup of coffee and a large piece of cheesecake ...

For years, I have on different occasions come across a topic every now and then, of which I still do not know very well whether it is something serious and worth giving it a second thought, maybe researching and discussing about it, or to put it definitely aside with a smile. I will give my information below that have been accumulated over the years at my computer (there will probably be a lot more, but because it does not belong to my research projects, I did not research it), and would be happy if someone would like to put their oar in it. Maybe on Facebook on my profile page or in a suitable group or a suitable forum - then please let me know.

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Starting question:

In addition to the Central Asian horsemen of the Huns and their leader Attila (died 453) from the 4th and 5th centuries, which we know from history and which were one of the causes of the Great Migration wave of in the 4th century, did also a Germanic people with this name exist, who also had prince called Attila?

The collected information:

1. Beda Venerabilis The English monk, scholar and historian Beda Venerabilis (672/3 - 735) wrote in chapter 9 of his "Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum" (Church history of the English people): Eo tempore uenerabilis et cum omni honorificentia nominandus famulus Christi et sacerdos Ecgberct, [...] gentibus euangelizando committere; quarum in Germania plurimas nouerat esse nationes, [...] a uicina gente Brettonum corrupte Garmani nuncupantur. Sunt autem Fresones, Rugini, Danai, Hunni, Antiqui Saxones, Boructuari; ...

Translated: At that time the venerable servant of Christ, and priest, Eghert, [...] proposed to himself to do good to many, by taking upon him the apostolical work, and preaching the word of God to some of those nations that had not yet heard it; many of which nations he knew there were in Germany, [...] Such are the Frisons, the Rugins, the Danes, the Huns, the Ancient Saxons, and the Boructuars (or Bructers). All peoples who are said to have lived in the Netherlands and Northern Germany.

2. Widsith In the Old English epic Widsith, two hun(n)ish terms are mentioned, firstly in line 18 Ætla weóld Hûnum, Eormanríc Gotum Translated: Attila ruled the Huns and Ermanarich the Goths

Obviously, a Germanic people called Huns is meant here, who lived near the northern coast.

And in line 33, where rulers and their peoples are still listed, a prince called Hun is mentioned. Hún Hætwerum and Holen Wròsnum Translated: Hun ruled the Hætweras, Holen the Wrosnas.

The 'Hætwere' are sometimes interpreted as a sub-people of the Franks, but which it would be from the known peoples is neither clear nor understandable. Others think it was a sub-population of the Chatti who were presumed to have lived in Lower Saxony at the time. This interpretation also does not go beyond a conjecture.

Regarding rulers and peoples the Beowulf epic also mentions similar.

3. Hugas John Haywood (Researcher at Lancaster University) reckons: The Hugas were the inhabitants of the Hugmercki region, that is today's Humsterland, the area around the city of Groningen up to the Sea Lauwers. Elsewhere he explicitly states that this area was in what is now the Dutch province of Groningen and not in Friesland.

In other sources the Hugas people are called, or interpreted as 'Huns'. Concerning the region Humsterland… it could lead to confusion here, because on later maps this area was bordered by the Dutch province of Friesland to the east. What is meant in this connection is the area to the west, north and northeast of the city of Groningen, including the northern part of the "Westerkwartier" region. The 'Groningen term 'Ommeland' might have been more appropriate, it means the areas outside the city of Groningen ... this also included the Hugmercki region which apparently was bigger at the time of the Hugas than at a later time. Administrative map of Groningen and Ommelanden before 1795 (French invasion of the Netherlands), on which the internal borders of the districts and sub-districts are shown, as well as an indication of the borders of the former Rheiderland, the most important places and waterways in the 17th and 18th centuries, the coast line of the Dollart in 1520 (largest area), and shows in text some important historical political events. This map only exists in Dutch, if you have a problem to understand terms or a piece of text in the map, just ask me. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Staatkundige_kaart_Groningen_en_Ommelanden.png

The much older Hugmercki region no longer appears on this map. Yet, the "Friesch Woordenboek" (Frsian Dictionary) (Glossarium Frisicum) by Waling Dijkstra informs: Hugmercki, gouw in Groningerland. (County in the lands of Groningen).

Although there is a view of a very small minority, that this Hugmercki would have been located much further south, roughly west of the German city of Münster, yet, this view is not shared here. This divergent view is probably based on (hardly verifiable) geographical information from the Thidrek saga, but the corresponding map based on it has such a poor scale and sizing that it is neither suitable as evidence nor as a reference. The term 'illusion of history' is often used for works such as the Thidreksaga, the Widsith and the Beowulf epic, and this also refers to such geographical indications. Howsoever, the regional location on this is not primarily important for the starting question.

4. Huga-markja The Belgian linguist, name researcher and paleographer Maurits Gysseling writes: The region name Humsterland from Huga-markja-, i.e. the (border) area of the Hugas must come from the Great . And the Huga-markja connection would imply a previous "Hug(as)". However, the term could also mean: The domain adjoining that of the Hugas.

5. Hunsingo Different opinions exist about the assignment of the Hugas. Some think they were Frisians. This is mostly justified with a passage from the hagiography of the preacher Liudger from 780, where it says: Emperor Charlemagne, who received news of his tireless work, made him a teacher for the Frisians, who lived on the eastern bank of the Lauwers river (Labeci), namely the cantons Hugmerchi, Hunusga, Fivilga, Emisga and Fediritga, as well as the island of Bant.

In his "Vita Gregorius", ± 760, Liudger says: the border between the Christian fresones and the heathens lies on the eastern side of the 'Labeki'. (M.G.S. 15.1, p. 71). So it is not said here that those heathens are Friesians, that could have been another people - the Hugas, or Huns perhaps?

The old names Hunusga and Fivilga are now called Hunsingo and Fivelgo and are regions in the north of the Dutch province of Groningen. Geographical mentions in epics such as in Widsith and also in Hagiographies should be viewed with great caution, because precise ethnical and geographical indications were not the purpose of such works and it is questionable whether the authors of such works had sufficient knowledge about that at all.

6. Labeci Regarding the river name 'Labeci' (there are several spellings of the name) ... there are researchers who think that this was not the Lauwers but the 'Old IJssel' - today's river IJssel in the Netherlands flows at the city of Kampen into the IJsselmeer (Lake IJssel), but the landscape of the northern half of the Netherlands looked very differently in the expiring Antiquity and Late Antiquity, and the river IJssel is said to have had a different course at that time. It is assumed to have had its origin in the German Münsterland region and its course through the Netherlands could have been continued more northbound than is the case today. The question of a definitive answer on this has not (yet) been solved, but the Lauwers is favored here. The place where the island of Bant was located was long puzzled, today it is assumed that it was a Hallig off the East Frisian coast, which was about halfway between the Ley-bay and the island of Juist. It was inhabited until the end of the 16th century. Today there is only a sandbar left of it.

7. Chauken The aforementioned identification of the Hugas or Huns with the Frisians is certainly neither established nor a no-brainer. it is quite possible that this identification probably was suggested mainly due to the geographical proximity to this people - in addition, during the Frisian heyday, the entire area along the Wadden Sea may have been Frisian ( see above at 5); it is thus plausible that after the Frisian ‚Golden Era‘ apart from the Frisians also other peoples lived there. That is why other researchers, such as the German historian Reinhard Wenskus, see an identification of the Hugas with the Chauci as more likely - these inhabited especially in the first centuries CE the area in the north of the Dutch province of Groningen and the bordering area in Germany - in particular the 'Lesser Chauci' are meant here. This view has existed since Rudolf Much (1862-1936) an Austrian German and Scandinavian medievalist and classical philologist wrote about it. I agree with this view.

Based on the 8th century Lex Frisiorum, Mr. L. Ph. V. van den Bergh in his "Handboek der Middel- Nederlandsche Geographie, naar de bronnen bewerkt" (Handbook of the Middle Dutch Geography, adapted from the sources), from 1852 ,writes on page 129: Each of those parts of Friesland contained a few shires, 1st, between the Ems and the Lauwers: Hunsingo, Fivilgo, Humsterland and Middagsterland; .... This refers to the time when the Frisians established a much larger area as was the case later.

Reinhard Wenskus also contributed in “Studien zum Altgermanischen: Festschrift für Heinrich Beck” (A commemorative publication for Heinrich Beck), Band 11, 1994, with the article: “Der ‚hunnische‘ Siegfried. Fragen eines Historikers an den Germanisten” (The 'Hun' Siegfried. Questions from a historian to the Germanist”). In that article many 'Hunnic' backgrounds are discussed.

8. Liudger Im 9. Jahrhundert ist in der Hagiographie des Predigers Liudger die Rede eines "pagus Hugmercki", (das Volk von Hugmercki). ab orientali parte fluminis Labeki super pagos quinque, quorum haec sunt vocabula: Hugmercki (var. Hugmerthi), Hunusga .... Translated: On the east side of the Labeke river lie five counties: that of the Hugmercki people (Var. Hugmerthi), that of the Hunusga people,....

Since Liudger was probably of Frisian origin, he will have mastered the language of the neighboring peoples and that may have been a reason to send him there (also) as a missionary - both in some Frisian and former Frisian counties where now other peoples lived.

9. Húnaland The Kormák saga, written around 1350, also in Old Norse mentions the "Húnaland", referring to areas along the North Sea. The section translates: The entirety of my treasure and my longing, It would take all of Iceland to win them: It is more expensive than distant Denmark And the devilish domain of the Hun people.. The stanza at Old Norse:: Alls met eg auðar þellu Íslands, þá er mér grandar, húnalands og handan hugstarkr sem Danmarkar

This "Húnaland" probably points to one of the counties Humsterland, Hugmerki and Hunsingo, or to some of them, but it is still 'puzzled' about this. 10. Attila Also in the Thidreksage, which is an extensive saga compilation from the 13th century, there is talk of a 'hunaland': Translated: ... the Hunaland realm in the north of Germany was conquered by a Frisian king's son "Attila", which he ruled until his death from his residence in the city of Soest and after him it was taken over by Thidrek. And: The Frisian prince Attila becomes king of Hunaland, the realm of the Hunir.

The name of the country is written here with one 'n', however, the writing of ligature was very irregular in the .

Associated with the 'Hunni' there are the rivers 'Hunte" in Lower Saxony and the "Hunze" in the northeast of the Netherlands - the last named river name should refer to the Germanic name "hun" or "hunaga" ('honey') for a swamp or a (yellow) sludge-flow. The aforementioned Mr. L. Ph.V. van den Bergh also records on page 129, translated: The Hunsingo shire lies to the north of the city of Groningen and extends as far as the ocean, bounded on the west by the Hunse river, formerly called Hunesa, and on the east by the Fivilgo shire. The first mention of this landscape is found in Altfridus (Note from the auhtor: in his Vita S. Ludgeri), a writer of the 9th century, who calls the page Hunusga ...

The title of the book already indicates that the author used older sources in his descriptions. The Hunse or Hunze, also the name 'Schuyten Diep' occurs), which is called "Oostermoerse Vaart" today after the canalization in the 20th century, used to flow in earlier times into the Wadden Sea, so it also flowed through the Hunsingo county.

11. Heidrek In the Hervarar saga, which originated in the 13th century and is based on older sagas, there is also talk of a Hunaland or Hunland: Þat var eitt sumar, at Heiðrekr konungr fór með her sinn suðr í Húnaland ok barðist við konung þann, er Humli hét, ok fekk sigr ok tók þar dóttur hans, er Sifka hét, ok hafði heim með sér. En at öðru sumri sendi hann hana heim,ok var hún þá með barni, ok var sá sveinn kallaðr Hlöðr ok var allra manna fríðastr sýnum, ok fóstraði hann Humli, móðurfaðir hans. Translated One summer, King Heidrek went south to Hunaland with his army and won a battle with a king named Humli and took his daughter, who was called Sifka, and brought her to his home. And the next summer he sent her back, and then she had a child. It was a boy and his name was Hlod and he was a handsome boy, and Humli nursed him, his mother's father.

Where this land was located is disputed. It is, for example, presumed in the wider area of the Dutch city of Arnhem, and the city itself is said to have been the royal seat. That is probably nothing more than speculation; the location of the empire of the main character of this saga, Heidrek, the king of the mythical kingdom of Reidgotaland, is also unknown - it is even thought of as a name for different areas. It would be acceptable for Heidrek's kingdom to be located in Scandinavia. Yet, then, going with an army to the land of the 'Huns', who were previously involved in the succession war in Reidgotaland, does not make the Arnhem region very likely. Territories of other peoples would then have to be crossed first. It would therefore be more likely that this Hunaland was further north, near the Wadden Sea or the North Sea.

12. Ostergau Several historical sources report on the two northern Dutch main districts Westergau and Oostergau. In this context, a source states that Bishop Willehad, (around 780), came from the place where Boniface was murdered in "Ostrachia", and he crossed the river Loveke and reached Hunmarcha. (M.G.S. 2, p.378 ff). Actually, there were indeed the two main districts of Westrachia und Ostrachia, which were also called Westergau and Oostergau. According to the attached map, Oostergau is said to have been located in the Dutch province of Groningen and extended as far as the Wadden Sea and Ems / Dollart - several smaller counties, such as Hunsingo and Fivelingo, are said to have been part of it. It is believed that Oostergau was a later name for the old Hugmercki from the time that was a large district.

However, the geographical position is controversial, for example, it is also surmised in the province of Friesland. But whether Boniface died there is very doubtful. Other sources see Westergau in West-Friesland, the northern part of the Dutch province of North Holland. And whether the river 'Loveke' is the same as the above-mentioned river 'Labeci' is also uncertain. The two 'main counties' Westergau and Ostergau should not be confused with the places "Oostergo" and "Westergo", both of which are located in Friesland.

13. Concluding Be that as it may, all of the above together are ample circumstantial evidence, and there are more similar references in personal and field names. Many other sources could also be used, which also may contain information.

But despite all the possible indications above, I cannot answer the question that was asked at the beginning. So, just a few concluding 'suggestions':

• Did there really exist a Germanic people called Hunni or Huns? • Did they really had a leader who was (also) called Attila? • Was perhaps the actual name of the leader of the Huns who came from the Eastern European steppes interpreted "Germanically" with the help of the existing Germanic name of Attila? • And was that also the case for the name of the people of the Asian Huns? • The names in the Central Asian language of this steppe people, belonging to the Turkic language family, which was widespread in Eurasia, were perhaps too strange or unspeakable for the Germanics? Did the Germans perhaps use a name they knew for the Greek Οὖννοι (Ounnoi) or Οὖννα (Ounna), as the Greeks called the Hun people? • Or did a historian from the early Middle Ages make a serious mistake by confusing names and then this mistake was adopted by others? • Or, it can hardly be more obscure, maybe a sub-tribe of the alliance of the Huns stayed here after they lost a decisive battle in France and the alliance broke up shortly afterwards and settled in the northwest of Europe?

For those who are interested in this topic, there is plenty of room for discussion, speculation and surely also silliness. :-) I'm curious for reactions.

Guus