Heruli
The Heruli (Eruli in Latin) were a Germanic people, apparently originating in southern Scandinavia, who were allies of the Ostrogoths and Huns in the 3rd to 5th centuries.
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2 Source texts 3 Characteristics of the Heruli tribe 4 The runic "ekerilaR" 5 External links and references |
The 6th century chronicler Jordanes reports a tradition that they had been driven out of their homeland long before by the Dani, which would have located their origins in present-day Denmark. They were first mentioned by Roman writers in the reign of Gallienus (260 - 268), when they accompanied the Goths ravaging the coasts of the Black Sea and the Aegean. The mixed warbands managed to sack Byzantium in 267, but their eastern contingent was virtually annihilated in the Balkans at the Battle of Naissus (Serbia) two years later, the battle that earned Marcus Aurelius Claudius his surname "Gothicus A western contingent of Heruli are mentioned at the mouth of the Rhine in 289.
By the end of the 4th century the Heruls were subjugated by the Ostrogoths. When the Ostrogothic kingdom of Ermaneric was destroyed by the Huns in about 375, the Heruls became subject to the Hunnic empire. Only after the fall of the Hunnic realm in 454, were the Heruls able to create their own kingdom in southern Slovakia at the March and Theiss rivers.
After this kingdom was destroyed, however, Herulian fortunes waned. Remaining Heruls joined the Langobards and moved to Italy, and some of them sought refuge with the Gepids and ultimately with the Romans who allow them to create a new kingdom in Moravia or Austria, near Singidunum (Belgrade). This kingdom was destroyed by the Ostrogoths under Theodoric the Great.
Records indicate, however, that the Heruli served in the armies of the Byzantine emperors for a number of years, in particular in the campaigns of Belisarius, when much of the old Roman territory, including Italy, Syria, and North Africa was recaptured. Several thousand Heruli served in the personal guard of Belisarius throughout the campaigns. They disappear from historical record by the mid-6th century.
No "Heruli" are mentioned in Anglo-Saxon, Frankish or Norse chronicles, so it is assumed they were known in the north and west by another name. Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911 suggested that, since the name Heruli itself is identified by many with the Anglo-Saxon eorlas ("nobles"), 0ld Saxon erlos ("men"), the singular of which (erilaz) frequently occurs in the earliest Northern inscriptions, that "Heruli" may have been a title of honor.
From the end of the 3rd century, Heruls are also mentioned as raiders in Gaul and Spain. These Heruls are usually regarded as Western Heruls, their settlements are assumed to have been at the lower Rhine.
The Heruli are mentioned by:
Heruli, or Aeruli, is thought to be the Latin for the Germanic tribal name Harjilaz, Herilaz, or Erilaz (plural, Heruloz) meaning "belonging to the marauders", or the Old Swedish "erul" meaning "sword" (although the earliest runic attestation of the title HARJILAZ - the runic inscription found on a sword mounting in the Nydam Mose ship burial of 420 CE reading "Marauder Owned [this]" - occurs a full millennium before "Old Swedish" came into existence). They thought of themselves as "wolf-warriors", consecrated to the early Germanic wolf-god Wodan. Accordingly, the name seems transparent in Scandinavian as härjulvar "harrying wolves". According to Procopius, bishop of Caesaria, the Heruli practiced a warrior-based, ritual homosexuality. In his De Bello Gothico, Prokopios is scandalized by the fact that "kai mixeis ouch hosias telousi, allas te kai andron" (Greek), or "and they have sex contrary to the ends of divine law, even with men". Procopius does not elaborate upon this brief statement.
Precursors to the berserkers of the Vikings, they would attain states of ecstasy either for battle, or for composing and reciting poetry, riddles, and genealogies. Tales of the night-time raids of the Heruli became the basis for the legend of the Wild Hunt.
The Heruli might have been good rune-carvers. Some dozen runic inscriptions on rune stones and metal pieces exist containing the phrase "ekerilaR". The first word "ek" means "I", whereas the meaning of the word "erilaR" is unclear. Some believe it shall be read out "I, the Herul", others say it mean "I, the rune-carver" but the most widespread interpretation in modern research is that it actually means "I, the Earl" (or "Jarl" in the Swedish language.)
History
Source texts
Characteristics of the Heruli tribe
The runic "ekerilaR"
External links and references
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