Ernak
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Ernak was the last known ruler of the
Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...
, and the third son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons,
Ellac Ellac (died in 454 AD) was the oldest son of Attila (434–453) and Kreka. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He ruled shortly, and died at the Battle of Ne ...
,
Dengizich Dengizich (died in 469), was a Hunnic ruler and son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He succeeded his older brother Ellac in 454 AD, and prob ...
and Ernak. He succeeded his older brother Ellac in 454 AD, and probably ruled simultaneously over Huns in dual kingship with his brother Dengizich, but in separate divisions in separate lands.
Priscus Priscus of Panium (; el, Πρίσκος; 410s AD/420s AD-after 472 AD) was a 5th-century Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life general ...
, during his stay at Attila's court in 448 or 449 AD, recorded a personal occasion between Attila and Ernak. At a banquet Attila looked on him with serene eyes, while taking small account of his other sons. He was Attila's favorite son, because as a certain Hun explained to him, the Hunnic prophets prophesied his ''genos'' would fail, but would be restored by this son. Ernak has often been identified with ''Irnik'' from the Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans, who is noted as a descendant of the
Dulo The Dulo clan was a ruling dynasty of the Bulgars. The origins of the Bulgars and Dulo clan are not known precisely, and there are many theories about their origin. It is generally considered that they – or at least the elite caste – were in ...
clan and leader of the Bulgars for 150 years, starting approximately from 437 AD.


History

The oldest brother
Ellac Ellac (died in 454 AD) was the oldest son of Attila (434–453) and Kreka. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He ruled shortly, and died at the Battle of Ne ...
died in 454 AD, at the
Battle of Nedao The Battle of Nedao was a battle fought in Pannonia in 454 between the Huns and their former Germanic vassals. Nedao is believed to be a tributary of the Sava River. Battle After the death of Attila the Hun, allied forces of the subject peoples u ...
.
Jordanes Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') a ...
recorded 'When Ellac was slain, his remaining brothers were put to fight near the shore of the Sea of Pontus where we have said the Goths settled ... dwelling again in their ancient abodes". Jordanes recounts c. 454-455:
" fter_the_Ostrogoths_led_by_their_king_Valamir,_and_his_brothers_Theodemir_(Ostrogothic_king).html" "title="Valamir.html" ;"title="fter the Ostrogoths led by their king Valamir">fter the Ostrogoths led by their king Valamir, and his brothers Theodemir (Ostrogothic king)">Theodemir Theodemir, Theodemar, Theudemer or Theudimer was a Germanic name common among the various Germanic peoples of early medieval Europe. According to Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel (9th century), the form ''Theudemar'' is Frankish and ''Theudemir'' is Gothi ...
and Vidimir received Pannonia] Now it happened that the sons of Attila, regarding the Goths as deserters from their rule, came against them as though they were seeking fugitive slaves and attacked Valamir alone, when his brothers knew nothing of it. He sustained their attack, though he had but few with him, and after harassing them a long time, so utterly overwhelmed them that scarcely a portion of the enemy remained. The remnant turned in flight and sought the parts of
Scythia Scythia (Scythian: ; Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) or Scythica (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe. Hi ...
which border on the stream of the river Danaber, which the Huns call in their own tongue Var. Whereupon he sent a messenger of good tidings to his brother Theodemir ... on the very day the messenger arrived ...
Theoderic Theodoric is a Germanic given name. First attested as a Gothic name in the 5th century, it became widespread in the Germanic-speaking world, not least due to its most famous bearer, Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Overview The name ...
was born
n 454 N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...
.
"Hernac, the younger son of Attila, with his followers, chose a home in the most distant part of
Scythia Minor Scythia Minor or Lesser Scythia (Greek: , ) was a Roman province in late antiquity, corresponding to the lands between the Danube and the Black Sea, today's Dobruja divided between Romania and Bulgaria. It was detached from Moesia Inferior by th ...
. Emnetzur and Ultzindur kinsmen of his, seized by force Oescus and Vtus and Almus in
Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...
on the bank of the Danube, and many of the Huns, then swarming everywhere, betook themselves into Romania; descendants of them are to this day called Sacromontisi and Fossatisii".
The toponyms ''Vtus'' (at the mouth of river
Utus The Vit also Vid ( bg, Вит; la, Utus) is a river in central northern Bulgaria with a length of 188 km. It is a tributary of Danube. The source of the Vit is in Stara Planina, below Vezhen Peak at an altitude of 2,030 m, and it empties into ...
, today Vit), ''
Oescus Oescus, Palatiolon or Palatiolum ( bg, Улпия Ескус, ) was an important ancient city on the Danube river in Roman Moesia. It later became known as ''Ulpia Oescus''. It lay northwest of the modern Bulgarian city of Pleven, near the v ...
'', near present
Gigen Gigen ( bg, Гиген, ) is a village in northern Bulgaria, part of Gulyantsi Municipality, Pleven Province. It is located near the Danube River, close to the place where the Iskar River empties into it, opposite the Romanian town of Corabia. ...
at the mouth of river Iskar, and ''Almus'', the present Lom, were situated in
Dacia Ripensis Dacia Ripensis () was the name of a Roman province in the northern Balkan peninsula, immediately south of the Middle Danube. Its capital was Ratiaria (modern Archar, Bulgaria). It was a district less urban than neighbouring Dacia Mediterranea a ...
. The ''Sacromontisi'' may have received their name from the holy mountain in
Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...
, while the ''Fossatisii'' (''fossatum'', military camp) linguistically points to Moesia. Jordanes makes distinction between the Huns who ''seized'' land, and Alanic and Germanic tribes who ''received'' it. In early 458, Western Roman Emperor Majorian gathered a vast army formed by barbarian tribes, including ''Chunus'', for the campaign against the
Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...
.
Sidonius Apollinaris Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris (5 November of an unknown year, 430 – 481/490 AD), was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from 5th-century Gaul ...
recounts that "around thee thronged thousands under diverse standards. Only one race denied thee obedience, a race who had lately, in a mood even more savage than their wont, withdrawn their untamed host from the Danube because they had lost their lords in warfare, and
Tuldila Tuldila (458), was a Hun leader in Majorian's army. History In early 458, Western Roman Emperor Majorian gathered a vast army formed by barbarian tribes, including ''Chunus'', for the campaign against the Vandals. Sidonius Apollinaris recounts: T ...
stirred in that unruly multitude a mad lust for fight which they must needs pay dear". This account refers to the loss of Ellac and other chieftains, the Battle of Nedao was fought only few years before, and they withdrawn from the Danube, now occupied by former Germanic subjects. Those Huns were situated in Moesia Superior and Dacia Ripensis.
Priscus Priscus of Panium (; el, Πρίσκος; 410s AD/420s AD-after 472 AD) was a 5th-century Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life general ...
recorded that in 465-466,
Dengizich Dengizich (died in 469), was a Hunnic ruler and son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his Empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. He succeeded his older brother Ellac in 454 AD, and prob ...
and Ernak sent diplomats to
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
. They wanted a peace treaty, and a market place on Danube "according to the ancient customs" between Romans and Huns, but were rejected. While Dengizich died in 469, it is considered that Ernak managed to maintain peaceful relations with the Romans living in the
Dobruja Dobruja or Dobrudja (; bg, Добруджа, Dobrudzha or ''Dobrudža''; ro, Dobrogea, or ; tr, Dobruca) is a historical region in the Balkans that has been divided since the 19th century between the territories of Bulgaria and Romania. I ...
region. It seems he was content, compared to Dengizich, with the limited land he was given. The fate of Ernak is unclear.


Etymology

The name is recorded in two, possibly three variants, ''Ήρνάχ'' (Ernakh) by
Priscus Priscus of Panium (; el, Πρίσκος; 410s AD/420s AD-after 472 AD) was a 5th-century Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life general ...
, and ''Hernac'' by
Jordanes Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') a ...
in ''
Getica ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae oths'), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'', written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the o ...
'', and possibly ''Ирникъ'' (Irnik) in Nominalia of the Bulgarian khans. Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen discounted this last connection, arguing that the name is just as similar to the
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
Arnak, a figure living at the same time as Ernak, as it is to Irnik.
Nicholas Poppe Nicholas N. Poppe (russian: Никола́й/Ни́колас Никола́евич Поппе, ''Nikoláj/Níkolas Nikolájevič Poppe''; 27 July 1897 – 8 August 1991) was an important Russian linguist. He is also known as Nikolaus Poppe, wit ...
argued that the name originally had ''h-'' in initial position (''er'' < ''här'', ''her'').
Omeljan Pritsak Omeljan Yosypovych Pritsak ( uk, Омелян Йосипович Пріцак; 7 April 1919, Luka, Sambir County, West Ukrainian People's Republic – 29 May 2006, Boston) was the first Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History at Har ...
derived the name from Turkic ''erän'', irregular plural of ''ēr'', meaning "man, real man, hero". He argued that the ending ''-nik'' was a diminutive suffix, ''-näk'' or ''-nik'', found only in the
Altaic Altaic (; also called Transeurasian) is a controversial proposed language family that would include the Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic language families and possibly also the Japonic and Koreanic languages. Speakers of these languages are ...
dialects, sometime also used as an augmentation. The name, reconstructed by Pritsak as ''Hērnäk'', could thus mean both "hero" and "little uckyman". Maenchen-Helfen, while aware of Pritsak's theory, considered the name to be of unknown origin.


Legacy

Irnik, a village in Bulgaria is named after Irnik (Ernak). Irnik Point on Snow Island in the
South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the nearest point of the South Orkney Islands. By the Antarctic Treaty of 1 ...
,
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...
is named after Irnik (Ernak).


References


Sources

* * * * * * {{Authority control 5th-century Hunnic rulers Hunnic rulers 5th-century monarchs in Europe 6th-century monarchs in Europe Dulo clan