Ildico (''fl.'' AD 453) was the last wife of the Hunnic ruler

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

. Her name is probably Germanic, a diminutive form of the noun ("battle"), a common element in Germanic female names (e.g. ''

Svanhildr Svanhildr is the beautiful daughter of Sigurd and Gudrun in Germanic heroic legend, whose grisly death at the hands of her jealous royal husband Ermanaric was told in many northern European stories, including the Old Norse '' Poetic Edda'' (''Ha ...

'', ''

Brynhildr Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild ( , , or ), is a female character from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigothic princess and queen Brunhilda of Austrasia. In the Norse tradition, Brunhild is a shiel ...

'' and '' Gunnhildr''), and ''

Hildr In Norse mythology, Hildr (Old Norse "battle"Orchard (1997:192).) is a valkyrie. Hildr is attested in the ''Prose Edda'' as Högni's daughter and Hedin's wife in the ''Hjaðningavíg''. She had the power to revive the dead in battlefields and u ...

'' ("battle") was the name of a

Valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ( or ; from ) is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become ('single fighters' or 'once fighters').Orchard (1997:36) and Li ...

. Her name is thus reconstructed as *''Hildiko'' ("little Hildr"), and it is probably preserved in *''Grímhild'' or *''Krēmhild'', the name of Ildico's later legendary version. According to

Priscus Priscus of Panium (; ; 410s/420s AD – after 472 AD) was an Eastern Roman diplomat and Greek historian and rhetorician (or sophist)...: "For information about Attila, his court and the organization of life generally in his realm we have the ...

, Attila died after the feast celebrating their marriage in 453 AD, in which he suffered a severe

nosebleed A nosebleed, also known as epistaxis, is an instance of bleeding from the nose. Blood can flow down into the stomach, and cause nausea and vomiting. In more severe cases, blood may come out of both nostrils. Rarely, bleeding may be so significa ...

and choked to death in a stupor: In

Germanic heroic legend Germanic heroic legend () is the heroic literary tradition of the Germanic peoples, Germanic-speaking peoples, most of which originates or is set in the Migration Period (4th-6th centuries AD). Stories from this time period, to which others were ...

s, she corresponds to Guðrún/Kriemhild, and in the Norse versions she deliberately killed Attila, in revenge for the death of her kinsmen.

References

{{Authority control 5th-century Gothic people 5th-century queens consort Attila the Hun Attilid dynasty Gothic women Year of birth unknown