Does Attila was Mongol?

[PawelK198604]

In game the Huns are depicted simlar to Genghis Khan Mongols.

[MINOS]

"Terrorists" from the east - nobody knows really where they came from...

[PawelK198604]

Originally posted by MINOS:

Terrorists from the east - nobody knows really where they came from...

Terrorist? Why do you think so? I once heard that he was the ancestor of the Hungarians

[Tsar Alexis]

He was most likely a Hun, a nomadic people originating in the eastern steppes, the Caucasus or central Asia and over the centuries they migrated east and settled in around the Danube etc.

[Panda Khan]

yeah there are many hungarian legends about attila and the huns...

[A Disappointed Horse]

The Huns come from eastern europe and west Russia. They are the ancestors of some people in eastern europe today, hence Hungarians.
Genghis Khan was from Mongolia, much further east, which as the name suggests is where the Mongols came from.
The reason they're depicted similarly is because the most people on the huge area that is the Eurasian steppe had a similar lifestyle, horse-focused and nomadic.
The Mongols wouldn't appear until the 1200s, whereas Attila is obviously the 400s.

[Jonboy]

Originally posted by PawelK198604:

Originally posted by MINOS:

Terrorists from the east - nobody knows really where they came from...

Terrorist? Why do you think so? I once heard that he was the ancestor of the Hungarians

I thought the Huns were German?

[Mandinka Warrior (link)]

no they weren't Germanic. Turkic or mongoloid or something inbetween

[Tinrond]

Originally posted by PawelK198604:

In game the Huns are depicted simlar to Genghis Khan Mongols.

No one knows. That's the only valid answer. In "The Fall of the Roman Empire" Peter Heather devotes a long section to this very topic. I will try to remember:

1. There is no description of Attila or the Huns. We do not know what they looked like.
2. Most other nomadic people like the Alans or Sarmatian were of Iranian origin -> Iranian? It's possible. But the Huns fought differently from these riders (mounted archers instead of heavy cavalry), so you can argue that they were a different people entirely.
3. Some Huns did have Germanic names->Germanic? Well, Germans weren't too keen on horses and other names are non-Germanic. And it might just be a translation of the actual name in the first place.
4. Turkic peoples were also around -> Turkic? Maybe. But there is hardly any evidence.
5. "Huns are like Ghengis Khan!" (meaning they had mounted archers and came from the east) -> Mongols? Maybe. About 300 years before the Huns arrived a Mongolian tribe called the "Hsiung-Nu" was defeated and "fled to west" and were never seen again. The theory is that the descendents of the "Hsiung-Nu" are the Huns. Then again: This is probably wishfull thinking (it IS a cute idea). It was 300 years, what did they do the whole time? They probably just mingled and disappeared.
HOWEVER: CA decided to go for the Mongol connection and just for variety's sake, I am OK with it.

[Ajax]

I think the Roman writer Priscus of Panium, as well as Ammianus Marcellinus give descriptions of the Huns, and Priscus gives a description of Attila specifically, having met him on a "diplomatic" mission.

[Tinrond]

Originally posted by Ajax:

I think the Roman writer Priscus of Panium, as well as Ammianus Marcellinus give descriptions of the Huns, and Priscus gives a description of Attila specifically, having met him on a "diplomatic" mission.

Great, now you kindled my curiosity and I have to go through the entire book again ;-)

[Tinrond]

Got it! This is Jordanes' rendering of Priscus' description of Attila, from Heather's "The Fall of the Roman Empire".
"He was short, with a broad chest and large head; his eyes small, his beard sparse and flecked with grey, his nose flat and his complexion dark".
Yes, it is a description, but:, as the author points out:
Priscus original is lost. We only got it via Jordanes. Jordanes either "translated" or "paraphrased" Priscus. And there might be translation difficulties (Greek to Latin)

My personal remark: Yes, it is a description, but it's not like he had written: "He is a Mongol!!!" or "He is an Alan!!!" or "He is Germanic!!!". Broad chests, large heads, small eyes, ... exist in every group of people, else there wouldn't be words for them. The complexion might just be much time spent outdoors.

[♔ Affable 7th Wave Teaboo ♔]

Wow. This thread, with few exceptions, is a boiling cauldron of misinformation.

For fear of the answer being lost in the sea of conjecture, I suggest looking into the subject from a few credible sources (i.e. not Steam forums).

[Tsar Alexis]

Originally posted by Διογένης Κυνικός:

Wow. This thread, with few exceptions, is a boiling cauldron of misinformation.

For fear of the answer being lost in the sea of conjecture, I suggest looking into the subject from a few credible sources (i.e. not Steam forums).

+1

[A Disappointed Horse]

Originally posted by Διογένης Κυνικός:

Wow. This thread, with few exceptions, is a boiling cauldron of misinformation.

For fear of the answer being lost in the sea of conjecture, I suggest looking into the subject from a few credible sources (i.e. not Steam forums).

To be fair, the Huns aren't the easiest people to talk about. There's a lot that's just speculation.

[♔ Affable 7th Wave Teaboo ♔]

Originally posted by A Disappointed Horse:

Originally posted by Διογένης Κυνικός:

Wow. This thread, with few exceptions, is a boiling cauldron of misinformation.

For fear of the answer being lost in the sea of conjecture, I suggest looking into the subject from a few credible sources (i.e. not Steam forums).

To be fair, the Huns aren't the easiest people to talk about. There's a lot that's just speculation.

All the more reason to look for an answer to such a complex question outside of Steam forums.

Little is known =/= Anything goes