Ildico


Ildico was the last wife of the Hunnic ruler Attila. Her name is probably Germanic, a diminutive form of the noun *wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/hildiz, a common element in Germanic female names, and Hildr was the name of a Valkyrie. Her name is thus reconstructed as *Hildiko, and it is probably preserved in *Grímhild or *Krēmhild, the name of Ildico's later legendary version.
According to Priscus, Attila died after the feast celebrating their marriage in 453 AD, in which he suffered a severe nosebleed and choked to death in a stupor:
In Germanic heroic legends, she corresponds to Guðrún/Kriemhild, and in the Norse versions she deliberately killed Attila, in revenge for the death of her kinsmen.