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Who is King Atala?

by Rolf Badenhausen
 
In 1952 Dr J. König made an attempt to propagate the Frisian chronicle of Suffridus Petrus as apocryphal literary work. As Dr Reinhard Schmoeckel has mentioned, Dr König was essaying on instigation by Prof Rothert, at that time director of Westfälisches Staatsarchiv, who might have preconceived Suffrid’s volumes 'poisonous to historical research'.
Ferdinand Holthausen, a 19th century researcher of Thidreks saga and Dietrich epics, wrote in 1884:
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I think that narration of Suffrid’s Frisian chronicle principally relates an old local saga of Soest, in fact the original version considering the later amalgamation with Attila saga. Attila has been early localized in lower German heroic epics ..., so the sagas of him and the Frisians were gradually fusing in Soest’s mind; and at that time when the men of Soest, Bremen, and Münster were reciting their sagas and lays before the saga writer, this compound must have been a very solid one. The report of Thidreks saga provides the result of that saga amalgamation; so the great king of the Huns appears as Frisian prince and founder of Soest ...
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(Translated from STUDIEN ZUR THIDREKSSAGA: Part II. Die Geographie der Þiðrekssaga, PBB 9 [‘Paul u. Braunes Beiträge’], p. 456.)
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Why did Holthausen stumble upon the Frisian Chronicle written by Suffridus Petrus in 1590? This is the very passage Holthausen encountered in Suffrid’s De Frisiorum antiquitate et origine libri tres, which are catalogued nowadays at Nordrhein-Westfälisches Hauptstaatsarchiv:
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Vesvalii igitur ab eo tempore, quo terram istam occupassent, una cum confoederatis Angrivariisii vicinam Frisiam diversis incursionibus infestarunt, et tandem anno Christi 344, qui Odilbaldi, Frisiorum ducis, nonus fuit, terram Gruninganamiii ex improviso invaserunt, et antequam Frisii in armis esse possent, omnia flammis ac rapinis vastaverunt usque ad fluvium Lavicamiv, qui eam terram ab Occidentali Frisia separat. Odilbaldus autem contractis quantocius copiis hostes fugientes non modo praeda exuit, set et domum usque insecutus castris aliquot ac munitionibus occupatis privavit; nec porro destitit, donec Angrivariam totam, et maxima quoque ex parte Vesvaliam suae ditioni subjugasset, relicto illic praesidiario duce, cui nomen erat Yglo Lascon. Ille hisce populis in officio continendis praefuit annis integris sexaginta quinque, et ad securitatem domini sui aedificavit arces tres, primam in Angria, quae postea Vitikindi fuit; alteram Susati, quae postea in civitatem per Dagobertum Clotarii filium sublimata et tandem S. Cuniberto Coloniensi episcopo donata est, quod nostris scriptoribus referentibus attestantur chronica civitatis Lippiae et Coloniensis; tertiam Iburgi, quod nunc Driburgum dicitur, de quibus infra plura.
i Westfalians
ii Engern: name of a tribe on Weser river
iii Groningen (Netherlands)
iv frequently mentioned in local histories, but today difficult to prove as watercourse which possibly has had some closer relation to Dutch Lauwers zee
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We further should keep an eye on this text from the Frisian chronicle by Suffrid who was acting as Professor of Jurisprudence, Canon at St Apostles Church of Cologne, and appointed first historiographer of West-Frisian corporative system in 1590:
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Supradictus autem Frisiorum dux Odilbaldus filium habuit, cui nomen erat Udolphus Haron, quem gymnasticis certaminibus egregie domi exercitatum anno Christi 357 in Angriam misit, ut eum Yglo Lascon veris proeliis cum hoste subeundis expoliret, apud quem paulo plus biennio uno fuit.    Habitabat ea tempestate prope Hamburgum praecipuae nobilitatis satrapa Vergistus, qui filios duos Hengistum et Horsum, et filiam unam nomine Svanam habebat ... Udolphus dum visendorum amicorum gratia Saxoniam ingressus, ad Vergistum divertit, amore Svanae correptus est, quam et cum parentum utrimque consensu uxorem duxit.
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Holthausen’s perception, in view of considerable literary detraction of ‘Attila the Balkan Hun’, is based on early chapters of Thidreks saga, cf Mb 39 - 41. The Didriks Chronicle Svava correspondingly provides these contents:
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33.
 In Frisia was a king called Osid. He had two sons; one was called Herding, the other Atala. He had in mind to make war anytime, and he won some land and much glorious victory. So then he was warring against Melias king. As Atala invaded Melia’s land, he said: ‘I will never return until I have won this land!’ – He won many battles against Melias king. Melias withdrew to a burg called Wilcina. Atala won all his land and subjected it to his rule. And he settled at a place called Susat, and he let build it up preciously. Tribute was paid to him as king of all that Hunaland which Melias had before him.
     Osantrix king heard of it, and it seemed to him ashamed that the father of his spouse had been expelled in such way. There was now big war between Osantrix and Atala king, and they had some battle against each other. However, Atala king did not lose anything of the realm that he had won before. He said that nobody shall get anything of it as long as he was living: ‘My brother Herding shall have Frisia after the death of our father.’
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 Then Osid, king of Frisia, died. Herding took over the realm. A son called Osid was born to him. He became a strong man. As he was grown up, he rode to his father-brother Atala king, and he was always commanding his folk when they were warring. Atala sent out his nephew Osid and with him 20 knights to Osantrix king with the proposal that Atala wanted his daughter Erka.
(Translation: Ritter-Badenhausen. The redactions mostly spell Atala with one ‘t’ only.)
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The direct comparison of Didriks Chronicle with Suffrid’s De Frisiorum antiquitate ... results in these general relations:
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Didriks Chronicle
Chronicle of Suffridus Petrus
The warriors of Osid, king of Frisia, invade Hunaland under Atala’s command. The warriors of Odilbald, the king of Frisia acting in response of attacking southern and south-eastern tribes ‘Vesfali’ and ‘Angrivari’, invade Westphalia under Yglo Lascon’s command.
Atala takes Susat as residence and builds it up. Yglo Lascon stays in conquered Westphalian land. He builds up three fortressed settlements. The most important one is Soest.
Osid, son of Herding and grandson of Osid the Elder, kings of Frisia, moves to Atala. Udolph Haron, son of Odilbald, moves to Yglo Lascon for education.
Osid the Younger goes to Osantrix, king of the Vilcinians. As representative of Atala he makes a proposal for Osantrix' daughter. (For the time of 5th century, the Vilcinians were historically localized on the lower Elbe.) Udolph Haron goes to the region of the later Hamburg for courting Svana, daughter of Vergist whom Suffrid quotes as governor on the Elbe and father of Hengist and Horsa.
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The courting episodes might appear particularly different: Suffrid or his source will not mention expected rational kinship between Odilbald and Yglo as well as any rule keeping escort of Udolph’s special mission, whilst the Didriks Chronicle relates that Margrave Rodinger (Rodger), accompanying nobelman based in Atala’s Hunaland, finally takes the chance to court also a Vilcinian princess named Berta. Unbelievable events completely based on epic formula of double wedding? (The Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar from the Elder Edda offers an interesting parallel where King Hjörward sends out Atli to Svavaland for courting King Svafnir’s daughter.)
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Regarding Ritter’s timetable of Thidreks saga and the Suffrid’s chronicle, the afore cited events took place between 4th and 5th century. Yet, we are able to specify more exactly the time of Frisian invasion of Hunaland, regions of the later Westphalia respectively, by means of some independent archeological research. As Reinhard Schmoeckel noted well in 1998, the results of those explorations were published by W. Winkelmann: Frühgeschichte und Mittelalter, in the edition Westfälische Geschichte, Düsseldorf, 1983; and A. Genrich: Die Altsachsen, Hildesheim, 1981. Winkelmann proved Frisian invasion on Soest location called ‘Hellweg’ between 425 and 450, whilst Genrich verified the results of the foundlings discovered there at the end of 5th century.
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        Who is Atala?
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We know that many names of persons in Thidreks saga and its Old-Swedish chronicle are just nicknaming epithet, as pertinent to Sigfrid, Brynhilde (‘Brynne’ or ‘Brünne’: armour with breastplate), or Grimhilde who was surely characterized as ‘grim hilde’ (-hilde or -illa for a person of female gender). We also know that ‘Ata’ is Germanic word for father, whereas suffix syllable -la usually indicates a diminutive form. Following such figurative minimization, Atala will be synonymous to ‘good old father’. 
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Reading the king's monogram on the almandine fibula of Soest.
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The larger rune-work above the key on the Soest fibula, as being ascribed to the queen’s name, bears splendid subtlety of its creator. Although he was obviously using the Futhark rune set only (which has no ‘Y’), we can recognize the characters i-g-l-o in his carving of the so-called King’s Monogram. 
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The King’s Monogram on the golden back plate of the Soest almandine fibula.