Uldin or Uldes was one of the primary chieftains of the Huns

Huns

The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...

 located beyond the Danube during the reigns of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Emperors Arcadius

Arcadius

Arcadius was the Byzantine Emperor from 395 to his death. He was the eldest son of Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and brother of the Western Emperor Honorius...

 (394–408) and Theodosius II

Theodosius II

Theodosius II , commonly surnamed Theodosius the Younger, or Theodosius the Calligrapher, was Byzantine Emperor from 408 to 450. He is mostly known for promulgating the Theodosian law code, and for the construction of the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople...

 (408–450). He did not, however have total control of the Hunnic people, but was a leader of the state's western wing.

He first became known to the Romans in December 400, when he decapitated Gainas

Gainas

Gainas was an ambitious Gothic leader who served the Eastern Roman Empire as Magister Militum during the reigns of Theodosius I and Arcadius....

, and sent the head to Arcadius as a gift. Five years later, Uldin headed a body of Huns, together with his allies the Sciri

Sciri

Sciri may refer to:*Scirii, people*SCIRI, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq...

, in the service of the western Roman Magister Militum

Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...

, Stilicho

Stilicho

Flavius Stilicho was a high-ranking general , Patrician and Consul of the Western Roman Empire, notably of Vandal birth. Despised by the Roman population for his Germanic ancestry and Arian beliefs, Stilicho was in 408 executed along with his wife and son...

, against the invasion of Goths under Radagaisus

Radagaisus

Radagaisus was a Gothic king who led an invasion of Roman Italy in late 405 and the first half of 406. A commited Pagan, Radagaisus evidentily planned to sacrifice the Roman Senators to the gods and burn Rome to the ground. Radagaisus was executed after being defeated by the half-Vandal general...

.

Uldin's invasion of Moesia

Moesia

Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...

 in 408 was repulsed, with thousands of his Germanic allies falling into Roman hands. Uldin was forced to retreat.

Uldin died in 412, whereafter the Huns split into three large groups.

In the Scandinavian sagas Uldin is called Odin

Odin

Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....

, the sagas recite the coming of Odin with a force of the Turkic people called Ases, and his establishing the state Asaland and a series of Scandinavian dinastic lines, including the lines of Yngling

Yngling

The Ynglings were the oldest known Scandinavian dynasty. It can refer to the clans of the Scylfings , the semi-legendary royal Swedish clan during the Age of Migrations, with kings such as Eadgils, Onela and Ohthere...

, Uppsala

Uppsala

- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...

, and Vestfold

Vestfold

is a county in Norway, bordering Buskerud and Telemark. The county administration is in Tønsberg.Vestfold is located west of the Oslofjord, as the name indicates. It includes many smaller, but well-known towns in Norway, such as Larvik, Sandefjord, Tønsberg and Horten. The river Numedalslågen runs...

. According to the Scandinavian sagas and archeological excavations of the Gamla Uppsala burial kurgans, Uldin died in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

at around 450 CE. In Scandinavia, Uldin was deified as a progenitor Odin.

Sources

• Bunson, Matthew. "Uldin." Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 1994. Facts On File, Inc. Ancient History & Culture. http://www.factsonfile.com
• Otto J. Maenchen-Helfen, “The World of the Huns: Studies in Their History and Culture”, Univ. of California Press, 1973