Babcock, Michael A.

About the author: Dr. Michael Babcock received his PhD in Germanic Philology from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. He is currently Assistant Professor of Humanities at Liberty University, Virginia.

Stories of Attila the Hun’s Death- Narrative, Myth, and Meaning

2001 0-7734-7446-3
As a “world-historical” figure, Attila the Hun captured the imaginations of Roman imperial chroniclers and early Germanic epic poets alike. Specifically, the momentous event of Attila’s death was interpreted quite differently as it became incorporated into various Roman, Byzantine, and gothic narratives. Working within the tradition of narrative studies and drawing upon the ideas of historian Hayden White as well as structuralist/narrativist literary theory, this study explores and interprets the rich ideological contradictions surrounding the ‘stories’ of Attila’s death which circulated in the late classical and early medieval world.