Scourge (n) – source of widespread dreadful affliction and devastation such as that caused by pestilence or war (Guralnik 1278). The Huns, and their illustrious leader, Attila, were deemed the "Scourge of God" for the havoc they brought upon Europe for nearly a century. Many accounts of the Huns, both of today and centuries ago, bear such remarkable bias that it is difficult to draw a clear picture of Attila and the Huns. Ammianus Marcellinus' "A.D. 375: Huns Threaten the Goths" and Priscus' "Negotiating and Dining with Attila" are two contemporary accounts that insightfully detail the lives of the Huns and the attitudes that existed towards them. However, these two accounts contrast so heavily with one another that further evidence should be sought. Although many modern visual interpretations exist of the Huns, and particularly of Attila, many seem very uniform and biased themselves; they are then perhaps useless for the sake of this argument. Malcolm Todd's "Everyday Life of the Barbarians" is perhaps the most helpful account. The objectivity of this scholarly description provides great detail into the Huns' society; Todd also nicely illuminates the historical context that may explain why many people portrayed the Huns as they did. Drawing on secondary accounts and portrayals of the Huns, Priscus' account should gain strong validity. Also, Marcellinus' biases aside, his depictions should receive some degree of credibility.
             Marcellinus' "A.D. 375: Huns Threaten the Goths" appears to be quite far-fetched on the surface. However, if the account's bias may be momentarily suspended, the piece holds fairly factual descriptions of the Huns' society beneath its gross exaggerations. Marcellinus' most numerous and notable remarks are towards the Huns' nomadic nature and their hunter-gatherer system of survival:
             They require neither fire not well-flavoured food, but live on the...