Attila, the leader of the Huns, known in the religious texts as “The whip of God” represents a mythological figure. He would have managed to lead an entire Empire stretched from Ural Mountains to the Rhine River, Baltic Sea and reached south of the Danube River. Some historians believe him to be a native of the Volga River area, so his name might be related to an old Turkish name of the Volga River, “Atil”. Others believe his name might mean “universal leader” in Turkic language, or even “father”, similar to the Gothic, Hungarian, Turkish or some Slavic languages term.
He’s a controversial historical character. It seems that he plundered two times the Balkan area and ravaged the northern provinces of Italy. Fortunately he did not conquer neither Rome nor Constantinople. Pope Leon claimed that he met Attila and convinced him not to attack Rome and in seeing the Pope, he had a vision of Saint Peter himself. This encounter inspired him to build the first thermal baths after the roman model.
After 300 marriages, he decided to marry one more time, taking as his new spouse the legendary Ildiko (Hilda), a beautiful blonde girl whose parents he slaughtered in Galia. The day after the big feast he was found dead.
However, in the Moldova Noua area, there are local legends who talk about the final resting place of the legendary Attila. In this area took shape a mound which is believed to be the real grave of the Huns leader. The story says that each of Attila’s soldiers brought as offering a full helmet of earth to put over their leader’s body. Attila’s army being so numerous, soon a mound erected. Near it, a ditch formed. The locals call it “Boruga”, which means “narrow passway”.
Another connected narrative is the one about Attila’s black stallion which could be handled by no one else. When Attila’s son tried to mount it, the horse ran away. The soldiers’ searches were in vain. The horse was nowhere to be found. Eventually a lot of the mares that the soldiers were riding disappeared along with the famous stallion. Apparently, the devoted horse remained to guard his master’s grave on the Moldova Veche island.
The legend about the wild horses is though a story for another occasion.