Firstly, there is only one classical author,
Priscus, who mentioned "Edekon" who was a prominent Hun, who served as both
Attila's deputy, and his ambassador to the
Byzantine Empire in 448/9. Priscus knew this Edekon personally. They travelled together from Constantinople to Attila, and Priscus reported subsequent discussions and events involving him at Attila's headquarters. Priscus described Edeko as both a Scythian, and someone who was of Hunnic birth (). Priscus called Edeko Hunnic in a passage (fragment 7) contrasting him to
Orestes, who was an official with a Roman background. A translator told him that while Orestes was a servant and secretary to Attila, Edeko, in contrast, was their best soldier and a Hun, therefore far surpassing Orestes in status among the Huns. Priscus describes Edeko as needing a translator during discussions in
Constantinople, but he also describes the Huns of this time as using both Gothic and Hunnic languages. During the embassy the Romans separated Edeko and Orestes, and attempted to bribe Edeko to assassinate Attila. During this discussion Edeko confirmed that he had access to Attila as one of his retainers, entrusted with a garrison. Although he agreed to join this plot, Edeko exposed it to Attila when he returned to him. Secondly, there are only two records which name the father of
Odoacer. The
Anonymous Valesianus reported that he was called "Aediko", and
John of Antioch reported that his name was "Idikon". Both of these sources associated Odoacer with the Sciri. Apart from noting that Odoacer's father was named Aediko, the
Anonymous Valesianus noted that when Odoacer killed Orestes, he had Scirians with him. Also, confirming a connection going back to the time of Attila, "Orestes was a Pannonian, who joined with Attila at the time when he came to Rome, and was made his secretary". John of Antioch described Odoacer as an ally of
Ricimer in the time of emperor
Anthemius (r. 467–472). He explicitly described Odoacer as "a man of the tribe called the Sciri, whose father was Edeco and whose brother was Onulf, who was both the bodyguard and then the murderer of
Harmatius". A third distinct mention is found in only one source, Jordanes, who described "Edica" as a chief of the Sciri. In the period after Attila's death, smaller ethnic kingdoms who had been part of his alliance appeared in the Middle Danubian region. Jordanes described how two of these, the Suebi and Sciri, were badly defeated by another—the Goths led by
Valamir (the later "
Ostrogoths"). Valamir himself, and almost all of the Sciri, were killed. Afterwards, the two leaders of the defeated Suevi,
Hunimund and Alaric, called upon other groups to fight these Goths, now led by Valamir's brother Thiudimer. This included the "remnants of the Sciri", led by two chiefs named "Edica" and "Hunuulf", corresponding to the names of the father and brother of Odoacer according to John of Antioch. The Goths were victorious at the subsequent
Battle of Bolia in 468/9. ==Etymology==