HERMANRICH, (c. 269-375).  The first historically accepted King of the Ostrogoths, variously called Hermanrich, Ermanarich, Ermanrich, and in myth Ermrich.  He was the founder of a great Ostrogothic power about the middle of the fourth century, when he conquered many Slavic and Finnish tribes, so that the saga makes him rule from the Black Sea to the Baltic.  The Visigoths recognized his overlordship.  A story makes him order that Swanhilde, wife of a defeated prince, be torn asunder by horses, for which Hermanrich is slain by her three brothers.  According to another tradition he is said to have put an end to his life, at the age of more than 100 years, when he saw that he was about to be attacked by the King of the Huns, Balamir, who killed his son and took part of his kingdom.  Consult Bradley, The Story of the Goths (New York, 1888). (The New International Encyclopaedia, Colby, 1922)