Their name, sometimes written Heruli or Eruli. sometimes Aeruli,
signified, according to an ancient author, (Isid. Hispal. in
gloss. p. 24, ad calc. Lex. Philolog. Martini, ll,) nobles, and
appears to correspond better with the Scandinavian word iarl or
earl, than with any of those numerous derivations proposed by
etymologists." Malte- Brun, vol. i. p. 400, (edit. 1831.) Of all
the Barbarians who threw themselves on the ruins of the Roman
empire, it is most difficult to trace the origin of the Heruli.
They seem never to have been very powerful as a nation, and
branches of them are found in countries very remote from each
other. In my opinion they belong to the Gothic race, and have a
close affinity with the Scyrri or Hirri. They were, possibly, a
division of that nation. They are often mingled and confounded
with the Alani. Though brave and formidable. they were never
numerous. nor did they found any state. - St. Martin, vol. vi. p.
375. - M. Schafarck considers them descendants of the Hirri. of
which Heruli is a diminutive, - Slawische Alter thinner - M.
1845.]

[Footnote 38: Variarum, iv. 2. The spirit and forms of this
martial institution are noticed by Cassiodorus; but he seems to
have only translated the sentiments of the Gothic king into the
language of Roman eloquence.]
[Footnote 39: Cassiodorus, who quotes Tacitus to the Aestians,
the unlettered savages of the Baltic, (Var. v. 2,) describes the
amber for which their shores have ever been famous, as the gum of
a tree, hardened by the sun, and purified and wafted by the
waves. When that singular substance is analyzed by the chemists,
it yields a vegetable oil and a mineral acid.]