http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=vandal
And boy did they wand. (Follow the blue line!)
But were the vandals vandals?
The Sack of Rome
(My emphasis)
Upon the Vandal arrival, according to the chronicler Prosper, Pope Leo I implored Geiseric not to destroy the ancient city or murder its inhabitants. Geiseric agreed and the gates of Rome were thrown open to him and his men. Maximus, who fled rather than fight the Vandal warlord, was killed by a Roman mob outside the city.
It is accepted that Geiseric looted great amounts of treasure from the city, and also took the Empress Licinia Eudoxia, Valentinian's widow, and her daughters hostage. One of these daughters was Eudocia, who was later to marry Geiseric's son Huneric.
There is, however, some debate over the severity of the Vandal sack. The sack of 455 is generally seen by historians as being more thorough than the Visigothic sack of 410, because the Vandals plundered Rome for fourteen days whereas the Visigoths spent only three in the city.
The cause of most controversy, however, is the claim that the sack was relatively 'clean', in that there was little murder and violence, and the Vandals did not burn the buildings of the city. This interpretation seems to stem from Prosper's claim that Leo the Great managed to persuade Geiseric to refrain from violence.
However, Victor of Vita records how many[citation needed] shiploads of captives arrived in Africa from Rome, with the purpose of being sold into slavery. Similarly, the Byzantine historian Procopius reports how at least one church was burnt down.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Rome_(455)
Anyway, who decided that the word for a vandal should be "vandal"? Someone in Europe (I guess) after the Renaissance--they admired the Romans so the Huns and Vandals were given a big paint job with the pugly brush (Or so I've read--I is no historian!)
(a v e e e e e r y slow day at work):
So what happened to them?
The End of The Vandals
The eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I, who had supported Hilderic, soon declared war on the Vandals, ostensibly to restore Hilderic but more likely to restore North Africa to the Roman Empire. In June 533, Justinian sent an expeditionary force commanded by Belisarius which finally reached Africa in the beginning of September. Meanwhile in Sardinia which formed part of the Vandal domain, Goddas, a Visigoth, whom Gelimer had sent to collect a tax, began to treat with Justinian as an independent sovereign. Gelimer ignorant or contemptuous of Justinian's plans sent a large army comprised of most of the available army in Africa under his brother Tzazo to crush the rebellion meaning that the landing of Belisarius was entirely unopposed.[1]
On landing Belisarius immediately marched for Carthage finally meeting resistance on the 13th of September when he was confronted by Gelimer at Ad Decimium, 10 miles from Carthage. Although outnumbered 11,000 to 17,000 the battle was evenly fought by the Vandals until Gelimer's brother Ammatas was killed at which time Gelimer lost heart and fled. On the 14th of September 533, Belisarius entered Carthage and ate the feast prepared for Gelimer's in his palace. Belisarius, however, was too late to save the life of Hilderic, who had been slain by Gelimer's orders as soon as the news came of the landing of the imperial army.
The Vandals however were not beaten and on the return of Tzazo from Sardinia, Gelimer again met Belisarius in battle this time at a place about 20 miles from Carthage, called Ticameron. (December 533). This battle was far more stubbornly contested than that of Ad Decimum, but it ended in the utter rout of the Vandals and the flight of Gelimer.
Finally in March 534, realizing he had no chance of regaining his kingdom, Gelimer surrendered to Belisarius and accepted the Romans' offer of vast estates in Galatia where he lived to be an old man. He achieved some degree of anecdotal fame, according to Byzantine chronicles, by crying out the verse from Ecclesiastes, 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,' which is mentioned in the works of Gibbon and Fielding.
After Gelimer's defeat the Vandals disappear from history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelimer
Cough cough cough!
(I'm thinking: "Well, at least it's about Europe!") Don't fight forces, use them R. Buckminster Fuller.