ed his father,
with unanimous acclamations, that the heroic youth, who had shared the
dangers of the field, might be admitted to the feast of victory. "You
are not unmindful," replied the inflexible Audoin, "of the wise customs
of our ancestors. Whatever may be his merit, a prince is incapable of
sitting at table with his father till he has received his arms from a
foreign and royal hand." Alboin bowed with reverence to the institutions
of his country, selected forty companions, and boldly visited the court
of Turisund, king of the Gepidae, who embraced and entertained, according
to the laws of hospitality, the murderer of his son. At the banquet,
whilst Alboin occupied the seat of the youth whom he had slain, a tender
remembrance arose in the mind of Turisund. "How dear is that place! how
hateful is that person!" were the words that escaped, with a sigh, from
the indignant father. His grief exasperated the national resentment of
the Gepidae; and Cunimund, his surviving son, was provoked by wine, or
fraternal affection, to the desire of vengeance. "The Lombards," said
the rude Barbarian, "resemble, in figure and in smell, the mares of our
Sarmatian plains." And this insult was a coarse allusion to the white
bands which enveloped their legs. "Add another resemblance," replied
an audacious Lombard; "you have felt how strongly they kick. Visit
the plain of Asfield, and seek for the bones of thy brother: they are
mingled with those of the vilest animals." The Gepidae, a nation of
warriors, started from their seats, and the fearless Alboin, with his
forty companions, laid their hands on their swords. The tumult was
appeased by the venerable interposition of Turisund. He saved his
own honor, and the life of his guest; and, after the solemn rites of
investiture, dismissed the stranger in the bloody arms of his son; the
gift of a weeping parent. Alboin returned in triumph; and the Lombards,
who celebrated his matchless intrepidity, were compelled to praise the
virtues of an enemy. In this extraordinary visit he had probably seen
the daughter of Cunimund, who soon after ascended the throne of the
Gepidae. Her name was Rosamond, an appellation expressive of female
beauty, and which our own history or romance has consecrated to amorous
tales. The king of the Lombards (the father of Alboin no longer lived)
was contracted to the granddaughter of Clovis; but the restraints
of faith and policy soon yielded to the hope of possessing the