Terms of
Use
Submissions
~ By Courtesy of Others ~
A retelling of Prince Alboin of the Langobards.
Alboin the Langobard
Once there was a Prince,
That was born among the Langobards,
The Prince's name was Alboin,
He was the son of King Audoin.
Alboin was a brave young man,
Proving his worth as a warrior,
While fighting a tribe called the Gepids.
During the war Alboin had killed,
Prince Thurismod of the Gepids,
After such a successful battle,
Alboin and his warriors had returned home.
Upon their arrival Alboin's warriors,
Had asked that Alboin sit at his father's table,
During the victory feast.
But King Audoin had said no,
For it was a custom among the Langobard,
That a Prince could not sit at his Father's table,
Without first winning a sword from a foreign King.
It did not take long for Alboin to set off on a journey,
He took forty men in all to the Homelands of the Gepids,
Opon his arrival Alboin claimed hospitality as a guest,
King Thurisend could not brake his honor by telling him no.
The King asked Alboin and his men,
To come in his Hall to eat and drink,
King Thurisend asked that Albion sit by his side,
Where the King's son Thurismod sat before his death.
Alboin went to take his place at the table,
and Thurisend had said, ' That seat, is dear to me;
a grief to me is he who now sits there!"
One of the King's younger sons,
Began to talk badly of the Langobards,
Because they wore white leggings,
He said "You look like white legged mares,
have many men ridden you?"
Alboin's men had returned the insult,
By saying, "You there, who's prince's bones lie scattered on the meadow,
Like those of a wretched old pack horse,
Go back to the battlefield and learn how hard these mares can kick!"
All the men sitting in the Hall had went for their weapons,
But the King had placed himself between both parties,
And ordered that peace be kept,
Saying it would be an offence to the God's to attack guests in his own hall.
Peace being preserved in his hall,
King Thurisend had after the feast,
Took the sword that belonged to his son Thurismod,
And gave it to Alboin.
Soon after Alboin returned home,
His father King Audoin,
Had granted his son a seat at his table,
Prince Alboin had become King,
Soon after his father's death,
King Alboin was a brave and famous King,
Among his people.
But it was not meant to last,
As long as the King of the Gepids was alive,
There was peace between,
The Langobards and the Gepids.
After a time the King of the Gepids had passed away,
His son Kunimund had become King in his father's place,
It was not long before Kunimund,
Had renewed the war between the Langobards and the Gepids.
During a battle King Alboin had killed King Kunimund,
And there after soon made a Drinking Cup out of Kunimunds skull,
King Alboin had also captured Kunimunds daughter Rosimund,
Rosimund was soon made his wife.
It came to pass,
That one night King Alboin took up his drinking cup,
Asking his wife to fill it with wine,
King Alboin had made his wife drink from the cup,
Saying, "Drink cheerfully with your father!"
Rosimund was very hurt by this,
But she did not let anyone know how she felt,
Rosimund had met a young warrior,
Called Peredo,
Rosimund soon had talked him into killing Alboin.
She had told Peredo which night to come,
One night when the time was right,
Rosimund had tied King Alboin's sword to the bed post,
Soon Peredo had come,
Upon waking up the King going for his sword,
realized he could not remove the it ,
Unable to protect himself, Peredo put his sword through the King's heart.
© Robert Etter
Author of
"A Devotional: Honoring Thor and Family"
and "Thor,
Midgard's Veurr, and the Fylgja",
Both together in one book:
Thor,
God Of The Common Man
Image: "Alboin's entrance into
Pavia", Charles F. Horne, 1900
Alboin's triumphal entry in the Roman city of Ticinum (Pavia) after the
fall of the town to the Lombards in 572.
Back to : [ by Theme ] [ by Author ] [ by Title ]
