While we know that Rosamund was supposedly the daughter of Cunimund, last king of the Gepids, her mother is never named in the sources. Her absence leaves an intriguing opening in the story, which I’ve seen fit to fill.

I’ve invented a highly speculative backstory for Rosamund’s mother by weaving together a number of historical threads. First, I had to decide on her “ethnicity.” Rosamund’s parents would have married sometime in the 540s, around the time when Cunimund’s father–Thurisind–became king. Thurisind usurped the Gepid throne from the previous king’s son. Thus, his kingship–and his new dynasty–may have been on somewhat shaky ground. For that reason, I suspect that Cunimund’s marriage would have had a political implications. Most logically, the union would have either (1) sealed an alliance with a powerful Gepid clan, thus shoring up internal support for the new regime OR (2) secured a useful alliance with an external group that could under-gird the new dynasty’s power and legitimacy. Since we know next to nothing about the internal politics of the Gepids, I decided to construct a heritage for Rosamund’s mother outside the Gepid gens.