of Scandza with Berig, their king, sailing in only three
ships toward the hither shore of Ocean, namely to
Gothiscandza. One of these three ships proved to be 95
slower than the others, as is usually the case, and thus is
said to have given the tribe their name, for in their
language _gepanta_ means slow. Hence it came to pass
that gradually and by corruption the name Gepidae was
coined for them by way of reproach. For undoubtedly
they too trace their origin from the stock of the Goths,
but because, as I have said, _gepanta_ means something
slow and stolid, the word Gepidae arose as a gratuitous
name of reproach. I do not believe this is very far
wrong, for they are slow of thought and too sluggish for
quick movement of their bodies.

These Gepidae were then smitten by envy while they 96
dwelt in the province of Spesis on an island surrounded
by the shallow waters of the Vistula. This island they
called, in the speech of their fathers, Gepedoios; but it is
now inhabited by the race of the Vividarii, since the
Gepidae themselves have moved to better lands. The
Vividarii are gathered from various races into this one
asylum, if I may call it so, and thus they form a nation.
So then, as we were saying, Fastida, king of the Gepidae, 97
stirred up his quiet people to enlarge their boundaries by
war. He overwhelmed the Burgundians, almost annihilating
them, and conquered a number of other races also.
He unjustly provoked the Goths, being the first to break
the bonds of kinship by unseemly strife. He was greatly
puffed up with vain glory, but in seeking to acquire new