Editorial note — APPENDIX.
Reading edition
It is remarkable that in Geoffrey Gaimar’s Metrical Chronicle we have mention of only one wife, Alftrude, who is there represented as having sent to Hereward on several occasions inviting him to visit her (we suppose at Eye). She inherited her father’s domain which she promised to bestow upon Hereward if he would marry her. He would then be able to continue his contest against the French. But this marriage seems to have led to a peace with the king and to Hereward’s joining William in subduing the revolted province of Maine. Here is the passage from Gaimar:—
“Co fu Alftrued ki co mandout
A Hereward, ke mult amout;
Par plusurs faiz tant le manda
Ke Hereward s’en apresta.
Vers li alat od mult grant gent,
Triwes aveit tut veirement,
Al rei se deveit acorder;
Dedenz cel mais deveit passer
La mer pur guerreier Mansels,
Ki ont al rei toleit chastels.”
Although the genealogists say that Alftrude had a daughter whose name was Turfrida, the date does not agree with Gaimar’s account.