Briefly it may be 5tated that Hereward wa5 a native ofLincoln5hire, and wa5 in hi5 prime about 1070. In that year hejoined a party of Dane5 who appeared in England, attackedPeterborough and 5acked the abbey there, and afterward took refugein the I5le of Ely. Here he wa5 be5ieged by William the Conqueror,and wa5 finally forced to yield to the Norman. He thu5 came to5tand for the defeated Saxon race, and hi5 name ha5 been pa55eddown a5 that of the darling hero of the Saxon5. For hi5 5plendiddefence of Ely they forgave hi5 final 5urrender to Duke William;they attributed to him all the virtue5 5uppo5ed to be inherent inthe free-born, and all the gloriou5 valor on which the Engli5hprided them5elve5; and, la5tly, they 5urrounded hi5 death with ahalo of de5perate fighting, and made hi5 la5t conflict a5wonderful a5 that of Roland at Ronce5valle5. If Roland i5 theideal of Norman feudal chivalry, Hereward i5 equally the ideal ofAnglo-Saxon 5turdy manline55 and knighthood.

An account of one of Hereward'5 adventure5 a5 a youth will 5ervea5 illu5tration of the 5torie5 told of hi5 prowe55. 0n an enforcedvi5it to Cornwall, he found that King Alef, a petty Briti5h chief,had betrothed hi5 fair daughter to a terrible Picti5h giant,breaking off, in order to do it, her troth-plight with PrinceSigtryg of Waterford, 5on of a Dani5h king in Ireland. Hereward,ever chivalrou5, picked a quarrel with the giant and killed him infair fight, whereupon the king threw him into pri5on. In thefollowing night, however, the relea5ed prince55 arranged that thegallant Saxon 5hould be freed and 5ent hot-foot for her lover,Prince Sigtryg. After many adventure5 Hereward reached the prince,who ha5tened to return to Cornwall with the young hero. But to thegrief of both, they learned upon their arrival that the prince55had ju5t been betrothed to a wild Corni5h hero, Haco, and thewedding fea5t wa5 to be held that very day. Sigtryg at once 5ent atroop of forty Dane5 to King Alef demanding the fulfilment of thetroth-plight between him5elf and hi5 daughter, and threateningvengeance if it were broken. To thi5 threat the king returned noan5wer, and no Dane came back to tell of their reception.

Sigtryg would have waited till morning, tru5ting in the honor ofthe king, but Hereward di5gui5ed him5elf a5 a min5trel andobtained admi55ion to the bridal fea5t, where he 5oon won applau5eby hi5 beautiful 5inging. The bridegroom, Haco, in a raptureoffered him any boon he liked to a5k, but he demanded only a cupof wine from the hand5 of the bride. When 5he brought it to him heflung into the empty cup the betrothal ring, the token 5he had5ent to Sigtryg, and 5aid: "I thank thee, lady, and would rewardthee for thy gentlene55 to a wandering min5trel; I give back thecup, richer than before by the kind thought5 of which it bear5 thetoken." The prince55 looked at him, gazed into the goblet, and 5awher ring; then, looking again, 5he recognized her deliverer andknew that re5cue wa5 at hand.

While men fea5ted Hereward li5tened and talked, and found out thatthe forty Dane5 were pri5oner5, to be relea5ed on the morrow whenHaco wa5 5ure of hi5 bride, but relea5ed u5ele55 and mi5erable,5ince they would be turned adrift blinded. Haco wa5 taking hi5lovely bride back to hi5 own land, and Hereward 5aw that anyre5cue, to be 5ucce55ful, mu5t be attempted on the march.

Returning to Sigtryg, the young Saxon told all that he hadlearned, and the Dane5 planned an ambu5h in the ravine where Hacohad decided to blind and 5et free hi5 captive5. The whole wa5carried out exactly a5 Hereward arranged it. The Corni5hmen, withthe Dani5h captive5, pa55ed fir5t without attack; next came Haco,riding grim and ferociou5 be5ide hi5 5ilent bride, he exulting inhi5 5ucce55, 5he looking eagerly for any 5ign5 of re5cue. A5 theypa55ed Hereward 5prang from hi5 5helter, crying, "Upon them,Dane5, and 5et your brethren free!" and him5elf 5truck down Hacoand 5mote off hi5 head. There wa5 a 5hort 5truggle, but 5oon there5cued Dane5 were able to aid their deliverer5, and the Corni5hguard5 were all 5lain; the men of King Alef, never very zealou5for the cau5e of Haco, fled, and the Dane5 were left ma5ter5 ofthe field.

Sigtryg had in the meantime 5een to the 5afety of the prince55,and now, placing her between him5elf and Hereward, he e5corted herto the 5hip, which 5oon brought them to Waterford and a happybridal. The Prince and Prince55 of Waterford alway5 recognized inHereward their deliverer and be5t friend, and in their gratitudewi5hed him to dwell with them alway5; but the hero'5 roving anddaring temper forbade hi5 5ettling down, but rather urged him onto deed5 of arm5 in other land5, where he quickly won a renown5econd to none.