Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1858 edition. Excerpt: ... Note 1, page 13. Historians have attributed various names to' this Princess, daughter of William the Conqueror. By some she is styled "Adelis;" by others, "Agatha," and even Ela; whilst in the Bayeux register is inscribed the name "iEus," which, in all probability, is only another form of " Adele." We recognise the last in the name written "iELFGivA" in the Tapestry. (M. LamBert. Refutation des Objections faites contre I'Antiquite' de la Tapisserie de Bayeux, p. 14.) Orderic Vital, vol. i., p. 382, relates in the following words the end of iElfgiva, or Elgiva, as we have taken the liberty of writing it: --" Elgiva, in obedience to her father's will, was affianced to the King of Spain; but she was constant in her love for the Saxon Prince Harold, and her heart revolted against this alliance with another. She therefore fervently prayed to the Almighty that He would not suffer her to reach Spain, but rather that He would take her to Himself. The earnest supplications of the afflicted Princess were doubtless heard, for she died on the voyage; and, in obedience to her last wishes, her body was brought back to her native country and interred at Bayeux." "We agree with M. de la Rue," says M. Ed. Lambert, who has traced, in one of the sections of the Tapestry, the promise made to Harold of one of William the Conqueror's daughters. This circumstance is pourtrayed in the following manner: --A secretary is sent to inform the Princess of the alliance contemplated for her, and he touches Elgiva's left cheek with the tips of the fingers of his right hand, which was probably the ceremonial in use on similar occasions. iElfgiva was interred in the cathedral at Bayeux, where, on the 10th of December in every year, the anniversary of her death was, for some...
