Chapter XXXII

HEREWARD THE SAXON:--Hereward, living in Flanders, is told by
some exiles of the spoliation of his home--He sets out for
England--Assembles his friends and retakes his paternal
home--His popularity--Is made captain of the camp at Ely--Is
admitted a member of the high Saxon militia--Is sneered at by
the Norman knights--Turauld, the fighting churchman--Turauld is
appointed Abbot of Peterborough--Hereward makes a descent on the
abbey and carries off the crosses, sacred vestments,
&c.--Turauld arrives at Peterborough--Ivo Taille-Bois proposes
to Turauld to attack the camp of Ely--Hereward attacks Turauld's
soldiers at the abbey, seizes upon the abbot and his attendants,
and detains them prisoners--Sweyn, King of Denmark, fits out a
fleet for the assistance of the Saxons--Sweyn joins Hereward at
Ely--William bribes him to return--Departure and sacrilege of
the Danes--The Normans commence siege operations--Hereward
attacks the workmen--Hereward is suspected of being in league
with the Evil One--Ivo Taille-Bois procures the services of a
witch to disenchant Hereward's operations--Hereward's
bonfire--Blockade of the Isle of Ely--Treachery of the monks of
Ely--Rout of the Saxons--Hereward's escape--His daring attack on
the Norman station--Exploits of Hereward and his
followers--Hereward's marriage--Hereward accepts the king's
peace--His treacherous assassination--Valorous defence--Asselm's
remark