| Edith the Fair | |
|---|---|
Edith discovering the body of Harold Godwineson |
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| Born | c. 1025 |
| Died | c. 1086 |
| Religion | Chalcedonian Christianity |
| Spouse | Harold Godwinson |
| Children | Godwin Edmund Magnus Gunhild Gytha |
Edith Swannesha (Old English: Ealdgȳð Swann hnesce, "Edith [the] Gentle Swan"; c. 1025 – c. 1086), also known as Edith Swanneschals or Edith the Fair,[note 1] is best known as the consort of King Harold II of England. She is also commonly known as Edith Swanneck (or Swan-Neck) but this comes from a historical misinterpretation that her nickname represented Old English swann hnecca, "swan neck". She is sometimes confused with Ældgyth, daughter of Ealdorman Ælfgar of Mercia, and Harold's Queen consort.
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She bore Harold several children and was his common law wife (according to Danish law, by a civil "handfast" marriage) for over 20 years[note 2]. Though she was not considered Harold's wife by the Church, there is no indication that the children she bore by Harold were treated as illegitimate by the culture at the time. In fact, one of Harold Godwinesson and Edith the Fair's daughters, Gyda Haraldsdatter (Harold's daughter), also known as Gytha of Wessex, was addressed as "princess" and was married to the Grand Duke Of Kiev, Vladimir Monomakh.
Though King Harold II is said to have lawfully married Edith of Mercia, the widow of the Welsh ruler Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, (whom he defeated in battle), in 1064, this is seen by most modern scholars as a marriage of political means, or even dismissed as misunderstanding or propaganda. Since at the time Mercia and Wales were allied against England, the political marriage would give the English claim in two very troublesome regions, as well as give Harold Godwinesson a marriage deemed "legitimate" by the clergy of the Church, something his longtime common law wife, Edith the Fair unfortunately could not provide.
Edith the Fair would be remembered in history and folklore for one very important thing: it was she who identified Harold after his defeat at The Battle of Hastings. Harold's body was horrifically mutilated after the battle by the Norman army of William the Conqueror, and, despite the pleas by Harold's own mother for William to surrender Harold's body for burial, the Norman army refused, even though Harold's mother offered William Harold's weight in gold. It was then that Edith the Fair walked through the carnage of the battle so that she might identify Harold by markings on his chest known only to her. It was because of Edith the Fair's identification of Harold's body that Harold was given a Christian burial by the monks at Waltham Abbey. This legend was recounted in the well-known poem by Heinrich Heine, "The Battlefield of Hastings" (1855), which features Edith the Fair (as Edith Swan-Neck) as the main character and claims that the 'marks known only to her' were in fact love bites.
The relationship between Harold Godwinson and Edith Swan-Neck is the subject of the novel Harold the King by Helen Hollick.
Ealdgyth was portrayed by Janet Suzman in the two-part BBC TV play Conquest (1966), part of the series Theatre 625.