ABSTRACT
Hereward 'the Wake', an enigmatic Anglo-Saxon landholder from Lincolnshire, was elevated by a historical novel written by Charles Kingsley, first published in book form in 1866, into one of the most romantic figures of English medieval history: an outlaw and national hero famous for his determined resistance to the Norman invaders of 1066, and a forerunner of the greatest outlaw of English popular mythology, Robin Hood. The discussion which follows builds on work by Cyril Hart and others which argues that some of the English companions of Hereward in the sources were real historical figures, linked with the outlaw in various ways. Hereward was the son of Leofric of Bourne, a kinsman of Earl Ralph the Staller, and his wife Eadgyth, a relation of Earl Oslac. Receiving knighthood from Abbot Brand of Peterborough, the outlaw then helped to defend the Isle of Ely against William the Conqueror.
