ry scene involved the perpetuation
of the memories and the valor of those who were dear to them; and
as the record passed into the embroidered pattern, it was dwelt
upon with words of glowing pride. In some such way took shape the
picture-history of the event that found its consummation in the battle
of Senlac. By its wealth and accuracy of detail, this monument of
woman's skill became a historical document of the first order for
the period to which it relates. But to the student of the English
woman its chief value must lie in its revelation of the depth of
the pride and devotion to husbands, brothers, and lovers that it
reveals--devotion to the living and the dead alike, which is the
secret of its reverent accuracy, excluding as it does vainglorious
exaggeration. It thus becomes a memorial of deeds of valor and of
defeat, of triumph and of death; a monument to the Norman, but,
unwittingly, a monument to the defeated Saxon as well.

We are reminded by this historic tapestry of the pathetic story
of Edith of the Swan's Neck. King Harold had been slain on the
battlefield by a Norman arrow which had pierced his brain. His mother
and the Abbot of Waltham had successfully pleaded with Harold's
victorious rival for permission to bury the king within the abbey. Two
Saxon monks, Osgod and Ailrick, were deputed by the Abbot of Waltham
to search for and bring to the abbey the body of their benefactor.
Failing to identify on the field of Senlac (Hastings) the bodies
denuded of armor and clothing, they applied to a woman whom Harold,
before he was king, had had for a companion, and begged her to assist
them in their search. She was called Edith, and surnamed la belle
an you de cygne. Edith consented to aid the two monks, and readily
discovered the body of him who had been her lover.

The queen who conceived and furthered the execution of the Bayeux
tapestry was representative of the best type of Norman womanhood. Her
devotion to her husband was proverbial, and his faithfulness to her
has never been questioned. Intrigues among persons who could not brook
the moral atmosphere of a court such as Matilda maintained were common
enough, and the envious breath of scandal even sought to shake the
confidence of her royal husband in her; but all such attempts were
unavailing. Matilda became in every sense the consort of William, and
thus marked a forward step for the womanhood of the country. Without
such recognition of the wife of Willia