Death of Adela

The other (2nd) writing.¹
Fifteen months after the last assembly was it Friundskip (friendship) or Winnemonath (win-month) (joy-month).
Every one gave himself to merry merry joy and blithness and no one bothered but to increase his pleasure.

Though Wralda would show us that watchfulness may never be neglected.
In the middle of the fest of Frya came fog to cover our area in thick gloom.⁵

Pleasure ran away, the watchfulness wouldn’t naught come back.
The beach guards were gone from their emergency fires and upon the access paths was no one to observe.
When the fog gave way, the sun looked through the chinks of the clouds upon the earth.
Everyone came out again to shout for joy and to yell, the young folk went singing with hawthorn and these filled the air with their lively breath.

But while everyone there bathed in pleasure, was betrayal landed with horses and riders.¹⁰
Like all evil-doers were they helped through gloom, and hence slipped through Linda forest’s paths.

Before Adela’s door went twelve maidens with twelve lambs and twelve boys with twelve calvs, a young saxman rode a wild buffalo, which he himself had caught and tamed.
With all sorts of flowers were they decorated, and the linen tunics of the maidens were bordered with gold out of the Rhine. When Adela came from her house upon the street, fell a rain of blooms down upon her head and the pipes skirled out above everyone.

Poor Adela, poor folk, how short shall joy here abide.¹⁵
When the long procession was out of sight, came there a heard or Magyar riders running straight to Adela’s home.
Her dad and husband were yet sitting upon the steps.
The door stood open and therein stood Adelbrost, her son.

When he saw how his elders were in fear, he gripped his bow from the wall and shot at the foremost of the robbers; this twitched and rolled down upon the grass;²⁰
upon the second was a similar lot shared out.
Meanwhile had his elders fetched their weapons and went undaunted against them.
The robbers should have surrounded them, but Adela came, in the burgh had she learned to handle all weapons, seven earthfeet tall was she and her sword as many, thrice smote she them over their heads and when it came down, was a rider fallen-in-the-grass.

Followers came around the bend in the lane way.²⁵
The robbers were felled and captured.
Though too late an arrow had hit her bosom.
Treacherous Magy!
In venom was his point dipped and thereof is she dead.