[6] Though Harold is said to have lawfully married Ealdgyth, the daughter of Earl Ælfgar, the widow of the Welsh ruler Gruffydd ap Llywelyn whom he had defeated in battle, that marriage in spring 1066 is seen by most modern scholars as one of political convenience.

Flint identifies Edith as the visionary known colloquially as "Rychold" or "Richeldis de Faverches", who authored Our Lady of Walsingham.

The identification of Edith as the Walsingham visionary is rooted in his belief that the earlier date of the shrine's foundation, given by Richard Pynson as 1061, is credible.

He also notes that Edith Swanneshals was known within the court as "Rychold", meaning "fair and rich", and the appellatory title given by Pynson could therefore refer to the Anglo-Saxon Queen—a reference which is consistent with the original date given in the Pynson Ballad as 1061, for Edith Swaneshals was the Lady of the Walsingham Manor in this period (p. xxvii).

According to folklore, Edith identified Harold's mutilated body after his loss to William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings.