From surviving historical and archaeological evidence from the period, contemporary scholars believe that beliefs regarding magic in Anglo-Saxon England revolved largely around magico-medicinal healing, the use of various charms, amulets and herbal preparations to cure the sick.
According to William's account, she was "well-versed in witchcraft, who was not ignorant of ancient auguries, a patroness of gluttony and an arbiter of lasciviousness who set no limit to her debauches."
She told her children that "If I lie secure for three nights, on the fourth day bury your mother in the ground, although I fear that the earth, which has so often been burdened by my wicked acts, will be loathe to accept me and caress me to its bosom."
Following her death, they duly did so, but on the first two nights, as priests were chanting psalms around the body, devils broke into the church and snapped two of the chains on the coffin lid.
According to this account, in the spring of 1070, King William I and his Norman government faced an uprising against their rule in East Anglia where native Anglo-Saxons had allied themselves with Sweyn of Denmark.
Unable to quash the rebellion with military force as it entrenched itself on the Isle of Ely, King William considered making a deal with the rebels, but was dissuaded by one of his advisers, Ivo de Taillebois.
According to this account, her magic proved ineffective, and the Normans were forced to make a hasty retreat, during which the witch fell off of her perch and broke her neck.
While accepting that a group of rebels did lead an uprising against Norman rule at Ely, Davies was of the opinion that this witch “belongs firmly to the realm of fiction.”[6] A further account of an Anglo-Saxon witch can be found in the Chronicle of the Abbey of Ramsay, a document written in the 12th century which had been based upon what the anonymous author discovered through reading Old English wills, writs and charters as well as tales that were passed down in local tradition.
As the king developed into a cult figure, a body of literature grew up around his murder, at first implying and then accusing his step-mother, Queen Aelfthryth, of being responsible.