It's said that every man has his day. If this is true, Wild Edric has had more than his fair share, and continues to on a fairly regular basis. Unsuspecting locals still witness his spectral appearance whenever his lands around the Stiperstones are threatened.
Edric wasn't always wild. In the days before the Norman Conquest the Saxon lord led a quiet and uncomplicated life. It was only when William, the Norman Conqueror, sent his men to take Edric's riches and property that Edric let rip.
He seems to have been amazingly successful at keeping his hands on his wealth. It's difficult to find any evidence of a single defeat meted out to him by the Norman invaders.
In fact William came to some sort of truce with Edric. By 1070 Edric appears to have been aiding the Conqueror in his attempt to defeat the Scots.
But these two great men didn't enter into a long-term relationship of trust. We know that only a few years later William enlisted Ralf de Mortimer to bring Edric under his control.
Edric kept all his lands while he was alive as far as we can tell, but they didn't pass into the hands of his kin.
No one knows how he died. Some say he passed away in prison, others that he was killed in battle, still more that he lived to a fine old age before dying a natural death. Most romantic is the story that he died mourning the disappearance of his fairy bride, Godda.
During his lifetime he definitely guarded his lands well from any Norman or renegade Welsh marauder that dared attempt a raid. He burnt his foes in heather fires and drowned other enemies in treacherous peat bogs.
All the people you meet who know his name will tell you he is still there waiting should anyone dare attack the Stiperstones.
The villagers around those windswept hills know they can sleep easy in their beds with Wild Edric always present, ready to protect them.
