Eadgar made provision in the domestic buildings for one hundred nuns, a number rarely exceeded in after days. Peter de Langtoft, a canon of Bridlington who died early in the fourteenth century, writing of Eadgar says: Mikille he wirschiped God, and served our Lady; The Abbey of Romege he feffed richely With rentes full gode and kirkes of pris, He did ther in of Nunnes a hundreth ladies. Eadgar's church, however, was not destined to last long. Early in the year 1003, according to one of the few legends connected with the abbey, the form of St. AElflaed appeared during mass to the Abbess Elwina, and warned her that the Danes were at hand, and would plunder and destroy the abbey; whereupon she, not disobedient to the heavenly vision, gathered her nuns together, and, collecting all the treasures that could be carried away, sought safety at Winchester, and there they abode until the danger was past; on their return they found the abbey in ruins. The inroad of the Danes in this year, led by Swegen, was undertaken as a retribution on the English for the cowardly and barbarous massacre on St. Brice's Day, November 13th of the previous year, in which Swegen's sister, in spite of the fact that she had embraced Christianity, had been condemned to death by AEthelred.[2] There is no record of the rebuilding of the abbey after this destruction, but it could not have been long delayed, since we hear that in 1012 AEthelred's wife AElfgyfu (who afterwards married Knut, and is known under the name Emma) gave lands to the abbey, and shortly after Knut came to the throne, we learn from a still existing list that, including two who are marked as abbesses, there were fifty-four nuns at Romsey.[3] [2] According to some accounts, the raid in which the abbey was destroyed took place in 994, but the later date is more probable since it is said that Swegen's son, Knut, who was born in 994, took part in it. [3] This list shows us what were the names most in favour at the time. Eight nuns bore the name of AElfgyfu, six of AElflaed, four of Eadgyth (Edith), four of Eadgyfu, three of Wulflaed; besides these there were two, each bearing the names of AEthelgyfu, AElfgyth, AElfhild, Byrhflaed, Wulfthryth, Wulfrun. It is worthy of note that none of these, and only one of the remaining seventeen nuns, namely, Godgyfu, had a scriptural or Christian name. The old names common among their heathen ancestors still survived, no less than ten being compounded of the word AElf, the modern Elf, or mountain spirit.