On March 18 978, the king was hunting with dogs and horsemen near Wareham in Dorset. Then he decided to visit his young brother Ethelred who was being brought up in the house of his mother Elfrida at Corfe Castle, near Wareham. He arrived alone at the castle. When still on his horse Elfrida offered Edward a glass of mead, and when he was drinking it, he was stabbed in the back by one of the queen's party. Ethelred himself was then only ten years old, so was not responsible for the murder. An other tale comes from Henry of Huntingdon who tells that Elfrida herself committed the murder: