25 September 1066
The shield wall
The English cross the bridge, form a line just short of the Norwegians, lock shields and charge. Snorri describes the Norwegian line as long and thin, with its wings bent back until they meet in a ring, and English horsemen riding at it again and again. Historians doubt the horsemen, since the English fought on foot, and treat the details of Snorri’s account, written down about 160 years later, with caution.
The Battle of Stamford Bridge, painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo, 1870Wikimedia Commons, Peter Nicolai Arbo, Public domain (Arbo - Battle of Stamford Bridge (1870).jpg)
The fighting lasts for hours, and the Norwegians without mail suffer most. Harald is killed early in the battle, by Snorri’s account by an arrow in the throat. Tostig takes command under the king’s banner, Land-waster, and by Snorri’s account refuses his brother’s offer of quarter. He falls in the fighting that follows, and the shield wall begins to break up.
Harald struck in the throat by an arrow, drawing by Wilhelm Wetlesen for the 1899 Norwegian edition of HeimskringlaWikimedia Commons, Wilhelm Wetlesen, Public domain (Harald Hardraades saga-Pil i strupen-W. Wetlesen.jpg)
Sources
- Snorri Sturluson, King Harald’s Saga, tr. Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson (1966).
- Kelly DeVries, The Norwegian Invasion of England in 1066 (1999).
- Karen Larsen, A History of Norway (1948).
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