Wulf the Saxon: A Story of the Norman Conquest

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XX.

  THE LANDING OF THE FOE.

  While Harold with his army had been anxiously and impatiently watching thesea on the southern coast of England, the mixed host of the Duke ofNormandy had been no less anxiously awaiting a favourable breeze at theport where the whole of the expedition was gathered. William had, however,one great advantage. While Harold's army and navy were composed of levies,bound by feudal obligations to remain but a certain time under arms, andeager to return to their harvest operations, their wives and families,William's was made up to a great extent of seasoned troops and professionalsoldiers, gathered not only from his own dominions but from all parts ofEurope.

  These were far more amenable to orders than were the English militia.Tempted by the thought of the plunder of England, they had enlisted underthe duke's banner for the expedition. They had no thought of returninghome, and as long as they were well supplied with food, the delay instarting mattered comparatively little to them; and thus while at lengththe fleet and army of Harold scattered to their homes the Normans remainedin their camp, ready to embark on board the ships as soon as a favourablewind blew. They were kept in good temper by receiving regular pay andprovisions, and as all plundering was strictly forbidden the country peoplefreely brought in supplies, and for a month the great army was fed withoutdifficulty; but as the resources of the country became exhausted the dukegrew more and more anxious to move to another port, and taking advantage ofa change of wind to the west he embarked his army and sailed north alongthe coast of Normandy to the mouth of the Somme, and the troops disembarkedand encamped round the town of St. Valery.

  Here there was another long delay, and while Harold was marching north tomeet the King of Norway the Normans were praying for a favourable wind atthe holy shrine at the Abbey of St. Valery. Two days after the host ofHarold Hardrada had been destroyed the wind suddenly shifted to the south.There had on the previous day been a great religious ceremony; the holyrelics had been brought by the priests into the camp; the whole army hadjoined in a solemn service; precious gifts had been offered at the shrine,and as the change of wind was naturally ascribed to the influence of thesaint, the army was filled with enthusiasm, and believed that heaven haddeclared in their favour.

  From morning till night the scene of bustle and preparation went on, andwhen darkness fell the whole host had embarked. Every ship was ordered tobear a light, and a huge lantern was hoisted at the masthead of the_Mora_, the duke's own ship, and orders were issued that all vesselsshould follow the light. The _Mora_, however, was a quick sailer, andwas not, like the other vessels, deeply laden down with horses and men.When daylight broke, therefore, she had so far outstripped the rest that noother sail was in sight, and she anchored until the fleet came up, when thevoyage was continued, and at nine on the morning of Thursday the 28th ofSeptember the Normans landed on English soil, near the village of Pevensey.

  The landing was unopposed; the housecarls were away north with their king,the levies were scattered to their homes. To the surprise of the Normanswho landed in battle array no armed man was to be seen. Parties of mountedmen at once examined the country for miles round, but without finding signsof the defending army they expected to meet. On the following morning asmall force was left in the Roman fortifications near Pevensey to guard theships, hauled up on the beach, from attack, and the duke with his armymarched away along the Roman road to Hastings, where William establishedhis headquarters and resolved to await the approach of the army of England.A wooden castle was raised on the height, and the country for miles roundwas harried by the Norman horse. Every house was given to the flames; menwere slain, women and children taken as slaves, and the destruction was socomplete that it seemed as if it had been done with the deliberate purposeof forcing Harold to come down and give battle.

  No sooner did Harold hear the news that the Normans had landed and wereharrying the land than he ordered the hall to be cleared and issued asummons for the assembly of a Gemot, and in an hour an assemblage of allthe thanes gathered at York was held in the hall that had so shortly beforebeen the scene of peaceful feasting. Harold proclaimed to them the news hehad heard, and called upon them to arm and call together their levies forthe defence of England. An enthusiastic reply was given. As the men of theSouth had crushed the invaders of the North, so would the men of the Northassist to repel the invasion of the South. Morcar and Edwin promisedsolemnly to lead the forces of Northumbria and Mercia to London without aday's delay, and though Harold trusted his brothers-in-law but little, hehoped they would have to yield to the patriotic spirit of the thanes and toplay their part as Englishmen.

  An hour later messengers started on horseback for the South, bidding allmen to assemble at London to fight for home and freedom against the foreigninvader, and orders were issued that the troops who had fought at StamfordBridge should march at daybreak. As soon as the council was over Wulfmounted his horse and rode at full speed to Helmsley. He had each dayridden over to see Osgod, who in his anxiety for a rapid cure was provinghimself a most amenable patient, and was strictly carrying out theprescriptions of the monk who had taken charge of him and of other woundedwho were lying in the village. He was asleep on a rough pallet when Wulfentered.

  "A pest upon the Norman!" he exclaimed angrily when he heard Wulf's news."He might have given me a week longer at any rate. I am feeling mightilybetter already, for to-day the monk has bandaged my arm, and that so tightas almost to numb it. But that I care little for, as he has now taken offthat bow-string which was cutting its way into the flesh. He told me thateverything depended upon my keeping absolutely quiet for another week, forthe slightest exertion might make the wound break out afresh, and that ifit burst there would be but a poor chance for me. Well, I must travel in awaggon instead of on horseback."

  "You will do nothing of the sort, Osgod; I absolutely forbid it. It wouldbe an act of sheer madness. Besides, you would be useless at present evenif you went south, while if you rest here for three or four weeks you maybe able to take part in some of the battles; and, moreover, it may be weeksbefore Harold moves against the Normans. At any rate, it is out of thequestion that you should move at present. I am not going to have you riskyour life by such folly."

  Osgod was silent for a minute or two and then said, "Well, master, I mustobey your orders, but never before did I feel it so hard a thing to do."

  "It is for your own good and mine, Osgod. I am not going to lose sofaithful a follower, and would rather do without you for two months thanfor all my life. But now I must be going, for I shall ride on ahead so asto go down to Steyning and fetch our men. I was before sorry that, owing tomy being here, they did not come down with the king; now I am glad, for Imight have lost half of them, while as it is I shall have a hundred men asgood as his own to help to fill up the ranks of Harold's housecarls,besides the general levy of my tenants."

  On his march south Harold was joined by large numbers of men. The news ofthe destruction of the army of Harold Hardrada had excited the greatestenthusiasm, and the thanes presented themselves as a rule with more thanthe number of men they were bound to furnish. Wulf rode on fast to London.As soon as he arrived there he went to the armourer's shop. Ulred pausedat his work as he entered. "Welcome back, my lord Wulf!" he said. "So youhave come safe through the two great battles in the North. Has Osgod faredequally well, I see that you have come without him?"

  "Not equally well, Ulred. He fought with me at Fulford and received noserious hurt, but at Stamford Bridge he was wounded so sorely that for atime we thought it would go hard with him; but he has rallied and is doingwell, and save that he will come home without his left arm, he will, Itrust, soon be recovered. No man fought more stoutly than he did atStamford Bridge, and the king himself noticed his valour. Although hiswound was but five days' old when we started, he would have come south atonce if I would have suffered him, though he must assuredly have beencarried the whole way in a litter. It troubled him greatly to hear that weshould be face to face with the Normans, and
he not there to strike a blowfor England."

  "I am glad to hear that the boy lives," the armourer said; "for indeed whenI saw you alone my first thoughts were that he had fought his last battle.We have terrible news from the South. The Normans are plundering andslaying from Beachy Head well-nigh to Dover, and the people are flyingbefore them in crowds. However, matters will be changed as soon as the kingreturns to town. London will send her militia in full strength, and we hearthat the thanes of the West are hurrying hither. 'Tis a pity indeed thatHarold was drawn off north, for had he been here the Normans would have hadto fight their best before they established themselves on our shores."

  "They could have landed in any case, Ulred. It was not the King of Norwayand Tostig, but the impatience of our sailors and troops, that left ourshores unguarded. Harold tried his best to keep them together, but in vain.However, they rallied quickly when they heard of the landing in the North,and are coming in freely now."

  "Will the troops of Northumbria be here?"

  "I doubt it greatly, Ulred. They are not true men, Edwin and Morcar; theysurrendered York before an arrow was shot against its walls, and receivedHarold Hardrada as their king. They would be equally willing toacknowledge William of Normandy so that they might but preserve theirearldoms under him. They have promised to send their whole forces forwardwithout delay, but I have no belief that they will be here. I am going toSteyning as soon as I have eaten a meal and rested for a few hours. I shallmiss Osgod sorely. I trust that it will not be long before I have him by myside."

  "When will the army be back here, master?"

  "In three days at most, I imagine. There will be but short stay here beforeHarold marches south to meet the Normans. The news of the wantondestruction they are making has roused him to fury, and he will assuredlylose no time, even though he have but half the force of England behindhim."

  "It is as well to have something to fall back on," the armourer said. "Itis not by one battle that England is to be conquered, and even if we losethe first we may gain the second. We can stand the loss better than theNormans, for doubtless William has brought all his strength with him, andif beaten must make his way back to his ships, while Harold would in ashort time find himself at the head of a larger army than that with whichhe may first meet them. Was the slaughter as great as they say at StamfordBridge?"

  "It was terrible, Ulred; and though the Norsemen suffered vastly more thanwe did, the ranks of the housecarls, on whom the brunt of the fightingfell, have been sorely thinned. We shall feel their loss when we meet theNormans. Against their heavily-armed troops and their squadrons of knightsand horsemen one of the Thingmen was worth three untried peasants. Had webut half the number of our foe, and that half all housecarls, I should notfor a moment doubt the issue."

  "London will put a strong body in the field, and though we have not thetraining of the Thingmen you may trust us to fight sternly, Master Wulf;and if we are beaten I will warrant that there will not be many of us tobring the tidings back."

  "Of that I am sure, Ulred. The citizens have more to lose and better knowwhat they are fighting for than the country levies, and as you say, I amsure they will do their part stoutly. Well, I must stay here no longer. Ishall sleep for two or three hours, and then take a fresh horse from theking's stable and to-morrow shall be at Steyning. By nightfall I shall beon my way back with every man on the estate, a hundred and fifty besidesthe housecarls, and two days' march will bring us here again. Ulf is well,I hope? I do not see him."

  "He has but carried home some arms I have been mending. We are workingnight and day; since the news that the Normans had landed came, there hasbeen no thought of bed among the armourers and smiths of Westminster andLondon. Each man works until he can work no longer, then throws himselfdown for two or three hours' sleep, and then wakes up to work again; and soit will be till the army has moved south with most of us in its ranks."

  Wulf reached Steyning soon after daybreak, and as soon as the news that hehad arrived went round, the tenants flocked in. His coming had beenanxiously expected, for the alarm caused by the incursions all over thecountry by the Norman horse was intense; and although, so far, none hadcome west of Beachy Head, there was a general feeling that at any momentthey might make their appearance. The news, therefore, that Harold wasmarching south with his army, and that all were to share in a pitchedbattle with the invader instead of being slaughtered on their hearthstones,caused a deep feeling of satisfaction. Wulf gave orders that every manshould assemble in fighting array at noon, and that if, later on, news camethat the enemy were approaching, the houses were to be deserted, the stacksfired, and, driving the cattle before them, the women and children shouldcross the hills and take shelter in the great forest beyond. A few of theolder men who were unfit to take part in a long day's fighting were to aidthe women in their work.

  The arms of all the men were carefully inspected, and the weapons remainingin the armoury served out to those worst provided. At one o'clock the forcemarched off, Wulf riding at the head of the hundred housecarls, while thetenants, a hundred and fifty strong, followed in good order. Each mancarried six days' provisions. They camped that night in a forest twentymiles from Steyning, marched thirty miles the next day, and early thefollowing morning joined the great array that was gathering on the hillssouth of London. To his great pleasure Wulf found that Beorn had arrivedthe day before with his levy. They had not met since they had returned fromthe North with Harold.

  "So you have been up there again, Wulf, and fought at Fulford and StamfordBridge. It was very unlucky I was not in London when the army marchednorth; but I received no summons, and heard nothing of it until the kingwas well on his march. None of the thanes along the south coast weresummoned."

  "So I heard, Beorn. I fancy the king thought that in case of a landing bythe Normans the men near the coast would all be wanted to help take thewomen and cattle to places of security."

  "No doubt that was the reason," Beorn said. "At any rate, I am sorry Imissed the fight at Stamford Bridge. The other seems to have been a badaffair."

  "Very bad; we suffered terribly. So much so, indeed, that the earls willhave a good excuse for not getting their levies together in time for thebattle with the Normans."

  "They are false loons," Beorn said; "and brothers-in-law as they are ofhis, it would have been well had the king after Stamford Bridge had theirheads smitten off for their traitorous surrender to the Norsemen."

  "I have no doubt they will hold aloof now, Beorn, until they see howmatters go in the South, and if we are worsted they will hasten to maketheir peace with William, and to swear to be his liegemen, just as theyswore to be liegemen to Harold Hardrada. But they will find out theirmistake in the end. William has promised to divide England among his needyadventurers if he wins, and Edwin and Morcar will very speedily find thatthey will not, in that case, be allowed to keep half the country as theirshare."

  It was a great host that was gathered ready for the march south. Gurth hadbrought down the fighting men of East Anglia; the thanes of the West werethere with their tenants; the Bishop of Winchester, Harold's uncle, notonly brought the tenants of the church lands, but he himself with twelve ofhis monks had put on armour under their monkish robes. The Abbot ofPeterborough headed a contingent from the Fen Country; the men of Londonunder the sheriff of the Mid Saxons were there, and prepared to die indefence of the royal standard, which it was the special privilege of Londonto guard. In the Abbey of Westminster, where Harold had received hiscrown, and in every church of London, mass was celebrated day and night,and was attended by crowds of troops and citizens.

  Harold himself snatched a day from the cares of preparation to visitWaltham, the abbey that he had founded, and in which he had taken so livelyan interest, and there earnestly prayed for victory, with the vow that didhe conquer in the strife he would regard himself as God's ransomed servant,and would throughout his life specially devote himself to His service. Aday or two after Wulf's arrival in London a messenger came from William o
fNormandy calling upon Harold to come down from his throne, and to become,as he had sworn to be, the duke's man. Harold in reply sent back a fullanswer to William's claims. He admitted that Edward had promised the crownto William, but he said that according to the law of England a man might atany time revoke his will, and this Edward had done, and had named him ashis successor. As to the oath he himself had sworn, he maintained that itwas an extorted oath, and therefore of no binding force. Finally, heoffered rich gifts to William if he would depart quietly, but added that ifhe was bent on war he would meet him in battle on the coming Saturday.

  It is probable that William's insolent message was meant to have the effectof inducing Harold to march against him. The Norman position was a verystrong one, and had been carefully fortified, and he hoped that Haroldwould attempt to storm it. Gurth urged his brother to remain in London,while he himself went with the army to battle. A large number of the levieshad as yet not come in, and with these, should the first battle beunsuccessful, another army could be gathered to continue the struggle.Moreover, whether the oath Harold had sworn was binding or not, he hadsworn, and it were better that another who was perfectly free in hisconscience should lead the English to battle.

  Then, too, Gurth urged, if he himself was slain, it would mattercomparatively little, while Harold's death would jeopardize the wholekingdom. He prayed him therefore to stay in London, and to gather anotherand greater force, and to lay waste the whole land between London and thecoast, so that the Normans, whether successful or not in their firstbattle, would be starved into a departure from the land. The counsel ofGurth was approved of by the thanes, but Harold rejected it. He declaredthat he would never let his brothers and friends go forth to danger on hisbehalf while he himself drew back from facing it, neither could he bringhimself to harm the lands or the goods of any Englishman.

  For six days Harold remained in London waiting, but in vain, for the forcesfrom the North to join him, and on the Thursday morning set out with hisarmy in order to meet the invaders on the day he had named. Accounts differvery widely as to the strength of that army. Norman writers, in order toglorify their own victory, speak of it as one of prodigious numbers.English writers, on the other hand, endeavour to explain the defeat byminimizing the number of those who followed Harold's standard. Doubtlessthe English king, knowing the proved valour of his housecarls, and freshfrom the crushing defeat inflicted on the Norsemen, considered the numbersto be sufficient. His military genius was unquestionable, and next only toWilliam the Norman he was regarded as the greatest general in Europe. Asthere was no occasion for haste so long as the Normans remained at Hastingshe would not have moved forward with a force he deemed insufficient, whenhe knew that in another week its numbers would have been doubled.

  On the day that the king made his last visit to Waltham, Wulf rode over toCroydon in compliance with an entreaty he received from Edith.

  "When does the army march?" she asked anxiously as she entered.

  "The day after to-morrow, lady."

  "And my lord goes with it?"

  "He does. I myself think that Gurth's counsel was good, and that it werebest for England that he remained at Westminster; and yet I can understandwell that he himself would feel it a shame did he remain behind."

  "I feel sore misgivings," Edith said, bursting into tears. "When hemarched north against the King of Norway and Tostig I felt no doubt hewould return victorious; but night after night I have had evil dreams, andthough I pray continually my spirit has no relief. I have never feared forhim before. I have always felt sure that whoever died Harold would bespared for the sake of England, but I have no such feeling now. It seems tome that I sacrificed him and myself in vain when I bade him leave me andmarry the sister of the Northern earls. No good has come of it. They arebehaving now as traitors, and he has lost his life's happiness. And yet Idid it for the best."

  "It was a noble sacrifice, lady, and come what may you have no cause toregret it."

  "The queen is not with him," Edith said bitterly.

  "No, she is at Oxford. You must not think, lady, that the king has beenunhappy since he came to the throne. He has been so incessantly occupiedwith work that he has had no time for domestic happiness, even if it hadbeen within his reach. His thoughts are ever on England, and he has nothought of self. Labouring ever for the good of his subjects, he has hishappiness alike in their love, and in the knowledge that he is doing allthat man can for their welfare. If he dies, he will die the death not onlyof a soldier but of the noblest king that ever sat on the English throne,and at all times he will be enshrined in the hearts of the English people,whether Normans or Englishmen reign over the land."

  "That is true, and I must take comfort from it, Wulf; but it was not forthis that I sent for you, but to ask you where the battle is likely to befought."

  "Near Hastings, assuredly," Wulf replied.

  "I shall travel south to-morrow. I have had a message from the king prayingme to see him, but that would be too much for me. He is another woman'shusband and I dare not meet him, it were sin for me to do so; but I wouldfain be nearer to the scene of battle, so that in a few hours I mightjourney there, in order that, if my lord dies, I might see him once again.I know the superior of a convent at Lewes, and there I will betake myself.Thence, as I believe, it is some sixteen miles to Hastings, and so far as Ihave heard the Norman plunderers have not gone so far west. Should aughthappen to him, will you send a speedy messenger to me?"

  "Should I live through the fight I will do so, lady, but even should I notreturn the news will travel swiftly; but God forfend that so great a lossshould fall upon England."

  "Amen," Edith murmured, "and yet I fear. Thanks, Wulf, for coming,perchance we may not meet again. I am thinking of entering a convent,probably that at Lewes. The struggle and pain here is well-nigh too greatfor me, but in the walls of a cloister I may find peace. If my fears arefulfilled I shall assuredly do this, and when I return to the convent Ishall leave it no more. My life is over. I have a happy past to look backupon, in that am blest, and shall be happier than those who have no suchconsolation. Moreover, I can still be proud of Harold, and may love him asI might love the memory of a husband who is lost. God bless you, Wulf, andprotect you through the coming battle!"

  Wulf rode sadly back to the camp. Although he had denied it to Edith, hecould not but admit to himself that the sacrifice that she and Harold hadmade had, so far, been unavailing. It had failed to draw the Northern earlscloser to the king. The marriage had been productive of no happiness toHarold, and the only reward he had gained had been in the sympathy of thepeople, who knew well enough that he had sacrificed his love for the goodof his country.

  The army marched rapidly. Beorn and Wulf rode together, and talked over thechances of the coming battle.

  "I cannot blame Harold for not remaining behind," Wulf said, "though itwere certainly more politic for him to have stayed in London. As he couldnot do so, I think it would have been well had he bidden Gurth remainbehind to gather another army with which to meet the Normans should we bedefeated; or if he could not spare Gurth he might have left Leofric behind.It is assuredly a mistake for the three brothers all to come, for shouldall fall England would no longer have a head."

  "Surely no such misfortune as that will befall us, Wulf."

  "I know not. They will fight side by side, and should one fall all mayperish together. One at least ought to remain behind. It matters not howmany of us are killed, so that one of Godwin's sons is left to rally thekingdom. You may be sure that if we are conquered the victors will be inbut poor condition to meet another foe; but if there is no one to gather anarmy and unite all England against the Normans they will eat us uppiecemeal."

  "We must not think of so terrible a thing, Wulf. It is not like you to lookat the dark side. Why, when we were in Wales, and in as bad a plight ascould well be, you always made light of danger, and managed affairs as ifwe were certain to succeed. Why should we be defeated? Why should the kingbe killed? He went through
the terrible fight at Stamford Bridge without ascratch. We have seen the Normans at work, and know that they are not suchterrible fellows; and as for their duke, I would assuredly rather meet himin battle, doughty as he may be, than have faced Harold Hardrada with histwo-handed sword."

  "I have every hope of winning the day, Beorn, but still I do regret muchthat Gurth and Leofric are both here. Do you remember that in Wales weagreed that it was always well to have a way of retreat in case of defeat?Well, I feel that defeat this time will mean not only the defeat of an armybut the ruin of England."

  On Friday afternoon the army reached rising ground near the village ofSenlac, which Harold had beforehand fixed upon as the place where he wouldgive battle to the invaders. Kent and Sussex he knew well. They had beenthe home of his family, and he owned vast estates there. Doubtless in thelong weeks of waiting for the coming of the Norman fleet he had fixed uponthis spot as one well suited for a battle. It was necessary that theEnglish should fight on the defensive. The Normans were strong in cavalry,while the English were unaccustomed to fight on horseback, and would havebeen at a grievous disadvantage had they attacked the enemy.

  The hill offered many advantages to a force standing on the defensive. Thegreat eastern road passed close to its foot, and its possession barred thepassage of the invaders in that direction. The ground between it and thesea was marshy and broken, and its occupation by an English force left theNormans no choice but to come out and attack them.

  The sides were steep and the ground rose rapidly in the rear, so that theNorman cavalry could not attack from behind. It was, indeed, a sort ofpeninsula running southward from the main range of hills.

  The moment the troops reached the ground the royal standard was planted,and the men set to work to fell trees and to form a triple palisade alongthe accessible sides of the hills. The force at Harold's command must havebeen far nearer to the estimate given of its strength by the Englishchroniclers than by the Normans, for the space occupied was insufficientfor the standing room of such an army as that enumerated by the latterwriters.

  Harold relied almost entirely upon the housecarls. The levies might bebrave, but they were undisciplined, and might easily be thrown intodisorder; they would, too, be impatient under the trial of a long day'sbattle. It is even said that he sent away some of the ill-armed levies, whocame flocking in from the country round, eager to revenge the injuriesreceived at the hands of the Normans. It was upon the shield-wall, thefavourite formation of the English, that he relied to win the battle. Itwas their national mode of fighting. It was that in which Alfred had ledthe Saxons to victory over the Danes. It was that in which they clashedagainst the shield-wall of Norway and shattered it, and he might well hopethat the barons of Normandy and the adventurers from all parts of Europewho fought under William's banner might well try in vain to break it.

  In the evening a messenger arrived from William, again bidding Haroldresign the kingdom or meet the duke in single combat, the crown of Englandto be the prize of the victor. Harold refused the challenge. He had provedhis personal courage too often for it to be supposed that he declined fromany feeling of cowardice, but he knew well that the issue could not be thusdecided. Were he to fall, the people would still refuse to accept Williamas their king; were William to fall, the host that had gathered for theplunder of England would still give battle. Nothing was therefore to begained by the proposed combat.