Dear Folk,
September 25 th marks the anniversary of one of the most important battles in English history and yet few have heard of it or know why it was so important. On September 25, 1066 was fought the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
Harold Godwinsson has just taken the throne of England after Edward the Confessor died without heir. There had been a strong disagreement between Harold and William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy, as to who should be king. See my column "William the ...?" Things were brewing over in Normandy. Lots of trees being chopped down, shipwrights being employed. Looked like a three hour tour was coming up the Channel.
The English were ready. They waited on the south coast for any sign of Frenchies in longboats: two months of nothing. Things were way boring. King Harold called off the alert. Told everyone to go home, raise the crops and standby to standby. You know the drill. Well, at least the English navy could be moved down to protect things. Harold ordered it sailed down from the Isle of Wight to London. Whoops! They got hit by a strong storm on the way and trashed. Harold still has his 3000 mounted infantry known as house-carls at his immediate disposal.
What a rude shock for Good King Harold to find out that the attack was on from the North. King Harald Sigurdsson, who was nicknamed "Hardradi" which is politely translated as "ruthless," along with Earl Tostig, who was King Harold's brother for crying out loud, along with a couple of Scots decided to invade England. . The attacking fleet consisted of 300 ships and 9000 men. The fleet sailed up the River Humber to a small village just south of York at Riccall. There the army got off and decided to do a little raiding and pillaging. These were folk out a-viking, you understand.
York was a treasure for any viking raid. It was the capital city of the North. Harald Hardradi did not just walk into town and order an ale. There was a battle where some stout English boys held the Norsemen pretty well at Gate Fulford village on September 20, 1066. The Norse eventually won, defeating the Earls of Northumberia and Mercia, and marched into York. The loss of these troops and leaders would prove vital in the later battle at Hastings. Hardradi took some rich citizens as security and marched right back out of York. Didn't even leave anyone to guard the town. Sort of put all of his leutfisk in one basket.
I don't know why Harald Hardradi marched his army to Stamford Bridge. It was twelve miles away from York and a good nineteen to where he parked the boats in Riccall. Granted the road was good, the Stuckeys were having a sale on pecan logs but why? Some say that he thought to meet some hostages there. There was a nice bridge over the Derwent River, kind of grassy and pleasant.
King Harold, although caught with his breeches around his ankles with this northern invasion ,quickly mustered his troops. They marched the 180 long miles to Stamford Bridge in under five days, in armor. That is hauling, folk, I have marched and know that 30 miles in a day with pack is a hard, hard march. These Saxons trekked at almost 40 miles per day by the old Roman road known as Watling Street.
It was a warm autumn day. The Norse were lounging by the banks of the river Derwent. The bridge had nobody much guarding it. Someone spotted a dust cloud. 'And the closer the army came, the greater it grew, and their glittering weapons sparkled like a field of broken ice'
It was every man arm time. One lone Norseman stood in the middle of the bridge to give his comrades a chance to get armored, killing any who were fool enough to approach. It was classic, it was heroic. It lasted until an Englishman crept under the bridge and stabbed him from underneath with a spear. Oh well.
The English were across and jumped the Norse like ugly on ape. The Norse kept their discipline and the English couldn't break their triangular shield wall. The Norse counter-attacked. The English started ballistic combat with throwing spears and shooting arrows. Harald Hardradi got into his berserker rage and no one could stand against him. An English arrow in to his throat put a stop to that nonsense right quickly.
The Norse regrouped around their main battle banner, Land Ravager. Cool name for a banner. Earl Tostig, Harold's brother, took up the banner. It was about to be clobbering time once again but everyone took a breather. King Harold offered Tostig and his men peace. They refused. The Norse got up a war shout and laid to again. Reinforcements arrived for the Norse marching the 19 miles from the ships. They got there kind of tuckered. The battle was fierce and the English won.
Harold was magnanimous to the defeated Norse. He let them go back home. To give you an indication of how many Norse were slain, all the survivors fit in just 24 boats. They came over in 300.
When the slaughter was over, Harold gave quarter to the defeated, and the Viking survivors went home in 24 ships. They had arrived in 300. This marked the last hold any Norse country had on England. Viking raids still went on but nothing like this pitched battle.
Earl Tostig was buried in York, but the bones of Harald Hardradi lie somewhere beneath the fields of Stamford Bridge. Before the battle Harold swore that the Norse leader would get "only seven feet of English soil" for his invasion, and he kept the vow.
The English won, so what? Why is this so important a battle? Harold's troops were tired and wounded. They lost the folks from York. They had just marched 180 miles and fought an incredible battle at the end of it. In a few days, the anticipated invasion from Normandy was going to happen. Harold had to gather his troops and force march them back to Hastings. By the time they finally got back there, the Normans had landed, marched inland and found good defensive positions. Would the next battle have gone differently if the Saxons were fresh, strong, and already there? We shall never know. Worth thinking about though.
What have we learned? Winning some battles can lose you a war? Never let all your troops frolic at the same time when in enemy territory? One man can hold a bridge but there is usually a way around that one man? Brothers can really be a pain? Highly motivated and well led troops can surprise you on how far they can go? How about a sucking neck wound can take the starch and bear out of any Viking? Works for me.
If you are out sacking York, spearing a Norwegian, or just catching a king with his pants down and want to forward these missive, go for it. Do leave my name and sig attached.
Thinking good thoughts about archery,
J. Ellsworth Weaver
SCA – Sir Balthazar of Endor
AS – Polyphemus Theognis