Harold, Book 12. The Last Of The Saxon Kings

moving like meteors on a marsh; for the Duke had permitted the Saxon women to search for the bodies of their lords. And as he sate, and talked, and laughed, there e

the Conquer

ligion which we have come to avenge. Nay, on this spot we have already sworn to build an abbey that shall be the proudest in the land,

n have heard already of this pious intent, an

t Waltham, endowed by the prince whom thine arms have defeated. We come to ask but to bury in

e's bro

rought with us all the gold that our poor crypts contained, for we misdoubte

a, the usurper's mother, offered us its weight in the shining metal; unburied be the

one of approval from fierce mercenaries, insolent with triumph; the other of ge

tising, as dishonoured and accursed, the memory and cause of the dead King, that he could justify the sweeping spoliation of

nperceived and unheeded, passed with a swift and noiseless step to the Duke's foot-stool; a

hee that thou darest not do this wrong to the hero who

n accusing angel, on the eyes of the startled Duke, and the breathless knights. But twice in her life Edith beheld that awful man. Once, when roused from her reverie of innocent love by the holiday pomp of his trumps and banners, the childlike maid s

e cheek, and haughty eye, she faced the Conqueror; and,

t least amazed. "Methinks I have seen thy face

Harold; but, as within the degrees of kin, the Chur

me lands and earldom; instead of these gifts undeserved, bestow on me the right to bury and to hon

re, was magnanimous and heroic, moved and won him. "Lady," said he, gently, "thou appealest not in vain to Norman knighthood: thy rebuke was just; and I repent me of a hasty impu

orman knights, dreaming of baronies to come; and still the torches moved dismally to and fr

earch was vain. Deeper and stiller, the autumnal moon rose to its melancholy noon, and lent its ghastly aid to the glare of the redder lights. But,

face may be mutilated with wounds. And therefore it is that Saxon wives and mothers haunt our

in which, according to your customs, your warriors impress on their

"wherefore I grieve that we hav

etraced their steps, almost in de

the Duke-yea, to the foot of the holy gonfanon, which supplanted 'the Fightin

t, and Osgood exclaimed

r! This way, the tor

of no light save the moon, was intent on her search. She waved her hand impatiently as they approached, as if jealous of the dead; but as she had not sought, so neither did she oppose, their aid. Moaning low to herself, she desisted from he

exclamation: "The Kin

is

the woman's form, an

cken at the sight: for the face was all defeatured and mangled with wounds; and nought could they recognise sav

with her long hair to wipe from it the clotted blood; then with convulsive fingers, she strove to loosen th

. She rent the folds, and on the breast, just above the silenced heart, were punctured in the ol

s, and called aloud, in words of the tenderest endearments, as if she addressed the living. All t

d! the words of the Vala were true-and Heaven is kind!" and layin

bed with the touching words- "Harold Infelix." But not under that stone, according to the chronicler who sho

which his life madly defended. Let the seas wail his dirge, and girdle his gr

eart turned into honour the latent taunt; and well he knew, that Harold coul

se heart had broken on the bosom she had found; more gentle was the grave in the

unite those whom life had divided. In the holy burial-ground that encircled a small Saxon chapel, on the shore, and near the spo

eeman still guards the coasts, and rests upon the seas. In many a noiseless field, with Thoughts for Armies, your relics, O Saxon Heroes, have won back the victory from the bones of the Norman saints; and whenever,

O

TE

f the mind (and putting out of all question the arguments that rest on the pretended size of the disburied bones-for which the authorities are really less respectable than those on which we are called upon to believe that the skeleton o

TE

before the

hat could benefit few but thegns; and over cultivated ground or shire-land there was not the same

er, "I will that all men do abstain from hunting in my woods,

ncession to public feeling on the subject; they are more definite than Edgar's, but terribly stringent; if a freeman killed one of the king's deer, or struck his forester, he lost his freedom and became a penal serf (white theowe)- that is, he ranked with felons. Nevertheless, Canute allowed bishops, abbots, an

TE

n's

for, in the Norman time, many compound words were half Norman, half Saxon. But, in truth, Belin was a Teuton deity, whose worship pervaded all Gaul; and the Saxons might either have continued, therefore, the name they found, or given it themselves from their own god. I am not inclined,

TE

g the antiquaries. But it is scarcely possible to read Pegge's dispute with Daines Barrington in the Archaeologia without deciding

t vineyards were cultivated by private gentlemen as late as 1621. Our first wines from Bordeaux- the true coun

TE

Anglo-Norman Archb

dge both by his history and his peculiar reputation (for probably few, if any, students of our day can pretend to more than a partial or superficial acquaintance with his writings), was one that delighted in subtleties and casuistical refinements; but a sense too large and commanding for those studies which amuse but never satisfy the higher intellect, became disgusted betimes with mere legal dialectics. Those grand and absorbing mysteries connected with the Christian faith and the Roman Church (grand and absorbing in proportion as their premises are taken by religious belief as mathematical axioms already proven) seized hold of his imagination, and tasked to the depth his inquisitive reason. The Chronicle of Knyghton cit

ly founded, under Herluin, the first abbot; there Lanfranc opened a school, which became one of the most famous throughout the west of Europe. Indeed, under the Lombard's influence, the then obscure Convent of Bee, to which the solitude of the site and the poverty of the endowment allured his choice, grew the Academe of the age. "

d was banished by the fiery Duke; though William's displeasure gave way at "the decent joke" (jocus decens), recorded in the text. At Rome, however, his influence, arguments, and eloquence were all en

, at which the famous Berenger, Archdeacon of Angers (against whom he had waged a polemical controversy that did more than all els

s a preceptor, and cherished him as a brother or son." He confided to him his own designs; and committed to him the entire superintendence of the ecclesiastical orders throughout Normandy. Eminent no less for his practical genius in affairs, than for his rare piety and theological learning, Lanfranc attained indeed to the true ideal of the Scholar; to whom, of all m

the anecdotes recorded of him show a deep and genuine sympathy with the oppressed population. But William the King of the English escaped from the cont

emption from the ordinary vices. He regarded the cruelties of Odo of Bayeux with detestation, opposed him with firmness, and ultimately, to the joy of all England, ruined his power. He gave a great impetus to learning; he set a high example to his monks, in his freedom from the mercenary sins of their order; he laid the foundations of a p

e, than to track through the length of centuries all the measureless and invisible benefits which the

TE

s reply to Magnus of

ow

was not without touches

have established my royal dignity and authority, as my father before me; and while I live I will not renounce my title. If King Magnus comes here with an army, I will gather no army against him; but he shall only get the opportunity of taking England when he has taken my life. Tell him these words of mine." If we may consider this reply to be authentic, it is significant, as proof that Edward rests his title on the resolution of the people to take him for king; and counts as nothing,

TE

ra

se companions of princes, and blazoners of noble deeds, that it may interest the reader, if I set br

. Whitlock says, "that some derive the name of Herald from Hereauld, "a Saxon word (old soldier, or old master), "because anciently they were chosen from veteran soldiers." Joseph Holland says, "I find that Malcolm, King of Scots, sent a herald unt

chief of the Bretons, "a sage and prudent abbot." But in the Saxon times, the nuncius (a word still used in heraldic Latin) was in the regular service both of the King and the great Earls. The Saxon name for such a messen

TE

, or Tutel

n the creed of the Germanic Teutons, and is closely allied with the good angel, or guardian genius, of

general characteristic. She was capable of revenge if neglected, but had the devotion of her sex when properly treated. Mr. Grenville Pigott, i

, where her society might involve him in disagreeable consequences. The persevering Fylgia, however; in the shape of a fair maiden, walked on the waves of the sea after her viking's ship. She came thus in sight of all the crew; and Halfred, recognising his Fylgi

less earthly attributes, they always blend something of the woman. The poetry embodied in their existence is of

TE

in of Ea

easant), and conducted him the next morning to the Danish camp; previously to which, the youth's father represented to Ulf, that his son, Godwin, could never, after aiding a Dane to escape, rest in safety with his countrymen, and besought him to befriend his son's fortunes with Canute." The Dane promised, and kept his word; hence Godwin's rise. Thierry, in his "History of the Norman Conquest," tells the same story, on the authority of Torfaeus, Hist. Rer. Norweg. Now I need not say to any scholar in our early history, that the Norse Chronicles, abounding with romance and legend, are never to b

__________

arried

hter of surn

thelre

el

ln

dw

ch is the more probable, that the son of a Saxon herdsman should in a few years rise to such power as to marry the sister of the royal Danish Conqueror-or that that honour should be conferred on the most able member of a house already allied to Saxon royalty, and which evidently retained its power after the fall of its head, the

rwards), Canute is chosen king by all the fleet, it is probable that Wolnoth and Godwin, his son, espoused his cause; and that Godwin, subsequently presented to Canute as a young nobl

TE

Fortresses

open to the Danes. Alfred, sensible of this defect, repaired the walls of London and other cities, and urgently recommended his nobles and prelates to build

fell again into decay, so it is remarkable to observe how easily the country was overrun after any signal victory of one of the contending parties. In this truth, the Wars of the Roses abound with much instruction. The handful of foreign mercenaries with which Henry VII. won his crown,-though the real heir, the Earl of Warwick (granting Edward IV.'s children to be illegitimate, which they clearly were according to the

TE

s of Pen

g fortification, compassed with a treble wall, and, within each wall, the foundations of at least one hundred towers, about six yards in diameter within the walls. This castle seems (while it stood) impregnable; there being no way to offer any assault on it, the hill being so ve

f defence, that the ancient Britons had in all Snowdon; moreover, the greatness of the wor

s a fortification. He thinks that the inward inclosure contained a carn (or arch-Druid's sepulchre), that there is not room for any lodgment, that the walls are not of a kind which can form a cover, and give at the same time the advantage of fighting from

nce," [288] says he, "visited this noted rock, to view the fortifications described by the editor of Camden,

heir width, but makes them only five feet high.) "Between these walls, in all parts, were innumerable small buildings, mostly circular. These had been much higher, as is evident from the fall of stones which lie scattered at their bottoms, and probably had once the form of towers, as Sir Joh

ars most probable is, that the place was both carn and fort; that the strength of the place, and the convenience of stones, suggested the surrounding the narrow area of the central sepulchre with walls, intended for refuge and defence. As to the circular buildings, which seem to have puzzled these antiquaries, it is strange that they appear to have overlooked the accounts which serve best to explain them. Strabo says that "the houses of the Britons were round, with a high pointed covering-," Caesar says that they were only lighted by the door; in the Antonine Column they are represented as circular, with an arched entrance, single or double. They were always small, and seem to have contained but a single room. These circular buildings were not, therefore, necessaril

TE

Idol

derived from the Greek, a surname of Apollo, and

vague affinities of name. But it is quite as likely, (if there be anything in th

red them long before Lucan's time. From whom would they acquire them? Not from the Romans; for the Roman gods are not the least similar to the Celtic, when the last are fairly examined. Nor from the Teutons, from whose deities those of the Celt equally differ. Have we not given too much faith to the classic writers, who asse

TE

used by

lves to have witnessed, not in the body, which they left behind, but as present in the soul; as if the same anointments and preparatives produced dreams nearly similar in kind. To the believers in mesmerism I may add, that few are aware of the extraordinary degree to which somnambulism appears to be heightened by certain chemical aids; and the di

TE

s Adju

rdar foun

ay from

nas bes

Ygg-dr

myth of the Ygg-drasill, or the great Ash-tree. With this I shall not weary the reader; especially since large systems have been built on v

ke-king continually gnaws, is the fount whence flow the infernal rivers. Beneath the root, which stretches in the land of the giants, is Mimir's well wherein all wisdom is concealed; but under the root which lies in the land of the gods, is the well of Urda, the Norna-here the gods sit in judgment. Near this well is a fair building, whence issue the three maidens, U

of its symbolic meaning, the general reader is referred to Mr. Blackwell's

TE

's Acc

ed William the crown during his exile in Normandy; secondly, that Siward, Earl of Northumbria, Godwin, and Leofric had taken oath, "serment de la main," to receive him as

ity there is of truth in

mber the authority given to those designs by his own early promise, and know the secret purpose for which the hostages were retained by William, and the advantages he would seek to gain from having Harold himself in his power. But this promise in itself was clearly not binding on the English people, nor on any one but Edward, who, without the sanction of the Witan, could

rd, and Leofric, had taken

when Godwin was an exile; and even the writers who assert Edward's early promise to William, declare that nothing was then said as to the succession to the throne. To Godwin's return from outlawry the Norman chroniclers seem to refer the date of this pretended oath, by the assertion that the hostages were given in pledge of it. This is the most monstrous supposition of all; for Godwin's return is followed by the banishment of the Norman favourites-by the utter downfall of the Norman party in England-by the decree of the Witan, that all the troubles in England had come from the Normans-by the triumphant ascendancy of Godwin's House. And is it credible for a moment, that the great English Earl could then have agreed to a pledge to transfer the kingdom to the very party he had expelled, and expose himself and his party to the vengeance of a foe he had thoroughly crushed for the time, and whom, without any motive or object, he himself agreed to restore to power or his own probable perdition? When examined, this assertion falls to the ground from other causes. It is not among the arguments that William uses in his embassies to Harold; it rests mainly upon the authority of William of Poitiers,

terly groundless, on its own merits, without di

ard left William

ds of the dying Sovereign, would be legal, but they must be confirmed by those who heard them. Why, when William was master of England, and acknowledged by a National Assembly convened in London, and when all who heard the dying King would have been naturally disposed to give every evidence in William's favour, not only to flatter the new sovereign, but to soothe the national pride, and justify the Norman succession by a more popular plea than conquest,-why were no

er, while they had every interest to misrepresent the facts-we have the positive assurances of the best possible authoriti

e, ne'er

alm co

ghly-bo

ld's

oble

n al

d fai

ghtful

ds and

ght ne

need

soverei

cler, confirm these authorities as to Edward's choice of Harold as his successor. William of Malmesbury, who is not partial to Harold, writing in the reign of Henry the First, has doubts himself as to Edward's bequest, (though grounded on a very bad argument, viz. "the improbability that Edward would leave his crown to a m

the recognition of Harold, utterly precludes the supposition that their consent was even asked." This great writer must permit me, with all reverence, to suggest that he has, I think, forgotten the fact that, just prior to Edward's death, an assembly, fully as numerous as ever met in any national Witan, had been convened to attend the consecration of the new abbey and church of Westminster, which Edward considered the great work of his life; that assembly would certainly not have dispersed during a period so short and anxious as the mortal illness of the King, which appears to have prevented his attending the ceremony in person, and which ended in his death a very few days after the consecration. So tha

s practically engaged in the contests and cabals of party, will allow the probability, adopted as fact in the romance, that, considering Edward's years and infirm health, and the urgent necessity of determining beforehand the claims to the succession-some actual, if secret, understanding was then

ry succession, which make him consider that Harold "had no clear title to the crown any way," tincture with something like the prejudice of party his estimate of Harold's character and pretensions. My profound admiration for Sir F. Palgrave's learning and judgment would not permit me to make this remark without carefully considering and re-we

TE

iarities of th

Museum at Copenhagen, the handles indicate a size of hand very much smaller than the hands of modern people of any class or rank. No mod

ng between the east and west of Europe, to be distinguished by the blue eyes and yellow hair of the north. The physical attributes of a deity, or a hero, are usually to be regarded as those of the race to which he belongs. Th

ual labour; and it was below his knightly dignity to walk, as long as a horse could be found for him to ride. But the Anglo-Norman (the noblest specimen of the great conquering family) became so blent with the Saxon, both in blood and in habits, that such physical distinctions vanished with the age of chivalry. The Saxon blood in our highest aristocracy now predominates greatly over the Norman; and it would be as vain a task to identify the sons of Hastings and Rollo by the foot and hand of the old Asiatic Scythian, as by th

TE

rment of

ome other Saxon, and not to Harold. But William of Poitiers, who was the Duke's own chaplain, and whose narration of the battle appears to contain more internal evidence of accuracy than the rest of his chronicle, expressly says, that William refused Githa's offer of its weight in gold for the supposed corpse of Harold, and ordered it to be buried on the beach,

ensis (and to be found also in the Harleian MSS.), that Harold survived the battle, became a monk in Chester, and before he died had a long and secret interview with Henry the First. Such a legend, however absurd, could scarcely have gained any credit if (as

rs after the event-say at the beginning of the twelfth century. These two monks followed Harold to the field, placed themselves so as to watch its results, offered ten marks for the body, obtained permission for the search

TNO

istory of France

d hopes, diseases

oubles peopli

tion were a proven and authenticated fact! Again, the pure attachment to which, in the romance, the loves of Edith and Harold are confined, has been alleged to be a sort of moral anachronism,-a sentiment wholly modern; whereas, on the contrary

t, or too long not to interfere with the current o

ertain nights in the year, Eric the Saxon winds his horn at th

. Art. I. "Correspondance inedite, de Mabillon et de

opular amongst our mediaeval ancestors, it might be shown that some

lo-Saxon women lived, was called Gy

e wealthy, whether for vessels or windows, than in the much later age of the gorgeous

t the

south

y glas

grimly t

. TU

a, or Fate, that pres

hat source may be traced the minstrelsy of our borders, and the Scottish Lowlands; while, even in the central counties, the example and exertions of Canute must have had considerable e

he splendo

(A) at the end

glo- Norman kings, till Richard the First, styled themselves Kings of the English, not of England. In both Saxon and Norman chronicle

y to the speaker, will generally be translated into modern French; for the same reason as Sa

de Rou," par

s their godfathers, gave them new appellations. Thus, Charles the Simple insists that Rolf-ganger shall change his law (creed) and his nam

n poet, as a Saxon par excellence, the heroic defender of his native soil, was, in all probability, of Danish descent. Mr. Laing, in his preface to his translation of the Heimskringla, truly observes, "that the reb

Cambridge, Suffolk, Norfolk, and the Isle of Ely, in A.D. 879-80; and the vast territory of Northumbria, extending all north the Humber, into all that part of Scotland

., Essex, Middlesex, S

ts, Lincoln, Notts,

ks, Beds, and the v

humb

s History of E

ch had grown popular with the Saxon people. Much which we ascribe to the Norman Conqueror, pre-existed in the Anglo-Danish, and may be found both i

s History of E

red to as the object of Scandinavian worship; Woden

(B), at the en

is breed was celebrated, even to the days of Elizabeth. Burleig

, giver of bread; Hleafdian, l

f his friends, those friends were bid to a feast, and the ale so drunk was ca

lle, after the death of Duke Robert, and had by him two sons, Robert

Mone,

TRUTT'

attle of London Bridge, "which gave ample theme

idge is br

n and brig

s reso

rns so

outing in

s sin

oats r

es our O

skringla, vo

haron

ins, vol.

of their active traders. What civilisers, what teachers they were-those same Saracens! How much in arms and in arts we owe them! Fathers of the Provencal poetry they, far more than even the Scandinavian scalds, have influenced the literature of Christian Europe. The most a

See Note (C), at th

ution, since it says briefly, "I grant you all to be as law-worthy as ye were in the days of King Edward." The rapid increase, however, of the commercial pr

to the city of London (Lel. Collect. lviii.), the writer, a thorough master of his subject, states that "the Romans made a public military way, that of Watling Street, from the Tower to Ludgate, in a straight line, at the

ane. Lad-la

Fitzs

Cam

eland's Collect

(Leod-gate)

(D), at the en

re, mercha

Fitzs

. Du Fresne, in his Glossary, says, Muta is in French Le Meue, an

land-yard

ney Isle with the mainland is said to hav

bears in the Chronicles, though Palgrave observes that he is

-S. TURNER, v

1018, all the rest of England was taxed to an amount considered stupendo

n. the seco

ed much the small monastery attached to it (originally established by Dunstan for twelve Benedictines), on account o

.B.-Whenever the Roman de Rou is quoted in these p

responding to the modern

Count in the Norman Chronicles. Earl Godwi

the words of the poet sound grac

assigned to William and to

enuine Scandinavia

ench to Rollo, or Rolf-ganger, th

sued and exterminated those who thought differently;" i.e., on transubstantiation. But the wise Norman, while flattering the tas

on of night-gear was abandoned; and our forefathers, Saxon and

rd III. (though never consummated), appears to have been the true canonical objection.-See note to Wace, p. 27. Nevertheless, Matilda's mother, Adele, stood in the relation of aunt to William, as widow of

f that race (whatever their political faction), will generally exhibit that impatience of despotic influence, and that disdain of corruption, which characterise the homely bonders of Norway, in whom we may still recognise the sturdy likeness of their fathers; while it is also remarkable that the modern in

"Archaeologia," vol. xxxii. p. 109. The joke, which is very poor, seems t

Note on Lanfranc, at

er, Beorn, retained some of the traces of the parental physiognomy in a pair of pointed ears. The origin of this fable seems evident. His grandfather was a Berserker; for whether that name be derived, as is more generally supposed, from bare-sark,-

] W

of the volume (foot-note on th

o-Saxon C

writers

Hov

s, i.e. m

o-Saxon C

ms to have been a common form o

yeux Ta

(F), at the en

e warmest friends of foes the most hostile." "De inimicissimis, amicissimos faceret." This gentle priest had yet the courage to curse the No

dern acceptation of the word. The name given to the messenger or envoy who ful

ft of speech, he unconsciously proves t

The Danes are, doubtless, the best authorities for his character in Denmark. But our own English authorities are suff

nd, and Tostig was the third. Sweyn's seniority seems corroborated by the greater importance of his earldom. The Norman chroniclers, in their spite to Harold, wish to make him junior to Tostig-for the reasons evident at the close of this w

the King's hands, because he was received to his mother's counsel, and she went just as he advised her, as people thought."

ime of John, who styled himself "Totius Insulae Britannicae Basileus.

haron

hat I am left without other apology for the plagiarism, than the frank confession, that if I could have found in others, or conceived f

ald. Gam

is clear from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that the London "lithsmen" were represen

o have peace going to and from the Witan

first Rolf's father, Count of Nant

ford, Somerset, Berkshire

dshire (he was probably among the retainers of Earl Rolf), and on William's landing, became the chief and most active supporter of the invader in those districts. The sentence of ba

s a king who fears nothing; that k

apparition invoked by the witch or wizard.-See SHARON TURN

aldra,

ivinity. See Note (H),

tha, worshipp

pon,-nay, whether it was curved or straight; but the author sides with those who contend that it was a short,

(K), at the en

ich generally makes him so invaluable as a judicial authority where accounts are contradictory, Sir F. Palgrave discards with silent contempt the absurd romance of Godwi

he Saxons. She was accused of sending young English persons as s

sumptions, on the contrary, are in his favour; but the authorities are too contradictory, and the whole event too obscu

lo-Saxon

liam of M

y of William, "Kyng Wylliam was to mild m

g fraud, and stratagem, and murder to a foe, would not, to gain his ends, betray the pledge of the kiss of peace. When Henry II. consented to meet Becket after

s Heimskringla.-Laing's

as so called from hun

n nobility; and a thegn was seldom seen abroad without

Epist. a

GNER's F

but Gryffyth certainly married Algar's daughter, and that double alliance could not have been permi

ave unhesitatingly given to the consorts of our Saxon kings; but the usual and cor

L. De Gen.

, De Vit. Ed

Ingu

t the words of the sacraments; and a person who understood grammar was an object of wonder and astonishment.

irst formed, or at least employed, in that capacity by Canute. With the great earls, the house-carles probably exercised th

f Canterbury, gave the Pope 6000 lb. weight of s

unctured designs, i.e., a sort of tattooing. He says, that they then wore short garments, reaching to the mid-knee; but that was a Norman fashion, and

Danes, in Cumberland and Yorkshire, are still a taller and boni

rejecting the heir, if not of mature years at his father's death, caused rapid changes of dynasty in the several earldoms. But the family of Leofric had just claims to a very rare antiquity in their Mercian lordship. Leofric was the sixth Earl of

LRED de

d up by the sea.-Hostile el

] Wi

hold ties, formerly so strong with the Anglo-Saxon, h

d the site of a farm of Mr. Isherwood's surrounded by a moat, about two miles distant from New Windsor. He conjectures that it was still occasion

, de Vit. Ed

nd support of Edward's reign should be indignant at seeing new men from a foreign nation raised above him, and ye

us the Norman). There can be litt

y of Hunti

Huntingdon; Bro

] Ho

ich has puzzled some inquirers, is from lids or le

Turner, vol

Fosb

ants. Ran or Rana, his wife, a more malignant character, who caused shipwrecks, and drew to herself, by a net, all that f

e husband. The word is here used by Hilda in a general sense of reproach. Both marriage and concubinage were common

no favourer of monks; they were unknown in Denmark at that t

hron. K

onth. Meadow

men-hus.

Fitzst

ion of the Anglo-Saxon custom of selling female serva

erned Wessex, which principality included

tion "true lover's knot;" a vetere Danico trulofa,

s, seems to have been the emblem of love,

is close connection with Gryffyth, and proved by his share in that King's rebellion. Some of our historians have unfairly assumed that his outlawry was at Harold's instigation. Of this there is not only no proof, but one of the best authorities among the chroniclers says just the contrary- that Harold did all he could to

on Chron.

8]

who blameless ke

other worth, a

enthroned, has

cred t

. It is curious to see how, even in Latin, the poet pres

ly altered f

e whole history of the Heptarchy, there is but one example of a minority, and that a short and unfortunate one; so, in the later times, the great Alfred takes the throne, to the exclusion of the infant son of his elder brother. Only under very peculiar circumstances, backed, as in the case of Edmund Ironsides, by

ayeux T

ntly the only monast

Robert of Gloucest

strictly forbidden to bear

p of Hereford, who had been Harold's chaplain, did actually take sword and shield against the

(K), at the end

rk of Matilda, or her age, because in it the Normans are called French. But that is a gross blunder on his part; for William, in his own charters, calls the Normans "Franci." Wace, in his "Roman de Rou," often styles the Normans "Frenc

ent town and c

's Britannia, "C

their baptism in the Alyn, Germanicus ordered them to attend to his war-cry, and repeat it; he gave "Alleluia." The hills so loudly re

s "Holy Crosse, God Almighty;" afterwards in fight, "O

their standard and central posts with barricades and closed shi

ell be one, were so sacred, that even the dwellers in the

(L), at the end

(M), at the end

revalent waste both of gold and silver. Thus, an insult to a sub-king of Aberfraw is atoned by a silver rod as thick as the King's little finger, which is in length to reach from the ground to his mouth when sitting; and a gold cup, with a cover as broad as the King's face, and the thickness

eges Wa

na, or A

] Ir

the beauty of their teeth. Giraldus Cambrensis observes

the last century that a good r

al house of the Basileus of Britain. The dragon seems also to have been a Norman ensign. The lions or leopards, popularly assigned to the Conqueror, are certainly a later invention. There is no appearance of them on the banners and shields of the Norman army in the Bayeux tapestry. Armorial bearings were in use amongst the Welch, a

and there was neither beggar nor poor man from the No

uld be the final event of this war, replied: 'This nation, O King, may now, as in former times, be harassed, and, in a great measure, be weakened and destroyed by you and other powers; and it will often prevail by its laudable exertions, but it can never be totally subdued by the wrath of man, unl

c; but he was put aside as a mino

., Knyghton, Walsin

mton, Kny

ssacre in question; and it is therefore retained here. But it is not correctly appl

se they suggest the most probable motives which induced it, and furnish, in no rash and inco

See No

ded by the Saxons. Zabulus and Diabolus

ree of Life, or symbol of the earth,

as a hostage, cut off his head. Odin embalmed it by his seid, or magic art, pro

but received among the celestial Deities; a treacherous and malignant Power fond of assuming disguises and pl

an all, named 'Managarm.' He will be filled with the blood of men who draw near their end, and will swallow up the moon and stain the heavens and the h

lf Month,

ayeux t

de Rou, see

present Beaurain

de Rou, pa

Poitiers, "apud

thing of magnificence and display, the state rooms were placed

as held by one of his cooks, on the tenure o

rbade the clergy to harbour poets

ORD.

th and stature his excuse for not mee

wnfall, or rather against his release from the prison to which he had been consigned.

n chronicler, says of Harold, that he was a man t

r centuries the inhabitants of Bayeux and its vicinity were a class distinct from the Franco-Normans, or the rest of Neustria; t

ambassador from Henry VIII. to the French King. To this day the

ther cause, broke up positive slavery in England. Thus the Norman very soon lost sight of that distinction the Anglo-Saxons had made between the agricultural ceorl and the theowe; i.e., between the serf of the soil and the personal slave. Hence these classes became fused in each other, and were gradually emancipated by the same circumstances. This, be it remarked, could never have taken place under the An

welve o

] Si

tist to preserve individuality in his portraits; and especially to the singularly erect bearing of the Duke, by which he is at once recognised wherever he is introduced. Le

ayeux t

of which the stones of Westminster Abbey itself prated, in the sta

m is much abridged, reduced into rhythm, and in some stanzas wholly altered from the original. But it is, nevertheless, greatly indebted to Mr. Stephens's translation, from which several lines are borrowe

] Pe

] He

9]

most inappropriate titles (borrowed, no doubt, from the Byzantine Court

gh whom, by the female line, the present royal dynasty

rst wife; Aldyt

Flor

lth," pp. 559, 560, "that if the Atheling was born before his father and mother were ordained to the royal dignity, the crown did not descend to the child of uncrown

," on this head. From the lavish abuse of oaths, perjury ha

h, beheaded by his subject

Brompt

See

that it is the apologists of the Normans who assign that office to Stigand, who was in disgrace with the Pope, and deemed no lawful bishop. Thus in the Bayeux tapestry the label, "Stigand," is significantly affixed to the officiating prelate, as if to convey insinuation that Ha

nto our churches i

Wyn-mont

rro Sturle

ted spirits, or outlawed heroes of the North. It was joined afterwards by many of the bravest and best born of the Saxon nobles, refusing to dwell under the yoke of the Norman. Scott,

ht feet."-Laing's note to the text. Allowing for the exaggeration of the chronicler, it seems probable, at least, that Hardrada exceeded seven feet. Since (as Laing remarks in the same note), and as we shal

o Sturleson

norro S

] Ho

arce an exception, those most favouring the Normans),

old. Chron. Ang

] Ho

Malm

first port for shipbuil

3]

from England at Godwin's return, was Lanfranc's companion in this mission; but more trustworthy author

axon Ch

of St. Mary, then were the men's provisions gon

or converting the savages. And all this while England was under the most slavish ecclesiastical domination, and the priesthood possessed a third of its land! But the heart of E

argument, and the Norman's contempt for Harold's deficiency i

norro S

es of Scandinavian witchcraft? A witch was known, when seen behind, by a kind of trough

norro S

norro S

the word is Land-ode, in Icelandic, Land-eydo.-Note to Thierry's "Hist. of

norro S

erson and Tostig. The account differs from the Saxon chronicle

norro S

norro S

nglo-Saxons, vol. ii. p

norro S

my no time to bury the slain; and the bones of the invade

iorn (brother of King Sweyn), sailed up the Humber; but it was to assist the E

at at meals with t

] He

e-"Hist. of A

e-"Hist. of A

eems to have been called Senlac, bef

aitor-me

einent od e

pie De

ls n'a arm

scu, lance

, Second Par

angarde [eminenc

t virent, ki

, Second Par

Midn

but it is so at variance with the character of that hero, th

icles). Brand, a name common to Dane or Norwegian -Bulmer is a Norwegian name, and so is Bulver or Bolvaer-which is, indeed, so purely Scandinavian that it is one of the warlike names given to Odin himself by the Nors

oth. In the later age of the crusaders, it was more artful, and the li

ayeux t

be seen in the Bayeux tapestry

Roman

lliam of

ieu nou

, the king- maker, slew his horse and fought on foot,

nt li Dus a

aine e de

er e des

nt en Ron

u, Part ii.

made by French antiquar

Roland, b

PICT. Chr

arldom of Wessex, on Harold's accession to the throne, that portion of it comprising Sus

r. According to Mr. Roscoe, in his "Life of William the

Willia

Thus

h) vit Engle

ont nul reco

pushed forth with such force, that he reached him, and struck him with great violence (p

of the recognition of the dead, by peculiar marks on their bodies; the obvious, or at least the most natural expl

rman chronicler, William

See No

parva jacet hic

magno parva

emiticen). His bones are said to have been

n's Essay on

eric. Vit

te to his edition of the "Roman de Rou," says that the only authority for the date of that marriage is in the Chronicle of Tours, and it is there referred

f Lanfranc's character, see Orderic. Vital. Hen. de Knyghton, lib. ii. Gervasi

nd. Mythol. p. 380

m Ministrum Wolfn

e Reb. Gest. A

en, Caerna

's Wales, vol

n of Pownall or Pennant; and must be indeed inconsiderable, compare

p. Acad. Celt.

lliam of

cum suis complicibus qui michi regnum prudentia Domini destinatum, et beneficio concessionis

dward's will, but destined and given to him-words founded, perhaps, solely on the promise referred to, before Edward came to the throne, corroborated b

ve, "Commonw

em regni successorem elegerat, a totius Angliae primatibus, ad regale culmen electus, die

Bayeux Tapestry, which is William's most connected apology for his claim, shows no such violence; but Harold is represented as crowned very peaceably. With mor

h; but there is no very satisfactory evidence as to the precise day; indeed some writers

arold. Chron

to Snorro Sturleson

t, as the old Scandinavian name was now corruptly spelt), one of the illustrious twenty-five "conservators" of Magna Charta. The family is still extant; and I have to apologise to Sir Alexander Malet, Bart. (Her Majes

E