Harold II
Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. damn! why do I appreciate him?. I don't know. I just always have. poor guy! yes, he lost the Battle of Hastings. died with an arrow through his eye. yes, he lost his whole army in that battle. sigh. but before that, wasn't he such a hero about it? I mean, he accepted - no, insisted on - the kingship, knowing the Norwegian king would invade, wanting to add England to his realm, and knowing William, Duke of Normandy, would invade to make himself king instead of Duke. allegedly, unfavorable winds penned William in his own ports for seven months. on 20 September 1066, the Norwegian king landed in England, up at the mouth of the river Tyne. he handily defeated the two earls who should have driven him off, and Harold and his small army rushed (forced march of four days) north to meet the Norse at Stamford Bridge on 25 September. Harold defeated the Norse and killed the king. on 28 September, William landed in England. as soon as Harold heard that, he marched his army 241 miles to intercept William at Hastings on 14 October. there he died, and apparently Anglo-Saxon resistance to the Norman conquest died with him. now that's not quite the story I learned as a kid. in that history, Harold and his army pellmelled up to Stamford Bridge, tumbled off their horses, defeated the Norse invaders, got back on their horses and rode like hell for Hastings and fought a glorious but doomed battle there. I don't know why I wanted the Anglo-Saxons to win, maybe because the Normans had the blessing of the Church. but they didn't, and Harold became a hero-in-vain kinda like Roland at Roncesvalles and Davy Crockett at the Alamo. again, I don't know why Harold became such a hero to me, but he did, and I appreciate him still. he was robbed! he shoulda won! but I suppose that would have screwed up history.
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