modifications, and having received a much greater admixture of Northern or Danish institutions than is usually supposed, had endured for more than six centuries.

The crown of England was immediately claimed by William of Normandy, on the strength of an alleged bequest, which Edward was not entitled to make, and a promise which shipwreck had enabled him to extort from Harold. Compliance was not of course expected, and William collected a force not only from his own state, but from foreign countries; Tostig, Harold's brother, (but recently driven from England,) in conjunction with the king of Norway, invaded Yorkshire, and though defeated and killed, left the Anglo-Saxon state so weakened, that the success of the Norman adventurers was assured.

It may be regarded as certain, that Harold, as well as his brothers Gyrth and Leofwin, fell at Hastings, and as most probable that he was buried at Waltham, in the church of his own foundation; although William of Poitiers says that he was insultingly interred on the sea-shore, by the order of the conqueror, and a tradition met with in Giraldus Cambrensis, and repeated by later writers, asserts that he escaped from the field with the loss of his left eye, and lived as a hermit at Chester until the time of Henry I.n

Harold was twice married; his first wife's name is unknown, his second was Edith, (or Eddeva the Fair, as

Another tradition affirms that Gyrth also survived the battle, and lived till the time of Henry II., with whom he had an interview, and to whom he affirmed that Harold had not been buried at Waltham; but the tale is considered a mere fabrication intended to damage the renown of that abbey.

she is styled in the Domesday Survey,) the relict of Griffin, prince of North Wales, and sister of the earls Edwin and Morcar; she survived him, and lived in England until her death, which is believed to have happened in 1075. His sons, Godwin, Edmund, and Magnus, retired to Norway with their sister Githa, who married Waldemar, a prince of Holgard; Gunilda, another daughter, (who is said to have been cured of blindness by Wolstan, the bishop of Worcester,) fled to Flanders with Harold's mother Githa, and his sister Gunilda; the latter became a nun at Bruges, and died (as appears by her monumental plate, still in existence,) Aug. 24, 1087. Alfgar, Harold's brother, and Wulfnoth, his son, who had long been imprisoned by William in Normandy, were at last allowed to secure their lives by assuming the tonsure, the one at Reims, the other at Salisbury.

Of all Harold's brothers, Tostig alone seems to have left issue. Skule, his son, married Gudrun, the niece of Harold Hardrada, and founded a powerful house in Norway; and Judith his widow re-married with Guelph of Bavaria, of the same stock as the House of Brunswick.

"Harold, the son of King Harold," is mentioned by William of Malmesbury as accompanying Magnus III. in his expedition to the Hebrides and more southern islands in 1098.

P They appear to have been given as hostages, when Harold fell into his power by shipwreck, (about the year 1063,) and was obliged to swear to support William's claim to the crown; a less probable account represents them as sent prisoners to Normandy in 1051, when Godwin and his family were exiled, but the Saxon Chronicle does not mention this; on the contrary, it says expressly that " the king gave to the earl and his children his full friendship," (see p. 140,) in the following year; a declaration inconsistent with the imprisonment of two of their number in a foreign land.

a Ketil, a second son of Tostig, is mentioned in the Sagas.

A.D. 1066. Harold is crowned at Westminster, by Archbishop Aldred, January 6.

The earldom of Oxford bestowed on Edgar Atheling. Harold visits the north, but returns to Westminster at Easter.

William of Normandy makes a formal claim of the crown of England; it is refused, and Harold raises a fleet and army to watch the sea-coast, whilst William prepares for an invasion.

Tostig arrives at the Isle of Wight, with a fleet, at the end of April; he attempts a landing on the Isle of Thanet, but is repulsed.

Harold repairs to his fleet at Sandwich, and Tostig retires to the Humber, where he ravages Lincolnshire, but is defeated by the earls Edwin and Morcar, and deserted by his sailors; he flees to Scotland.

Harold is obliged to dismiss his fleet for want of provisions, Sept. 8.

Harold Hardrada", king of Norway, arrives in the Tyne early in September; Tostig "submits to him, and

r Harold Hardrada, or the Stern, (a descendant of Harold Harfagar, and cousin of Olaf the Saint,) is the subject of the last saga of the Heimskringla. He had long served in the armies of the Eastern emperors, had made himself master of Norway, married the daughter of the Czar of Russia, and was esteemed one of the most renowned warriors of his time. He was in his fiftieth year when he invaded England. "He was," says his saga, "stern and severe to his enemies, bountiful to his friends," a patron of bards, and a bard himself. "He was a handsome man, of noble appearance; his hair and beard yellow. He had a short beard, and long moustachios ; the one eye-brow was somewhat higher than the other; he had large hands and feet, but these were well made. His height was five ells," or more than eight English feet, and he appeared in his last field attired in "a blue kirtle which reached his knees, and a beautiful helmet."

becomes his man;" they burn Scarborough, and afterwards land near Selby.

Edwin and Morcar defeated at Fulford, near York, by Harold Hardrada and Tostig, Sept. 20.

The people about York submit to the Norwegians, and agree to assist them.

Harold advances from London by forced marches against them.

Harold arrives, and passes through York, Sept. 24';

The Heimskringla thus describes the burning of the town, which may give an idea of the mode in which warfare was then usually carried on: "The king went up a hill and made a great pile upon it, which he set on fire, and when the pile was in clear flame, his men took large forks, and pitched the burning wood down into the town, so that one house caught fire after the other, and the town surrendered."

The castle of York surrendered on Sunday, September 24, and the Heimskringla says, the Norwegians retired to their ships, with the understanding that on the following day hostages were to be given them at Stanford-bridge. They landed accordingly in the morning; "the weather was uncommonly fine, and it was hot sunshine. The men therefore laid aside their armour, and went on the land with their shields, helmets, and spears, and girt with swords, and many had also arrows and bows, and all were very merry.' An approaching crowd, at first taken for the hostages, was soon found to be the English army, and Tostig counselled a retreat to their ships, but his advice was rejected. Harold advanced with a small party, and offered the third of his kingdom to Tostig rather than fight with a brother, but refused more than a grave for the Norwegian king. Tostig declined to break faith with his ally, and when afterwards reproached by him for allowing his brother to withdraw in safety, is said to have made a reply, the noble sentiment of which, however it may redeem his own character, usually painted in such dark colours, affords no compensation for the evils that his invasion brought upon his country. "I saw," he said, "that he was going to offer me peace, and a great dominiou, and that on the other hand I should be his murderer if I betrayed him; and I would rather he should be my murderer than I his, if one of the two be to die." Hardrada at once prepared for battle, merely making a remark which is worthy of preservation as one of our few notices of Harold's personal appearance: "He is a little man, but he sat firmly in his stirrups." He probably spoke with reference to his own stature, as Orderic tells us Harold was distinguished for his

be encounters the Norwegians at Stanford-bridge, where they are totally defeated, Sept. 25. Harold Hardrada and Tostig are slain, and "the king then gave his protection to Olaf, son of the king of the Norwegians, and to their bishop, and to the earl of Orkney, and to all those who were left in the ships; and they then went up to our king, and swore oaths that they ever would observe peace and friendship towards this land, and the king let them go home with twenty-four ships."

William of Normandy sails from St. Valery, Sept. 26, and arrives at Pevensey, Sept. 28, "on the eve of St. Michael's mass"." The Normans fortify a camp near Hastings, and from it plunder the country.

Harold, hearing of their arrival, marches southward, and arrives in sight of their position, Oct. 13.

The battle of Hastings, Oct. 14. "William came against Harold unawares, before his people were set in order. But the king nevertheless strenuously fought against him with those men who would follow him; and there was great slaughter made on either hand. There was slain King Harold, and Leofwin the earl, his brother, and Gyrth the earl, his brother, and many good men; and the Frenchmen had possession of the place of carnage, all as God granted them for the people's sins . . . . . This fight was done on the day of Calixtus the pope."

great size and strength, also for his polished manners, firmness, eloquence, ready wit, and "many other excellent qualities."

Another MS. of the Saxon Chronicle says, "St. Michael's-massday;" Norman authors, too, differ in their dates for the sailing of the fleet; but there is no real contradiction, as so large a force could hardly be embarked or disembarked in a single day.

The Chronicle of Wales relates the brief reign of Harold in a