Stamford Bridge, 1066 AD – The battle that ended the Viking Age – Godwinson vs Hardrada

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🚩 According to legend, a single Viking warrior held the narrow bridge against the English for a time. He killed about 40 English warriors before he was killed. In the fierce fighting that followed, both Harald Hardrada and Tostig were killed, along with most of the Viking host. Harald’s death in battle is considered to have marked the end of the Viking Age in Europe. The English had experienced a swift and decisive victory at Stamford Bridge, but just three days later news reached King Harold that William of Normandy was commencing his invasion to take the throne.

📢 Narrated by David McCallion

🎼 Music:
Epidemic Sounds
Filmstro

📚 Sources:
McLynn, Frank, 1066: the Year of the Three Battles (ISBN: 0-7126-6672-9).
Walker, Ian, Harold: the Last Anglo-Saxon King (ISBN: 0-7509-3763-7).
Hill, Paul, The Anglo-Saxons at War (ISBN: 9781844685431).
Hollway, Don, The Last Viking: The True Story of King Harald Hardrada (ISBN: 978-1-47828-4653-2).
Morris, Marc, The Norman Conquest (ISBN: 978-1-448-13602-5).

#hastings #stamfordbridge #1066

It’s a hot September day in 1066 and  the hastily mustered army of King Harold   Godwinson closes in on the Norse host of the  legendary warrior-king Harald Hardrada.   Having formed a defensive shieldwall, the Norse  invaders grasp their swords and battle-axes; now  

Two iconic kings of medieval history are about to  clash at the battlefield of Stamford Bridge. In 1065, there could be little doubt that  the House of Godwin reigned supreme under   the nominal rule of King Edward the Confessor. The rise of the Godwinsons to virtual dominion of  

The kingdom can be traced back to the emergence of  the family patriarch Godwin as the most powerful   noble of the land during the reign of Cnut. Initially a retainer of first Athelstan and   then his younger brother Edmund Ironside,  Godwin became the trusted lieutenant of Cnut  

Following his victory over Ironside in 1016.  Marrying the sister of Cnut’s brother-in-law,   he was also created Earl of Wessex, even acting  at times as the great Danish monarch’s regent.  By Cnut’s death in 1035, Godwin was unquestionably  one of the major players of the realm. By 1042,  

The tenacious Earl of Wessex  had survived three successions,   throwing his support behind the restoration  of the native House of Wessex in the person of   King Edward, later known as the Confessor. Throughout the Confessor’s early reign Godwin   consolidated his family’s power, his elder sons  created earls in their own right. Godwin also had  

Edward marry his daughter Edith in hopes of siring  a Godwinson grandson to inherit the throne.   Yet not all was harmonious between the king and  his mightiest subject. As a supporter of the House   of Jelling, Godwin had enthusiastically guarded  against Edward’s bid for the throne back in 1036,  

Even capturing his brother Alfred and handing  him over to Cnut’s son, after which he was   blinded and died of his wounds soon after. Edward had lived in exile in Normandy and northern   France since his father’s ousting from power by  Cnut and had become thoroughly ‘Normanised’ by  

The experience, even acting as a guardian for  the young duke of Normandy, the future William   the Conqueror, during his tenuous minority. Given their dark history, Edward was at best   ambivalent regarding Godwin; as an effective  foreigner in his own land he relied on native  

Support and was yet unable to overlook the mighty  earl’s complicity in his brother’s grisly demise   and his initial opposition to his restoration. Matters came to a head in 1051. Edward had spent   the initial years of his reign not only courting  the support of Godwin and the other major earls,  

But also installing his own Norman and  French supporters to positions of power,   most notable among them the first Norman  archbishop of Canterbury Robert of Jumièges.   Leveraging enough support to drive Godwin and  his family out, it was around this time that  

King Edward may have promised the throne  to his cousin William. However, Godwin was   apparently just as influential in exile as at  home and effected a comeback just a year later,   forcing his own restoration as Earl of Wessex. Godwin did not long enjoy his triumph, the great  

Earl dying at a feast with the king in 1053. Yet  the death of Godwin himself did not eliminate   his faction. Replacing the family patriarch was  Harold, who promptly succeeded as earl of Wessex   and proved much more acceptable as a right-hand  man than his allegedly-murderous father.  

The 1050s saw an acceleration of Godwinson power  that did not go unnoticed by other great men in   the realm. Harold’s younger brothers  rose to earldoms in their own right,   with Gyrth taking Harold’s former earldom of East  Anglia and Leofwine granted a small province of  

His own. Yet the major promotion was of Tostig  Godwinson to the earldom of Northumbria.   Aelfgar, the son of the earl of Mercia Leofric,  never sat easy with the rise of Godwinson power   and when Tostig was gifted Northumbria in 1055 he  had rebelled and been exiled, even joining forces  

With King Edward’s enemy in the Welsh king  Gruffydd. Though ultimately mollified by the   restoration of his earldom of East Anglia and  then his succession to his own father’s major   earldom in 1057, the seeds of mutual hatred  between his family and Tostig were sown.  

By the early 1060s the Godwinsons held  most of the earldoms of the kingdom,   so that by Aelfgar’s death only his successor  Edwin governed as a non-Godwinson. Harold’s own   direct influence had only expanded with his  defeat of – with Tostig’s aid – Gruffydd in  

1063. However, if Edwin similarly smouldered  at the dominance of Harold and his brothers,   his own family would soon be presented with  an opportunity to even the imbalance.   Ten years into his tenure as Earl of Northumbria,  Tostig had built up significant ill-will towards   himself; having opponents assassinated,  maintaining close ties with the ever-present  

Threat of Malcom, King of Scots and finally  effectively doubling the region’s taxes.   For the northern lords enough was enough and  in late 1065, while their earl was absent with   the king back south, they seized York and  killed Tostig’s officials. Appealing to the  

Other great family of the realm, the rebels  sponsored Earl Edwin’s younger brother Morcar   as their choice as Tostig’s replacement. Tostig, however, had powerful backing. Not only   was he the brother of Harold, but was also the  brother-in-law and favourite of the king himself.  

Of all the Godwinsons, Tostig was held in the  deepest affection by Edward. Yet brotherly love   would not be enough to save the ousted earl. The rebels marched south, and Harold was sent   to affect a compromise and found that his choices  were dire: either he could back Tostig (as Edward  

Willed) and potentially ignite a civil war, or he  could accept Morcar as his brother’s replacement,   casting Tostig aside, but maintaining the  peace in the face of hostility from abroad.   Harold, of course, chose peace and an enraged  Tostig stormed off into exile, swearing vengeance  

Against a brother who had stabbed him the back. Meanwhile, a heart-broken King Edward now sank   into terminal illness during the Christmas period  and Harold was acutely aware that the wolves   would be circling outside of England to stake  their own claim to the dying king’s crown.  

A year before the ousting of Tostig, Harold  had been embroiled in his own crisis while he   had found himself in Normandy as the unwilling  guest of Duke William. Whether there because   of an accident or concerted effort to free his  relatives who were languishing in Norman captivity  

Harold had ultimately been compelled to swear an  oath to support William’s claim to the throne.   Back on English soil, Harold likely  had no intention of honouring such a   promise made under duress, but was not  foolish enough either to overlook the  

Obvious ambitions of such a formidable lord. On January 5th of 1066, King Edward finally passed   away, though beforehand he had charged Harold with  protecting the kingdom and another tale has Edward   vaguely pointing out Harold from his deathbed.  For Harold and his backers, these events and his  

Wider support justified his coronation on January  6th, the same day as King Edward’s funeral.   Yet though crowned, Harold knew he would  have to fight to remain king. Duke William,   of course, could be relied upon to be  scheming his own invasion and both the  

Kings of Denmark and Norway had feasible  claims to England traced back to Cnut.   In May, Tostig assaulted the Isle of  Wight, and raided along the south coast,   before reaching Sandwich. In response, King  Harold marched to confront his brother,   prompting Tostig’s withdrawal. Opting to strike north, Tostig landed  

In Lincolnshire. Here he clashed with his hated  rivals Edwin and Morcar, who similarly drove him   back into the sea. Yet if they thought they had  seen the last of an ineffective – if despised –   rival, they would be sorely disappointed. Tostig travelled widely in an effort to  

Back his ambitions with overwhelming  force. Initially based in Flanders,   he had audiences with Duke William of Normandy,  as well as Sweyn Estrithson in Denmark and finally   Harald Sigurdsson, the awesome King of Norway. It was with the final man of the three that Tostig  

Allied his smaller force to in exchange for  the restoration of his earldom. In theory,   the exiled Godwinson could not have  asked for a better backer. Of the   three principal claimants of 1066 Harald of  Norway was the most experienced warrior.  

A physical powerhouse, Harald had inherited  sole rule of Norway after the death of Magnus   in 1047. He had spent the majority of his  reign fighting the Danes and before that   had fought extensively as a mercenary  captain under both Yaroslav the Wise of  

Kievan Rus and then the Eastern Roman Empire. Harald’s flimsy claim to England was derived from   an earlier agreement forged between Magnus  and the long-dead Harthacnut, where both men   swore to take the other as their heir, with the  first to die to inherit the other’s lands (for  

Harthacnut, including his claim to England). Regardless of any real right he had to England,   Harald of Norway was not above forcing the  issue through might and awe. The king agreed   to link up with Tostig later that summer and  press their claims with devastating force.  

Indeed, by the close of August,  Harald set out from Norway,   his sails filled with the same northerly winds  that supposedly delayed Duke William in port.   Landing at Cleveland, the Norse army proceeded to  raid and then sack Scarborough before repelling  

Small local forces, as well as a larger  force sent by the brothers Edwin and Morcar   at Holderness. Having swept aside initial  resistance, the Norse fleet entered the   Humber Estuary where the invaders were eagerly  joined by Tostig and his Flemish mercenaries.  

Sailing inland to the village of Riccall, Tostig  and his Norse allies headed north towards York   itself with around half the total force. It was at  Fulford, just south of the city that they finally   confronted a comparable army under Edwin and  Morcar. Formed up ahead before the Germany Beck;  

The two forces had the Ouse to their  left and boggy ground to the right,   making a head-on battle inevitable. Initially separated by the swollen   tributary of the Ouse, the English army under  the Earls were local fyrd units formed around   the core of professional housecarl units;  if not as experienced as Harald’s grizzled  

Warriors opposing them, they were still a  formidable bar to the great city beyond.   Directly opposing the king next to the Ouse was  the division of Edwin. An experienced commander,   Sigurdsson likely placed his ally Tostig  – with his smaller contingent of Flemish  

Warriors – deliberately across from his  hated rival Morcar to provoke a reaction.   Anchored solidly against the Ouse on one flank and  the marshy ground on the other, the English army   was well-positioned to take a defensive stance,  to soak up the blows of the invaders at their  

Leisure. However, in what is likely a reflection  of his relative inexperience, the sight of his   rival and his smaller force opposite him proved  too tempting a target for Morcar to resist and, as   the waters of the swollen Bec receded, he charged  across quickly driving his rival back.  

To the left, Harald Hardrada marched towards  Edwin with his larger veteran Norse host,   pushing them back from the Bec before eventually  fracturing their formation with much blood. What   was left of Edwin’s men routed towards  the safety of York, while Harald halted  

His warriors and wheeled back south. Morcar’s attack had dealt severe damage to   Tostig’s men, and the young earl of Northumbria  was likely elated at his initial success; yet   spirits were likely shaken and then shattered as  the Land Ravager appeared close-by. Closing in to  

Deal the death blow, Harald’s warriors bludgeoned  a path through Morcar’s flank and rear.   Pinned between both enemy forces, Morcar’s  warriors attempted to break out via the marshy   territory, only serving to intensify losses,  those English dead either being mercilessly   slaughtered or perishing in the marsh. Battered and beaten, Edwin and Morcar initially  

Fled to York, which later surrendered to the  invaders on the 24th September. Perhaps at the   urging of his ally, Harald spared York, but at  the cost of feeding his army and also submitting   hostages – in the usual fashion – who would be  handed over the next day at a specified place.  

Returning to Riccall, Tostig must have been in  high spirits at the humiliation of his foes,   and his Norse ally was one step closer  to his treacherous brother’s throne.   Word had quickly sped south to the ears of King  Harold of the invasion. Throughout the summer,  

Harold had guarded the south coast against the  Norman threat. Having already disbanded the fyrd,   the king took his core of professional  housecarls and marched north,   mustering new fyrd units along the way. In a remarkable feat of speed, Harold covered  

The 190 or so miles from London to York in around  four days. Though impressive on the surface,   it’s likely much of his army was mounted.  Whatever the case, this swift reaction proved   decisive for his prospects of victory. Hardrada  had selected the site of Stamford Bridge for the  

Handover of both the food and hostages. Monday the 25th September was a hot day and   expecting no imminent danger, Hardrada allowed his  men to discard their armour, and marched with less   than his total force towards the rendezvous. As he did so, King Harold Godwinson and his  

Exhausted army had already arrived in nearby  Tadcaster late the previous day. Here he probably   learned of the fate of the army at Fulford and  of York’s surrender. Having briefly rested,   the royal army departed Tadcaster around six am on  the 25th reaching York some three hours later.  

At York, Harold’s presence was still unknown to  either those Norse at Riccall or with Hardrada   himself. Fully aware of both forces, Harold  chose to take on the army under Hardrada himself,   rather than that of the Norse at Riccall. Following the Roman road via the Gate Helmsley,  

The English army determinedly  approached the invaders. However,   remarkably, Harald of Norway and Tostig were still  initially unsure of this new force’s intent.   Back at the battlefield, the invaders  held both sides of the bridge,   with most of their warriors on the far side.  Once the stark reality of their peril set in,  

Tostig suggested a fighting withdrawal back to  Riccall, however, Hardrada resolved to fight.   With battle imminent, it was then that a parley  ensued. King Harold rode with a small escort of   housecarls to meet both Hardrada, Tostig  and their small bodyguard. Since the Norse  

King understood little English, it was the  brothers who exchanged some tense words.   Tostig was not only offered the restoration of his  earldom, but in addition a third of all England to   govern if he turned on his new ally. However,  Tostig asked brazenly what Harald of Norway  

Would receive, to which his brother grimly shot  back “…seven feet of ground or as much more   as he needs as he is taller than other men.” In response Tostig rejected his brother’s offer   saying he would not have it said of him that he  had brought the king of Norway to England only to  

Betray him. Hardrada had not understood the words  spoken, but had caught onto the body language of   Harold well-enough. Following Tostig back to their  army, he asked who it was that spoke so brashly,   to which Tostig revealed it was his brother.  Hardrada angrily retorted that if he had known  

He would have slew Harold there and then. The diplomatic niceties set aside,   the battle erupted around the bridge, with the  smaller Norse vanguard attempting to hold out   long enough for their comrades on the far  side to form a decent shieldwall. If Harold  

Had significant amounts of archers, he may have  used them in his attack, though what happens next   suggests otherwise or more indicates a chivalric  streak of admiration on part of the English.   His comrades either slain or driven back  across the narrow bridge, a single unnamed  

Norwegian Ajax now guarded the passage to  his comrades beyond. The bridge itself was   certainly narrow enough to be covered by the  great swings of his Dane axe, this warrior’s   blows easily hewing through mail, splintering  shields, and hacking away flesh and bone.  

Reputedly slaying forty men, the housecarls  – themselves deadly axemen – pulled back   to offer mercy in recognition of this  Norseman’s great skill and courage. However,   it became all too clear that this Norse Horatius  had every intention of falling where he stood.  

Branding them as a pack of cowards  unable to overcome but one man,   the Englishmen lost all patience. Sending a man  under the bridge, a spear was thrust up and into   the unguarded region beneath the warrior’s  chainmail. Their tormentor finally overcome,  

The English now poured across the bridge.  The forward Norse warriors had done their   work well, as they had held back the English  onslaught for much longer than expected.   Harald Sigurdsson had pulled his main body back  to deploy on some high ground. His battle line was  

Long but relatively shallow, the Norse king having  refused his flanks into a circular formation,   placing himself under his banner – the Land  Ravager – in the centre, along with Tostig.   Yet despite this, the odds were stacked against  them: outnumbered, and mostly without armour,  

The shieldwall was eventually breached, the  Norsemen butchered in their hundreds. At this   crucial point, Hardrada charged into the  thick of his foes, possibly dual-wielding   a great battle-axe and sword; however, even  in his berserker fury, the great Norse king  

Was struck down, the Sagas stating he sank  to his death with an arrow to the throat.   The King of Norway’s fall would undoubtedly  have been a blow to the hearts of his men,  

Though did not cause an instant collapse of his  army. A pause in the fighting did allow for King   Harold to offer mercy once again to the surviving  Norse if they submitted. However, Tostig – ever   defiant – merely took up Land Ravager and  resolved to fight to the death, which he – along  

With his Flemish mercenaries – duly did. The blood price exacted on both sides was high,   yet even as this latest round of battle died  down, a new threat emerged on the horizon.   In the moments before the battle, Hardrada had  rejected Tostig’s call for a fighting retreat,  

But had dispatched three of his swiftest  riders to fetch the rest of his army from   Riccall. In a feat similarly impressive to  Harold Godwinson’s own march north Eystein   Orre had led the remaining fully-armoured Norse  warriors towards the battle, but all too late.  

To compound the day’s misfortunes for the  Norsemen, their armour and the hot day exhausted   them sufficiently to weaken their attack. Likely  pressing some local guides into service they   approached the English from the flank. Enraged  at the news of the fall of their king, this final  

Stage of the fighting was particularly ferocious,  though ultimately futile, and appropriately called   ‘Orre’s Storm’ in the Norwegian tradition. Harold Godwinson had achieved a remarkable   victory that day, though at a staggering loss.  Chasing the survivors back to their ships,  

Harold magnanimously offered Olaf – the surviving  son of Hardrada – mercy if he gave his oath to   leave and never again attack England. If the Sagas are to be believed only   twenty-four of the three hundred original Norse  ships were needed to ferry the pitiful remnant of  

The Norse army back to Norway. Meanwhile,  Harold not only rejoiced at his victory,   but dutifully recovered his brother’s  battered body, having him buried in York.   Alas, Harold would not long enjoy  his greatest triumph as soon after he   received news of yet another invasion. The  long-anticipated Norman landing had come,  

And now Harold marched south to ultimately face  his destiny at the battlefield of Hastings.