HOW THE ARCHERS SMOTE HAROLD'S EYE; AND WHAT
STRATAGEM THE NORMANS USED.
From nine o'clock in the morning, when the combat began, till three
o'clock came, the battle was up and down, this way and that, and no one
knew who would conquer and win the land[1]. Both sides stood so firm and
fought so well, that no one could guess which would prevail. The Norman
archers with their bows shot thickly upon the English; but they covered
themselves with their shields, so that the arrows could not reach their
bodies, nor do any mischief, how true soever was their aim, or however
well they shot. Then the Normans determined to shoot their arrows
upwards into the air, so that they might fall on their enemies' heads,
and strike their faces. The archers adopted this scheme, and shot up
into the air towards the English; and the arrows in falling struck their
heads and faces, and put out the eyes of many; and all feared to open
their eyes, or leave their faces unguarded.
The arrows now flew thicker than rain before the wind; fast sped the
shafts that the English call 'wibetes'[2]. Then it was that an arrow,
that had been thus shot upwards, struck Harold above his right eye, and
put it out. In his agony he drew the arrow and threw it away, breaking
it with his hands: and the pain to his head was so great, that he leaned
upon his shield. So the English were wont to say, and still say to the
French, that the arrow was well shot which was so sent up against their
king; and that the archer won them great glory, who thus put out
Harold's eye.
The Normans saw that the English defended themselves well, and were so
strong in their position that they could do little against them. So they
consulted together privily, and arranged to draw off, and pretend to
flee, till the English should pursue and scatter themselves over the
field; for they saw that if they could once get their enemies to break
their ranks, they might be attacked and discomfited much more easily. As
they had said, so they did. The Normans by little and little fled, the
English following them. As the one fell back, the other pressed after;
and when the Frenchmen retreated, the English thought and cried out,
that the men of France fled, and would never return.
Thus they were deceived by the pretended flight, and great mischief
thereby befell them; for if they had not moved from their position, it
is not likely that they would have been conquered at all; but like fools
they broke their lines and pursued.
The Normans were to be seen following up their stratagem, retreating
slowly so as to draw the English further on. As they still flee, the
English pursue; they push out their lances and stretch forth their
hatchets: following the Normans, as they go rejoicing in the success of
their scheme, and scattering themselves over the plain. And the English
meantime jeered and insulted their foes with words. "Cowards," they
cried, "you came hither in an evil hour, wanting our lands, and seeking
to seize our property, fools that ye were to come! Normandy is too far
off, and you will not easily reach it. It is of little use to run back;
unless you can cross the sea at a leap, or can drink it dry, your sons
and daughters are lost to you."
The Normans bore it all, but in fact they knew not what the English
said; their language seemed like the baying of dogs, which they could
not understand. At length they stopped and turned round, determined to
recover their ranks; and the barons might be heard crying DEX AIE! for a
halt. Then the Normans resumed their former position, turning their
faces towards the enemy; and their men were to be seen facing round and
rushing onwards to a fresh melée; the one party assaulting the other;
this man striking, another pressing onwards. One hits, another misses;
one flies, another pursues: one is aiming a stroke, while another
discharges his blow. Norman strives with Englishman again, and aims his
blows afresh. One flies, another pursues swiftly: the combatants are
many, the plain wide, the battle and the melée fierce. On every hand
they fight hard, the blows are heavy, and the struggle becomes fierce.
The Normans were playing their part well, when an English knight came
rushing up, having in his company a hundred men, furnished with various
arms. He wielded a northern hatchet[3], with the blade a full foot long;
and was well armed after his manner, being tall, bold, and of noble
carriage. In the front of the battle where the Normans thronged most, he
came bounding on swifter than the stag, many Normans falling before him
and his company. He rushed straight upon a Norman who was armed and
riding on a warhorse, and tried with his hatchet of steel to cleave his
helmet; but the blow miscarried, and the sharp blade glanced down before
the saddle bow, driving through the horse's neck down to the ground, so
that both horse and master fell together to the earth. I know not
whether the Englishman struck another blow; but the Normans who saw the
stroke were astonished, and about to abandon the assault, when Rogier de
Montgomeri came galloping up, with his lance set, and heeding not the
long handled axe[4], which the Englishman wielded aloft, struck him
down, and left him stretched upon the ground. Then Rogier cried out,
"Frenchmen strike! the day is ours!" And again a fierce melée was to be
seen, with many a blow of lance and sword; the English still defending
themselves, killing the horses and cleaving the shields.
There was a French soldier of noble mien, who sat his horse gallantly.
He spied two Englishmen who were also carrying themselves boldly. They
were both men of great worth, and had become companions in arms and
fought together, the one protecting the other. They bore two long and
broad bills[5], and did great mischief to the Normans, killing both
horses and men. The French soldier looked at them and their bills, and
was sore alarmed, for he was afraid of losing his good horse, the best
that he had; and would willingly have turned to some other quarter, if
it would not have looked like cowardice. He soon, however, recovered his
courage, and spurring his horse gave him the bridle, and galloped
swiftly forward. Fearing the two bills, he raised his shield by the
'enarmes,' and struck one of the Englishmen with his lance on the
breast, so that the iron passed out at his back. At the moment that he
fell, the lance broke, and the Frenchman seized the mace[6] that hung at
his right side, and struck the other Englishman a blow that completely
fractured his skull.
[Footnote 1: The author of the continuation of Wace's _Brut
d'Angleterre_, says, as to the duration of the battle,
La bataille ad bien duré
De prime dekes a la vespré:
Unkes home ne saveit
Ki serreit vencu, ne ki vencreit.]
[Footnote 2: This word seems used in a metaphorical sense. In the Fables
of _Marie de France_, vol. ii. 243, we find
Ne grosse mouske, ne wibet,
Ne longe wespe, ne cornet.]
[Footnote 3: 'Hache noresche.' See note before at page 175.]
[Footnote 4: 'Coignie.']
[Footnote 5: 'Gisarmes.']
[Footnote 6: 'Gibet.']
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