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Panel 6

 

 

Starting at the left, the panel has King Harald, ready for battle. Behind King Harald, his well-equipped housecarls carry his banner, the Landwaster.

Below Harald, a group of soldiers advance towards the ford. Their dress and formation indicate that they are different from the other Norse warriors. These weaker soldiers were sent forward to tempt the English to attack. Many of their comrades already lie wounded or dead in the marsh. The opening phase of the battle went to the English.

Facing the Norsemen is a defiant Earl Morcar. Below him some of his best warriors prepare a hog’s head – an interlocked group of warriors that is designed to drive into the opposing shield wall. The figure at the front of this group appears reluctant but his posture is just pushing back against the thrust of the rest of the formation – This helps keep them together. This was how a shield wall would be broken.

There are some other groups keeping out of range on the land leading down to the river. The boys with slings can inflict little harm but they can force the attackers to keep their shields raised. We have no record of slings being used in these battles but they are shown in the Bayeux.

 

This is a scaled-down, image of the 5 metre tapestry

It has been split into 6 sections to make it easier to display on the web.

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5 Part 6

Interesting links

bullet Battle of Fulford
bullet Battle of Stamford Bridge
bullet Battle of Hastings
bullet English Heritage
bullet Battlefields Trust
bullet Young Archaeologists Club (CAB)
bullet York Archaeological Trust
bullet Regia re-enactors
bullet Viking re-enactors
bulletOnline documents

Events

bullet Riccall Rampage 24 July 2010
bullet Jorvik Festival (there will be another one in 2011!)
bullet Fulford Festival 2010
bullet Festival of archaeology 2010

 

 

 

 

An Illustrated History of 1066
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last updated 20 Julyy 2010