The Battle of Stamford Bridge
Hello, my name is Hugo and I’m 24 years old. I was born in
Norway and have been a Viking since I grew up. This is my journal about the
battle of Stamford Bridge. I was fighting for Harald Hardraade. III
5th January 1066
The king of England, Edward the Confessor died today
without leaving any
heir. So the throne is unprotected and empty for anyone to fill.
There are three powerful men who claim the throne; Harold
Godwinson the powerful Earl of Essex, William Duke of
Normandy and Harald
III Hardraade King of Norway (Colin Shepard).
6th January 1066
The evil Harold Godwinson has been crowned secretly. What a
Coward! Now, he has collected all England’s troops for
defence. We can expect a
tough fight.
3rd September
We heard that Harold hasn’t any money left to pay his army.
My
King Harald, collected his army as fast as he could. I, as
everyone else in the army wore a tunic and a pair of
trousers. I said
goodbye to my wife, who wore her best dress with a long
apron to honour
me (Vikings: Vikings at home.). Harald sailed to England
with the company of 300 ships(Many Barrow).
7th September
We have finally arrived at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire in
England. No army
was there to fight us. We were a little confused, but Harald
told us
to relax and wait for the fight to come. I took his advice
and sat down in the
grass and looked out at the water with a grass straw in my mouth.
25th September
I had started to have second thoughts about fighting for
Harald. Harold’s
army sounded so tough. Suddenly I spotted loads of men
walking towards us.
It couldn’t be Harold’s army, Harald had told us they would
come in two days,
I thought, but a little part of me knew it was them. I called alarm. Since I was the
first one to notice, I was one of the few who had the time to put on my armour
properly. My armour consisted of a mail coat and a helmet made of iron. My wooden shield was heavy
and beautifully painted and my long sword and axe was shining in the sunlight. I looked out at
the battlefield, it was completely flat except a hill in the end that sharply rose
up to 100 feet. It was a very good defence point. Many of my friends had left
theirs armours and weapons at the boats so they would have to fight without them.
Harald divided the army into two parts. He told one half to run and fight
against Harold right now. They would hold up his army, so my half of the army
could go up the hill and get organized for defence (Colin Shepard) . Harold’s
army was so close now so we could smell what they had eaten for breakfast. I took farewell of my
giant friend. He thanked me and said goodbye. My half of the army was now on
the hill, our strategy was to make a shield wall by locking our shields
together. Then Harald held a speech and he said:
"We never kneel in battle
Before the storm of weapons
And crouched behind our shields;
So the noble lady told me.
She told me once to carry
My head always high in battle
Where swords seek to shatter
The skulls of doomed warriors.”
And crouched behind our shields;
So the noble lady told me.
She told me once to carry
My head always high in battle
Where swords seek to shatter
The skulls of doomed warriors.”
(Trish Scott)
I saw one of the last soldiers in the other half of the
army going down, a tear came down my cheek. I looked at the bridge and
saw that the Saxons couldn’t pass it, and I wondered why. Then I noticed a
giant viking standing in the middle of the bridge, slaying any Saxon that came
to close (Alan Large). It was my best friend. I shouted “Come on!” the rest of
my army heard this and joined the cheering, and my friend had brought back our
hope. At last I saw him go down. The Saxons walked past the bridge and lined up
and they created a shield wall with archers in the front. They tried to shoot
us down with arrows, but they couldn’t reach us. They decided to march up to
us. Now they were only about 50 feet from us. But neither army could break
through the other’s shield wall. Suddenly all the Saxons ran back and we
Normans were happy because we thought they were retreating. We broke up the
shield wall and ran after them to finish them. Suddenly they turned around; too
late I discovered it was a trap, now there was no shield wall to protect us (Alan
Large). Now everyone was fighting for themselves. I did my best, but suddenly a
huge Saxon hit me with his weapon, luckily my shield was in the way, but it was
no use anymore. With my axe I hit him in the head. I saw an arrow go into Haralds
chin. A second one came flying and hit him in the throat.
His last words were “It is a small arrow but it did its job”
Only seconds later he died (Colin Shepard). It was a complete slaughter, and
the air was filled with screams and the noise was unbearable. I felt something
heavy hit my back and I fell on the ground and my vision became a blur.
30th September
I woke up, I looked around and noticed that I was on a
ship. I noticed Harald’s son and asked what was going on. He told me that he
and I was one of the few survivors of the battle and the Saxons had won, I
looked out at the sea and noticed only 24 ships. There were only 24 ships out
of 300 that were needed to carry home the survivors.
