Battle of Stamford Bridge 25th September.
King Harold II, having abandoned his wait for the expected
Norman invasion in the south of England due to an unexpected landing in
the north by a huge veteran arm of vikings under their feared KIng,
Harald Hardraada, speed-marched his huge, mostly-mounted (huscarls),
heavily-armed army north 180m to York in just 4 days and nights with a
brief night-stop at Tadcaster, moved straight through York, posting
huscarls guards at every city gate to prevent leakage of his presence.
He aimed to completely surprise and massacre the fierce Norse army
(only hours before York- thus the entire north?- caved in to Hardrada,
and also there learning from local magnates of where the Norse army
were?) then dash back south before William could land- then waiting on
the Normandy coast for a favourable southerly wind. The Norsemen were
then spending idle time waiting for the York VIP's/hostages &
resting - UNARMOURED- in the late Summer heat on both sides of the
Derwent's riverbanks.
Hardraada had been so flushed with victory at Fulford Gate only five
days before, that he fatally didn't post scouts far outfield to
reconnoitre for any unexpected enemies (And he allowed his warriors to
leave their armour with their fleet at Riccall)- odd for such an
experienced and wily veteran, perhaps?
Consequently, the first thing they knew of any Saxons in the locality
was a huge cloud of road-dust and glinting metal in the distance
towards York at Gate Helmsley 1m away (like a "sheet of ice" acc. to Sturlasson)- could it be the York embassy approaching?
With horror, Harald & Tostig realised they had been almost ambushed
by King Harold himself whom they had thought was 180m away to the SOUTH
and, ordering fast-riders to hasten word to his fleet guard some miles
away to join him asap, Hardrada also ordered the troops on the west
bank to fight a delaying action(or were they simply caught out after
rustling cattle for food, then relaxing?), whilst he hastily formed his
east-bank main army into a huge circle ready for Harold's fearsome
huscarls, archers and fyrdsmen.
Charging straight into the 'east bank' Vikings(forming a crude
semi-circle flanked by the Derwent at it's ends), Harold's huscarls
used (or were ordered to use) their mounted advantage and the English
vanguard tore into them (as I believe), hacking down many & then
aimed to seize the bridge(then a wooden planked crossing, wide enough
only for two men) and cutting most of them off, until the Saxon
infantry caught up with their foes- the Norsemen & English
disintegrated into a seething mass of struggling men and, with the
bridge choked with men, many Norse were driven back into the river
where they drowned.
One large chainmailed Norseman stood alone on the western end of the
bridge (acc. to Scandinavian legend- but not in English sources,
oddly), killing any Englishmen with his axe who neared him, holding up
Harold's advance.
If this story is true, then Harold, perhaps momentarily admiring this
bravery, must have ordered his archers, infantry & cavalry to hold
back from killing this 'hero' there and then, maybe seeing that
Hardraada/Tostig had already formed up a fierce defensive formation
across the river up the slope anyway, thus too late to catch them
exposed even if he killed this lone warrior immediately?
Hardrada's main army had been bought enough time, & they roared
their lone comrade on, but the hero was eventually felled by an
enterprising Saxon who used a swilltub down the riverbank(hiding under
the hanging tree canopies?
His feat is even today celebrated in York's "Spear Pies")
and impaled this hero between the legs thru the bridge's wooden
footboards. Harold's army then poured across the bridge and formed up
(cavalry to the fore, infantry behind?) as the archers 'covered' his
advance and rear.
A parlez is supposed to have taken place with the Norse main army from
the river up the slope- Harold personally offering his brother his life
(& Northumbrian Earldom?) if he switched sides, (he must have been
tempted, but could not face the shame of betraying Hardrada who had
sponsored this invasion, any more than he might not trust his brother-
whom he still wanted to avenge).
But then, what might the earls Edwin and Morcar think to that, when they and their supporters heard this later?
Tostig refused his offer, whether he actually meant it or not, and the
defiant Norse roared their refusals back at Harold's men, so battle
began again... huscarl against viking.
Harold must have realised that his army now would be fighting slightly uphill with their back to the river!
Just one Viking charge like the English one at Fulford five days before and...disaster for him?
Harold's mounted huscarls (if Sturlasson- writing much later-
isn't confusing Stamford with Senlac?) charged up to the dense circular
Norse wall of locked shields & upward thrust spears and discharged
their own spears and quickly wheeled about, then repeated, to wear
their foes down (the Norse front two ranks crouched down behind
interlocked shields, aiming their own spears at the rider's chests,
making it v.impossible to engage them, whilst those standing behind
aimed theirs at the horses chests) whilst archers and spear-throwers
were raining missiles upon the cavalry from inside Hardrada's circle.
This continued indecisively, the Norse thinking it rather half-hearted
of the Saxons, but on it raged on. Hardrada- who had been inside the
circle to plug any gaps in his wall of men- led a fierce charge with a
force of retainers(as at Fulford)seeking eternal heroic fame(?) broke
rank and charged the Saxons as they withdrew to regroup, as was that
tactic, felling many Saxons, whilst the remainder of his army held
formation and fought on behind.
As they became exposed in the open outside of their 'circle' with their
ferocious counter-attacking assault, the English cavalry and archers
whom they dashed through/into showered them with spears from all
directions, slaying a great many.
It might have looked as though the English were about to be routed, but
just at this point- Hardrada was hit in the throat by a chance arrow
among many, felling him along with most of those men with him.
A second parlez?? Maybe another offer of peace by Harold during the
lull as the armies reformed again(did the houscarls now dismount?), who
needed all his men alive and well to return south asap?
But the Norse roared with defiance- urged on by new leader Tostig, who
also was soon afterwards slain as the huscarls and fyrdsmen clashed on
foot with the defiant Norse. An even fiercer phase now raged- bloodier
than before, the armour-less Norse being butchered by the 100's- the
Saxons taking huge casualties while doing so- as the grim day gave way
to slaughter on 'battle flats'.
"Orri's Storm". At
this point, the armoured yet exhausted Norse fleet-guard, led by Orri
Eystein (prospective son-inlaw noble of Hardrada) arrived and crashed
heavily into the tangled saxon/vikings from the S.East (many Norse
collapsed & died of exhaustion just running to battle, others threw
off their chainmail only to be slain), almost battering Harold's Saxons
backwards/sidewards with it's initial sheer momentum of force &
ferocity, the English only just held their lines & checked the
fresh Norse army to a standstill.
A new and bitter fight raged- "Orri's Storm" (Norse sources
state this was "the fiercest of all"), dreadful, close-quarter butchery
continued "until nightfall" - both sides slugging it out in a ferocious
bruiser- the Saxons slain in great numbers but eventually the depleted
Norse were finally broken & routed all the way back to their
ships(and locally- by Harold's 'cavalry'?) in the darkness.
Many were slain by axe & sword as they fled during the night, many
others were trapped and burned alive in barnhouses where they hid, etc.
At great cost to Harold's army, they had won a stunning victory.
Aftermath. So heavily slaughtered had the Norsemen been that only 24 ships out of their original 300 sailed home(over
90% of their army!) -after Hardrada's son, Prince Olaf(actually became
a peaceful Norse ruler), swore peace and gave hostages and plunder,
then the pitiful 1000 shellshocked survivors sailed off north to the
Orkneys, collecting the Norsemen at Holderness, Scarborough and
Cleveland en route.
• Orderic Vitalis noted that even in his day (12thC) their bones could still be seen in heaps. • Geoffrey Gaimar, writing at the time, said “nobody could count a half of those left on the field”
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