in his power to persuade him to become king, and that if he took power, he would stand at his side and fight to the death for him and his kingdom. He reached for the Talisman, grasped it under his smock and added another personal conviction: should Harold be crowned King of England, he would place the Talisman around his neck and bring to an end his odyssey as its envoy.
On the evening of the triumphant return to Rouen, William hosted a celebratory banquet in the Great Hall of his palace. William retained control throughout the proceedings, while most around him became more and more inebriated and raucous.
Harold was no exception. William had granted him his young concubine, and he had eyes only for her during the feast. But William had devised a trap which he was about to spring.
The Duke had taken care to invite the Bishops of Cluny, Paris and Rheims to the great celebration to bear non-partisan witness to the devastating coup de grace he was about to deliver.
The Duke rose with a solemnity of purpose and addressed Harold directly. There was an instantaneous silence among the gathering, abrupt enough to suggest a rehearsed event.
‘My Lord Earl, Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, Earl Marshal to King Edward of England, our noble and esteemed friend from the north, I invite you to join me in an oath.’
Harold shook himself out of his drunken and lustful euphoria. Hereward looked at him anxiously. As in a game of chess, a disguised gambit was about to be revealed, a move that would seal the fate of a kingdom. Harold, swaying a little, joined William at the head of his great oak dining table.
‘In the presence of our revered guests, my Lords temporal and ecclesiastical, I do swear, when God determines it should be so, to place myself at the service of England as its King in succession to Edward, that most wise and noble of monarchs. I hereby further swear that I entrust the command of my army in England to my gracious and worthy friend, the noble Lord, the Earl of Wessex, who will serve as my Earl Marshal, answering to no one in England or Normandy save me.’
William beckoned Harold closer to him, smiling benignly as he did so. ‘My lord Earl, place your hands on mine on this ancient Bible, carried here by the monks of Mont St Michel, the most holy relic in our land, and swear with me this oath.’
William had called ‘check’ but Harold knew it was ‘mate’; there was nothing for him to do but to swear. Harold pulled himself up, found some clarity of thought and voice through the fog of inebriation, placed his hands on William’s on the Holy Book and uttered the fateful words.
‘I do swear.’
Even before Harold sat down, the Norman scribes had begun to commit the proceedings to parchment.
History’s course was set.
William looked triumphant, but Harold’s jaw was set, his face stern and his fury barely disguised. The future of England, the destiny of the Anglo-Saxons, and of all the peoples of Britain, had turned in a trice.
It was a moment that would seal the fate of the British Isles for generations to come.
12. Return to England
There was great excitement in Rouen and throughout Normandy at the news of Harold’s acknowledgement of William’s right of succession. To the Normans, it was the penultimate step on the road to vast new wealth and power. Now, it was only a matter of waiting for the ageing English King to die.
Four days after he had sworn his calamitous oath to William, Harold agreed to take food with Hereward and Torfida at their farmhouse outside the city.
Harold was very subdued when he arrived. Since the banquet, he had taken too much solace in flasks of the Duke’s wine; he looked worn out, with bloodshot eyes and swollen eyelids.
At first he played with the four young daughters of the household, who were then sent off to bed before the eight adults sat down to eat. The Earl obviously enjoyed the boisterousness of the children. Torfida was impressed, noticing how gentle he was with them and how they warmed to him, despite his imposing size and all the finery of his office. Harold began to relax as the adults shared a horn of wine, some pleasantries and good food. When Harold began to talk about the spider’s web of political intrigue in which he was trapped, the other members of the family excused themselves, realizing that sensitive issues were about to be raised, leaving Hereward and Torfida to their discussions with Earl Harold.
‘Torfida, I have talked with Hereward about the unfortunate circumstances I find myself in, and he has offered me firm words of advice. I hear your knowledge and wisdom extend to many things. What would your counsel be?’
In response, Torfida gave a lucid account of her time with Hereward.
She then talked about her father and how he had predicted her destiny and that of Hereward. ‘He could predict the climate in the affairs of men. He knew from where the political wind blew and sensed when a storm was brewing in a kingdom’s skies.’
‘He sounds like the old seers at the court of the Danish kings, in the days before King Edward.’
‘Seers are wise men, my Lord. My father was the wisest of them all, I believe.’
‘What would he have said to me?’
Torfida looked solemn. ‘Forgive my forthright answer, my Lord, but you have asked me a direct question. You are a man of noble spirit. You know right from wrong by second nature, because your heart is good and true. You hold the future of England in your hands. William’s avarice knows no bounds and he has been promised the throne of England. No one can stop him taking it — except you.’
‘I have sworn a holy oath in front of many witnesses. Word will already be on its way to Rome. I cannot renege on an oath.’
‘But if King Edward were to change his mind about the succession, the oath would be null and void. No matter how reluctant you were, you acted only in good faith, as your King had asked.’
‘But the King will not be swayed.’
‘My Lord, you must tell him what Duke William is like and of the cruelty he will mete out to the people of England.’
Hereward reinforced Torfida’s view with his opinion of William. It was a view that Harold had been reluctant to hear during their march back from Brittany.
This time Hereward did not seek permission. ‘I have seen many acts of ruthlessness in war and many atrocious things done in the pursuit of vengeance, but this man is like no other. There is a sinister darkness in him. Not only is he driven by perverted passions, he is also a master of intrigue and deceit. It is a frightening combination.’
Harold thought for several minutes about what had been said to him, before rising to stand by the fire, kicking at its ashes. ‘I miss the fire in my hall at Glastonbury. I pine for England and a people I care about so much, but it is hard for me to accept your argument, no matter how forcefully you put it.
‘I may be the Earl Marshal of England and the Earl of Wessex, but my family is not of royal descent. Godwin, my father, was an exceptional man who elevated our family from obscurity to be the most powerful in England. His father, Wulfnoth, was like you, Hereward. He was a local thegn, from Compton, a small village in Sussex. Godwin was a splendid warrior, became a favourite of King Cnut and rose rapidly. Cnut made him Earl of Wessex. Now, four of my brothers are earls of England and my sister, Edith, is King Edward’s queen; all thanks to my father’s prowess. But, despite our positions, we are new blood and there is much barely concealed resentment among some of the old English families. So imagine my anxiety at now contemplating becoming King.’
He paused, not moving, or even blinking; he just stared, wide-eyed, as the reflections of the flames flickered across his face.
Then, he stirred from his musing. ‘I mustn’t tarry any longer with idle thoughts. I have stayed long enough here in the land of the Normans. I have done my worst. I wish it were otherwise, but the deed is done.’ He turned to Hereward and Torfida with a new resolve. ‘England beckons, my friends. I must speak with the King about all that has happened here. Hereward, if I seek your release from the Duke, will you return to England with me? I will gladly have you in my service as a captain in my housecarls. Torfida, you can bring your wisdom and fill our heads with knowledge and ideas.’
