Harold Godwinson

Harold Godwinson is the last Anglo-Saxon king of England — and, in the saga of Harald Hardrada, the rival who speaks the most famous taunt in the corpus. When the Norwegian king invades the north of England in 1066, lured by Harold's own exiled brother Tostig, it is Harold Godwinson who marches north at speed and meets the vikings at Stamford Bridge. Offered the chance to buy off his brother Tostig, and asked what he will give the Norwegian king, Harold answers: 'Seven feet of English ground — or as much more as he is taller than other men.' He wins the battle, killing both Harald Hardrada and Tostig; and then, the saga knows, he must turn and march south to his own death at Hastings weeks later. Harold is the corpus's image of the king at the hinge of history — the man who broke the last great viking invasion with a deadly jest, only to fall himself before a new one, the year the old world ended.