From the view of an Anglo-Saxon farmer
We were going about our own business as usual when all of a sudden, the bell started ringing like hell down at the manor! What were we supposed to think? The bell was only ever set off when there was an emergency and the Lord of the Manor wanted us to assemble. Instinct told us that this wasn't just any emergency.
We made our way through the meadows to the main field where to our complete surprise, the Lord of the Manor himself stood waiting for us! We only ever saw the Lord during the harvest festival which he held annually for us. The rest of the time he sent down representatives.
I whispered to my friend standing next to me,
“Looks like he has ants in his pants doesn’t he? Look at how agitated his face is!”
“Yeah mate. This one can’t handle a silly little squabble or what ever is going on.”
But the scale of the event going on was not at all comprehended by us. But by the end of the day, we knew alright and boy, we were not happy about it. Some Prince from Norway was attacking our good king Harold Godwinson and to get the English throne for himself.
“March right up North there?! Has the stupid king lost his marbles? How on earth are we meant to get there in a matter of a few days! Then fight them as well? I’m not going to stand for this.”
But of course what could he do about it? It wasn’t as if the king was going to listen to my poor friend’s rant. And if my friend did try to slip out of fighting for the king, he would surely be hanged, drawn and quartered for treason. But we were the Anglo-Saxons, the bravest in the land and we weren’t going to be scared by some Scandinavian miscreant. And obviously we had the Housecarls who are a group of mercenaries who fight for the king or died trying. These are the true professional soldiers and all of us simple farmers will be led by them.
So after a lot of preparation, here we are ready to go off on our march.
2 comments:
That was a nice blog on from a common man's perspective about the impending battle.
Very creative!!
Yeah. I really prefer the common man's view because that is what gives the actuall feeling of what was going on instead of, for example the king's view because he was probably sitting somewhere cosy having tea although in this case he was at the heart of the battle.
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