This was not an easy thing to
do, nor could it be done at all quickly. It was necessary to gather a
great host.

Those lords who owed him allegiance had as often as not to be
persuaded or bribed to fulfil their obligation; and they with their
followers and dependents were not enough; it was necessary to engage
as many as possible of those chiefs who did not own him as lord; these
had to be bought by promises of gain and honour. Also a considerable
fleet had to be built. All this took time, and Harold was therefore
perfectly aware of what Duke William intended, and gathered his forces,
both of ships and men, to meet him in the south of England. All through
the spring and summer he waited, in vain. Meantime, soon after Easter,
a strange portent appeared in the heavens "the comet star which some
men call the hairy star," and no man could say what it might mean. It
was not this, however, which delayed William; he was not ready. It is
possible that had he been able to advance during the summer the whole
history of England might have been different. As it was, when autumn
was at hand with the Birthday of the Blessed Virgin, Harold's men were
out of provisions and weary of waiting; they were allowed to disperse,
Harold himself went to London and the fleet beat up into the Thames,
not without damage and loss, against the wind, which, had he but known
it, now alone delayed the Duke.

But that wind which kept William in port brought another enemy of
Harold's to England with some three hundred galleys, Hardrada of
Norway, who came to support the claims of Tostig, now his man, King
Harold's exiled brother, to Northumbria; for the Northumbrians had
rebelled against him, and Harold had acquiesced in their choice of
Morkere for lord. Neither Morkere nor his brother Edwin, with their
local forces, was able to meet Hardrada with success. They attempted
to enter York but at Fulford on the 20th September they were routed,
and Hardrada held the great northern capital.

Meanwhile Harold had not been idle. Gathering his scattered forces he
marched north with amazing speed, covering the two hundred miles
between London and Tadcaster in nine days, to meet this new foe; but
this almost marvellous performance left the south undefended. He
entered York on September 25th, and on the same day, seven miles from
the city at Stamford Bridge, he engaged the enemy and broke them
utterly. Three days later William landed at Pevensey.

What could Haro