lish came front to front. All night the
armies lay encamped before each other, in a part of the country then
called Senlac, now called (in remembrance of them) Battle. With the
first dawn of day, they arose. There, in the faint light, were the
English on a hill; a wood behind them; in their midst, the Royal banner,
representing a fighting warrior, woven in gold thread, adorned with
precious stones; beneath the banner, as it rustled in the wind, stood
King Harold on foot, with two of his remaining brothers by his side;
around them, still and silent as the dead, clustered the whole English
army--every soldier covered by his shield, and bearing in his hand his
dreaded English battle-axe.

On an opposite hill, in three lines, archers, foot-soldiers, horsemen,
was the Norman force. Of a sudden, a great battle-cry, 'God help us!'
burst from the Norman lines. The English answered with their own battle-
cry, 'God's Rood! Holy Rood!' The Normans then came sweeping down the
hill to attack the English.

There was one tall Norman Knight who rode before the Norman army on a
prancing horse, throwing up his heavy sword and catching it, and singing
of the bravery of his countrymen. An English Knight, who rode out from
the English force to meet him, fell by this Knight's hand. Another
English Knight rode out, and he fell too. But then a third rode out, and
killed the Norman. This was in the first beginning of the fight. It
soon raged everywhere.

The English, keeping side by side in a great mass, cared no more for the
showers of Norman arrows than if they had been showers of Norman rain.
When the Norman horsemen rode against them, with their battle-axes they
cut men and horses down. The Normans gave way. The English pressed
forward. A cry went forth among the Norman troops that Duke William was
killed. Duke William took off his helmet, in order that his face might
be distinctly seen, and rode along the line before his men. This gave
them courage. As they turned again to face the English, some of their
Norman horse divided the pursuing body of the English from the rest, and
thus all that foremost portion of the English army fell, fighting
bravely. The main body still remaining firm, heedless of the Norman
arrows, and with their battle-axes cutting down the crowds of horsemen
when they rode up, like forests of young trees, Duke William pretended to
retreat. The eager English followed. The Norman army closed again, a