Dr. Wayne Bartlett

According to the accounts, they don't even have lots of their armor with them.

So they are totally unprepared for what is about to hit them, which is, as you say, this amazing march by Harold Godwinson, a couple of hundred miles in the space of a few days, which, to be honest, I think, can easily be underestimated as a military feat in its own right.

It was an incredible, quick, rapid march.

And in the fight that follows, Harold is caught off guard.

His men are caught off guard and eventually they are overwhelmed.

And at the height of the battle, Harold is allegedly hit by an arrow in his throat, which basically knocks him out.

And effectively, the battle is over, though.

The killing seems to have gone on for some time after that point.

So a very dramatic day in English history, certainly.

It's very...

Very good question.

And it's really hard to give a definitive answer to because, for example, there were several major raids against England, which largely disappeared from memory, if you like, by Danes actually in the reign of William I.

And there is the odd wannabe leader subsequent to Harold, he still makes a bit of a name for himself, this extraordinary guy called Magnus Barelegs in the north of Scotland.

And you even have a battle between the Norwegian king and the Scottish king at Largs in the 13th century, when Scotland is still a bit of a battleground between Scandinavians and Scots.

But I think the Viking Age was already ending when Harold was there.

And I think what you see with these ages, if you like, these labels that we give things, they're often not decisive one-off events.

They're like more gradual transitions to a different age.

And I think Harold Hardrada is definitely part of this transition period where

where the great warlords of former centuries are now becoming proper established medieval style kings.

And Harold has a very important part in that process.