Announcement: Act three. King Harald’s army lands at Scarborough.
A messenger reveals that the English army has
been sighted in unexpectedly large numbers. The
two armies fight at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire.
The Norwegians are slaughtered by the thousand.
Amongst the dead is King Harald.
The Norwegian army
We gladly leave for Harald
the land from which we came;
beneath his royal standard,
his courage and his fame.
We gladly fight for Harald,
we plunder and we steal;
our warriors’ strength is famous,
our courage and our zeal.
We gladly kill for Harald,
we slaughter all his foes;v first, we beat them to the ground, and then we
A messenger
O Sir! O Harald; I bring fateful news. Your army lies
in great peril; the sun is bright but the fates are
black. We thought to meet no danger; but as we
approached the town of York, we saw dust, a cloud
a dust, raised by the hooves of horses; and below it
the gleam of handsome shields and white coats of
mail; and we could see that it was an army, an
army of men; and their glittering weapons sparkled
like a field of broken ice.
A soldier
Side by side the armies fought.
Shoulder to shoulder their men attacked;
the storm of arrows raged around the king,
and all around the clash of mail, the clang of swords,
men running and falling, the crack of blows,
bright weapons flying, hewing flesh,
grating, glinting,
men flinching, kicking, jolting, flinging axes,
breathless they gash and graze and grate.
No room to move, tripping, falling,
horses rearing, a litter of corpses;
they shove and stab and stub,
raining blows without purpose;
the leaders cannot command,
their shouted orders unheard
in the ripping and crashing.
Now Harald, the Norwegian king, felt anger and fury;
Into the thickest knot of bodies he ran,
fighting two-handed, swinging weapons aimlessly.
blood pouring, cramp and sweat, shouting, roaring,
cutting down, moving blindly.
Nearby, a man exhausted, fallen in the mud cried:
disaster has befallen us ! we have been duped!
there was no cause for Harald to bring his
forces westward;
we are all as good as dead!
At this moment, King Harald was struck in the throat,
And drew his last breath,
his last gasp