Editing Battle of Stamford Bridge (section)

==Battle==
[[File:Arbo_-_Battle_of_Stamford_Bridge_(1870).jpg|thumb|320px|''Battle of Stamford Bridge'', 1870, by [[Peter Nicolai Arbo]]]]
According to [[Snorri Sturluson]]’s [[Heimskringla]], before the battle a single man rode up alone to Harald Hardrada and Tostig. He gave no name, but spoke to Tostig, offering the return of his earldom if he would turn against Hardrada. Tostig asked what his brother Harold would be willing to give Hardrada for his trouble. The rider replied "Seven feet of English ground, as he is taller than other men" (implying that both Hardrada and his army would be killed and buried on English soil). Then he rode back to the Saxon host. Hardrada was impressed by the rider's boldness, and asked Tostig who he was. Tostig replied that the rider was Harold Godwinson himself.<ref>Sturluson, ''King Harald's Saga'' p. 149.</ref> According to [[Henry of Huntingdon]], Harold said "Six feet of ground or as much more as he needs, as he is taller than most men."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whittock |first1=Martyn |last2=Whittock |first2=Hannah |title=1018 and 1066: Why the Vikings Caused the Norman Conquest |year=2016 |publisher=The Crowood Press |isbn=978-0-7198-2050-2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZA5SDQAAQBAJ&dq=Six+feet+of+ground+or+as+much+more+as+he+needs,+as+he+is+taller+than+most+men&pg=PT125 |access-date=2 June 2024 |language=en |chapter=Autumn 1066: the Norwegian invasion}}</ref>

The sudden appearance of the English army caught the Norwegians by surprise.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles|pages=197–98}}</ref> The English advance was then delayed by the need to pass through the choke-point presented by the bridge itself. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon has it that one of the Norwegians (possibly armed with a [[Dane Axe]]) blocked the narrow crossing and single-handedly held up the entire English army. The story is that this Viking alone cut down up to 40 Englishmen and was defeated only when an English soldier floated under the bridge and thrust his spear through the planks in the bridge, mortally wounding the warrior.<ref>''Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'', p. 198. "Then was there one of the Norwegians who withstood the English people, so that they might not pass over the bridge, nor obtain the victory. Then an Englishman aimed at him with a javelin, but it availed nothing ; and then came another under the bridge, and pierced him terribly inwards under the coat of mail."</ref><ref>''The chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon'', p. 209. "Here a single Norwegian, whose name ought to have been preserved, took post on a bridge, and hewing down more than forty of the English with a battle-axe, his country's weapon, stayed the advance of the whole English army till the ninth hour. At last some one came under the bridge in a boat, and thrust a spear into him, through the chinks of the flooring."</ref> His name was not preserved in the aftermath of this battle.

This delay had allowed the bulk of the Norse army to form a [[shieldwall]] to face the English attack. Harold's army poured across the bridge, forming a line just short of the Norse army, locked shields and charged. The battle went far beyond the bridge itself, and although it raged for hours, the Norse army's decision to leave their armour behind left them at a distinct disadvantage. Eventually, the Norse army began to fragment and fracture, allowing the English troops to force their way in and break up the Scandinavians' shield wall. Completely outflanked, and with Hardrada killed with an arrow to his windpipe and Tostig slain, the Norwegian army disintegrated and was virtually annihilated.<ref>Larsen, Karen ''A History of Norway'' (New York: Princeton University Press, 1948).</ref>

In the later stages of the battle, the Norwegians were reinforced by troops who had been guarding the ships at [[Riccall]] some 25&nbsp;km away, led by [[Eystein Orre]], Hardrada's prospective son-in-law. Some of his men were said to have collapsed and died of exhaustion upon reaching the battlefield. The remainder were fully armed for battle.  Their counter-attack, described in the Norwegian tradition as "Orre's Storm", briefly checked the English advance, but was soon overwhelmed and Orre was slain. The Norwegian army were routed. As given in the Chronicles, pursued by the English army, some of the fleeing Norsemen drowned whilst crossing rivers.<ref name="Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, p. 199">''Anglo-Saxon Chronicles'', p. 199.</ref>

So many died in an area so small that the field was said to have been still whitened with bleached bones 50 years after the battle.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wade|first=John|title=British history, chronologically arranged; comprehending a classified analysis of events and occurrences in church and state |publisher=Bohn |year=1843 |edition=2nd |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vTFOAAAAYAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Morgan |first1=Phillip |editor1-last=Dunn |editor1-first=Diana |title=War and Society in Medieval and Early Modern Britain |date=2000 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |location=Liverpool |isbn=0-85323-885-5 |page=36 |chapter=3. The Naming of the Battlefields in the Middle Ages}}</ref>