together his housecarls and such other troops as could be mustered
at the moment, and by a march of almost incredible speed he was
able to save the city and all northern England. The fight of
Stamfordbridge, the defeat and death of the most famous warrior of
the North, was the last and greatest success of Harold of England.
But his northward march had left southern England utterly
unprotected. Had the south wind delayed a little longer, he might,
before the second enemy came, have been again on the South-Saxon
coast. As it was, three days after Stamfordbridge, while Harold of
England was still at York, William of Normandy landed without
opposition at Pevensey.

Thus wonderfully had an easy path into England been opened for
William. The Norwegian invasion had come at the best moment for
his purposes, and the result had been what he must have wished.
With one Harold he must fight, and to fight with Harold of England
was clearly best for his ends. His work would not have been done,
if another had stepped in to chastise the perjurer. Now that he
was in England, it became a trial of generalship between him and
Harold. William's policy was to provoke Harold to fight at once.
It was perhaps Harold's policy--so at least thought Gyrth--to
follow yet more thoroughly William's own example in the French
invasions. Let him watch and follow the enemy, let him avoid all
action, and even lay waste the land between London and the south
coast, and the strength of the invaders would gradually be worn
out. But it might have been hard to enforce such a policy on men
whose hearts were stirred by the invasion, and one part of whom,
the King's own thegns and housecarls, were eager to follow up their
victory over the Northern with a yet mightier victory over the
Norman. And Harold spoke as an English king should speak, when he