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When men bespeak of legendary fighters and warriors throughout the history of man, more than a few easy smiles and eager words mention the Burning Star himself – Harold II, son of Godwin and King of the English. The reasons are clear with anyone who knows the history of the Isles. Formerly the furthermost Roman province, upon the invasion of the Anglo-Saxon tribes the many petty kingdoms by now known were formed as the so-called Heptarchy – Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Kent, Essex, Wessex and Sussex.

The petty kings warred among one another for hundreds of years, and the title of King of the English, or Rex Anglorum, was not in widespread use until Athelstan the Noble Stone's royal charter in 928 Anno Domini. The usage since Athelstan's death was a matter of dispute, with many Normans and Danes oft-attacking the Isles in hopes of taking the title for themselves. Houses of Wessex and of Denmark frequently changed their ruling positions in the second millennium of Our Lord. In 1066 matters came to a head, as the Year to Conquer England began, as it was aptly named by historians and other men of knowledge alike.

Harold, hailing from a powerful family with ties to Canute Sweynsson, former North Sea Emperor and King of the English, became one of the most influential nobles on the Isles during this time. However, what really brought Harold Godwinson into the fray of English politics were his close ties with King Edward the Confessor through marriage with the latter's sister, which would bear him three sons and two daughters and a later marriage to Edith of Mercia which yielded two sons and a daughter.

The Witenagemot, an important political institution during the Isles' rich history that comprised the realm's most important nobles both, ecclesiastic and secular, served the King of the English in an advisory role. The Witan, as its members were called, elected Harold II as Edward's successor on January the Fifth of the Year of Our Lord 1066. It is believed that the Confessor awakened from his deep and labourious slumber only to mutter an order for Harold to protect his soon-to-be widow and kingdom, which is what convinced the Witan to pull all their support behind Harold II, the son of Godwin, heretofore Godwinson.

Harold, however, was not the only man eyeing the throne of England, for Hardrada of Norway and William of Normandy also raised their armies to take what they believed was rightfully theirs. At first, Harold's efforts seemed to be in vain, for his armies could not have waged war against the Bastard of Normandy because of unfavourable winds that beset his men on the Isle of Wight. Having disbanded his army in early September due to lack of food, Harold Godwinson returned to London a wearier man.


On that same day, Hardrada disembarked on English soil at the mouth of the Tyne river, joining up with Harold's treacherous brother Tostig, who was exiled by the rightful King a couple years before the invasion for his horrid governance of Northumbria. The aforemention region suffered once more as the Battle of Fulford yielded the invaders an important victory over the earls Morcar of Northumbria and Edwin of Mercia on September Twentieth.

This prompted Harold II on a forceful march northward, toward Yorkshire where he would take Hardrada by surprise, though there exists a legend even greater than Harold's tremendous victory over Hardrada the next day. It is said that Harold had awoken in a particularly dour mood in the middle of the night, only to come out of his tent and gaze upon a breathtaking burning star cutting through the black void of the empty night sky.

Some time later during that night, in Hardrada's encampment, a hooded figure entered Tostig's tent, calling himself a nameless messenger of Harold's. He offered Tostig the earldom he had previously lost if he were to turn against his Norwegian ally. Tostig then asked the man what Harold would be willing to give Hardrada for his troubles.

Though his eyes were obscured, the hooded man's smile lights up against the flickering candlelight in the distance, resembling more the mysterious burning star from before than a predatory foe's as Tostig had been expecting, "Seven feet of English ground, as he is taller than most men." The messenger leaves the rebellious brother's encampment in a swirl of his long black cloak.

It is said that Hardrada was so impressed by the mad man's boldness that he had enquired his name. Tostig merely replied that the unknown figure was Harold Godwinson himself.

The next day, the famed Battle of Stamford Bridge had occurred, where the massive Anglo-Saxon host outsmarted the Norwegians and homebound traitors on every possible front. This glorious turn of events proved many sceptics wrong regarding the ill omen that the burning star from the night before supposedly bore, though not all were convinced at the time.


That honour went to the Battle of Hastings, waged on October Fourteenth, where Harold's decision to strike the Bastard's encamped troops in an attempt to alleviate his own troops' tiredness after a forceful march of over two-hundred and forty miles south paid off in dividends. William the Bastard and dozens of his companions were slain in the bloody fighting that was thought to have lasted for five whole hours, but the deed was done – Harold had protected England from two invading armies in less than a moon's turn. Well and truly, Harold Godwinson was left alone as the sole living King of the English after almost a year of war.

Now venerated as the Burning Star that graced the English with fortune yet unseen and unfelt, Harold's subsequent seventeen years on the throne of England were described by most as glorious – he repelled another invasion, this time by Sweyn Estridsson of Denmark in late 1069 Anno Domini, renewed relations with the Pope after the latter's alleged support of William the Bastard, destroyed a conspiracy of his earls and incorporated their holdings into his own, fostered warm relations with his loyal earls and let them independently run their lands so long as the royal treasury received its taxes on time, stressed the importance of the Witan's advisory roles, appointed wise men to the Witenagemot, funded a wide array of different rebels in the crumbling holdings of late claimant William as well as expanding trade across Europe and its many realms that were close to England. Just to name a few…

However, even the greatest men of the world must pass at one point, and Harold had to do the same. At the age of one-and-sixty he passed in his sleep in the royal capital of Winchester, leaving the Witenagemot to proclaim Godwin, Harold's eldest son the new King at Westminster Abbey. The initial years of Godwin Haroldson's reign would be focused solely on continuing his father's planned endeavours, such as a realmwide census aimed at writing down the personal belongings of each man regardless of social stature in order to better ameliorate some of Harold II's taxation policies. However, Godwin would not be present when most of these reforms did finally take place.

Godwin's efforts were not merely economic in nature either, for he wearily looked onto his brothers Edmund, Magnus, Harold and Ulf and the incitement to rebellion their mere persons might attract, for England knew not what two generations of peace looked like, and his uncle Tostig's treachery still remained in memory for most nobles. The Witan had looked upon Godwin with great favour, for Harold II had begun grooming his eldest son for the throne years before his demise. Thus, Godwin had successfuly received over a third of the kingdom after having called an assembly of the Witenagemot to fairly distribute the lands among the brothers, and their renewed outpours of affection slowly, yet surely brought their relationship with their king onto the same levels that the late Burning Star had maintained with Gyrth and Leofwine.

Godwin's marriage to Margaret of Wessex, forged in 1069 Anno Domini as a way of combining the rivalling claims of the Godwins and the Wessexians to the throne England had, by the time of his father's death and his ascension to the throne, bore the couple two sons – Edward (born 1074) and Wulffrith (born 1081), and three daughters – Edith (born 1071), Garwynn (born 1076) and Denegyth (born 1078).

When the Pope voiced his declaration of the Pannonian Crusade, Godwin demanded to go. However, such was only possible after his father's death, whose outward policy was decidedly more isolated, for fear of another foreign invasion breaking England. In late 1084 Anno Domini, he joined forces with Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV and jointly liberated the Duchy of Nitra, soon to be incorporated into the ruler of Nordheim's domain. During Godwin's adventures, his younger brother Magnus served in his stead, until his return in 1088 of Our Lord.

But upon his return, Godwin had been informed by his loyal brother of the earls that were not related to the Godwins by blood, whose shameless slights of Magnus and the ruling dynasty became more and more pronounced as the years without Godwin I's steady hand had gone by. Godwin promised his brother that none of it will continue unabated.

Like rats fleeing a sinking ship, the earls of the northernmost reaches of the realm quietly prostrated themselves before Godwin, likely out of fear, for the Burning Star's favourite son still possessed a bear's body and the thick beard to maintain such a fearsome reputation. In 1094, with another Crusade being called forth by the Pope, Godwin decided to raise his armies mostly from the northern earldoms, in order to test their rulers and to perhaps rid himself of the burdens that they had presented by having them die in the unfathomable sands of Asia. Additionally, it proved to be a perfect opportunity for the king to expand his power into the furthermost reaches of his kingdom now that his most disloyal subjects were abroad and bleeding themselves.

As it stands, Godwin's reign is a strong one, an uninterrupted continuation of his father's glorious rule. By all accounts, the House of Godwin is there to stay as Kings of the English, and with the Witan acting as the most loyal of Godwins' men, it seems as though their continued influence over the English throne is nigh guaranteed for generations to come.

This chapter was greatly inspired by Achaemenid Rome's excellent mini-TL The Shielding of Engla Land against the Normishmen, a story about Harold's victory at Hastings that is written in Anglish, truly making it one of the most unique stories on this site.