Note 1353 — Chapter XV · THE NORMAN INVASION AND THE CAMPAIGN OF HASTINGS.[1055] (continued 2)
Reading edition
Will. Malms. iii. 243. “Haroldus ... sæpe hostem cominùs venientem ferire, ut nullus impune accederet quin statim uno ictu equus et eques prociderent.” So the description in Wace (13400) of the exploits of an English warrior;
“A un Normant s’en vint tot dreit,
Ki armé fu sor un destrier;
Od la hache ki fu d’acier,
El helme férir le kuida,
Maiz li colp ultre escolorja;
Par devant l’arcon glacéia
La hache ki mult bien trencha;
Li col del cheval en travers
Colpa k’a terre vint li fers,
E li cheval chaï avant
Od tot son mestre à terre jus.”
Many groups in the Tapestry fully bear out this description. Does the special mention of “acier” imply that the Danish axe was, so late as this time, ever made of bronze? I believe that, vividly as the great axes of the eleventh century live in description and in stitch-work, no antiquary has ever lighted on a specimen. The clashing of axe and lance at Senlac can hardly fail to remind one of the saying of Sperthias and Boulis (Herod. vii. 135); εἰ γὰρ αὐτῆς [ἐλευθερίης] πειρήσαιο, οὐκ ἂν δόρασι συμβουλύοις ἡμῖν περὶ αὐτῆς μάχεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ πελέκεσι.