A week from today, my son has a birthday. Around our house, that‘s reason enough to celebrate. For those with a more global perspective, Tuesday, October 14th, marks the 959th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. On this date in 1066, the Norman army, led by William the Conqueror, defeated the forces of King Harold II of England. Harold was killed—shot in the eye with an arrow, according to legend. Shortly thereafter, his troops capitulated. The reign of the Anglo-Saxon kings of England came to an end.
Harold may have been among the last casualties of the Battle of Hastings. Today, however, I should like to consider the first.
The Normans invaded England at Pevensey in East Sussex. No troops lined the shore to oppose him, for Harold's army was in the north of England, repelling an invading Norwegian army. From the landing beach, William marched his men on toward Hastings. Harold raced his troops down from the north to confront this group of invaders. The Anglo-Saxons seized the high ground at Senlac Hill and prepared to fight a defensive battle.
The Carmen de Hastingae Proelio presents the oldest source on the Battle of Hastings, written in 1067 or 1068. On the eve of battle, the Normans were dispirited. Not surprisingly, since they, clad in chain mail, must charge the Saxons’ shield wall uphill. Harold’s infantry waited for them there, his lines braced for the attack by the invaders.
According to the epic, out from the mass of Norman soldiers rode a lone man, Ivo Taillefer, the jongleur, minstrel, or storyteller to William. He positioned himself between the two opposing forces. While astride his horse, he began to juggle his sword, catching and throwing it into the air again and again, while singing the Song of Roland, a lyrical poem about a heroic French warrior who served under Charlemagne.
A man should suffer greatly for his lord,
Endure both biting cold and sweltering heat
And sacrifice for him both flesh and blood.
Stanza LXXXVIII, line 1117
Incensed by the bravado, a Saxon soldier rushed from the lines to kill the provocative Taillefer. Tailllefer, however, snatched his sword in mid-air and struck down the man. Singlehandedly, the warrior storyteller then charged the English lines. Inspired, the Normans loosed their arrows, and the battle began.
We might pause the story to consider the warrior storyteller, the person who finds battle and literature to be complementary. Their experiences with death, valor, inhumanity, and a community of individuals locked in a common lead some to contemplate the big questions of life.
In that moment, the warrior storyteller became a literary figure himself.
“Taillefer,
who sang right well,
Upon
a swift horse
Sang
before the Duke
Of
Charlemagne and of Roland
And
of Oliver and their vassals
That
died at Roncesvalles."
Wace, Roman de Rou, lines 8013–8019
Taillefer also enriched the lives of storytellers to come. The Norman victory at Hastings was “an event which had a greater effect on the English language than any other in the course of its history,” according to H. R. Lyon.
William the Conqueror’s coronation at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1066, was voiced in English and Latin. He, however, knew Norman French. From that day, three languages were spoken throughout Britain, gradually melding into one. It is estimated that the Norman conquest added 10-12,000 words to the English language.
A story from the times illustrates the new world in which the conquered English found themselves. In a 12th-century miracle tale, a traveling friar named Brother William met a mute man. Falling to his knees, the infirm man sought a blessing. Brother William laid hands upon the man who suddenly could speak both English and French. The local priest, Brichtric, witnessing the miracle, complained about the unfairness. Brichtric had served the church faithfully for many years, yet he could not understand his French-speaking bishop. This total stranger, however, could now speak to the entire country, knowing both languages. Brichtric wailed at the injustice.
Before William's coronation, the Anglo-Saxons had a single word, kingly, a direct and straightforward expression for the actions of a king. Following the conquest, three synonyms entered the language: royal, regal, and sovereign. Writers gained the capacity to express shades of meaning with the tools of expanded word choice. Walter Mead illustrates the point, citing a famous example from Time magazine, “Truman slunk from the room to huddle with his cronies,” while “Ike strode from the chamber to confer with his advisers.”
Legal doublets also came into existence. A legal doublet is a standardized phrase consisting of two or more words used frequently in Legal English. Such phrases couple terms that are synonyms. The origin of many doublings can be traced to a French (or Latin) and English word pair to ensure that the reader understood the phrase's significance. Aid and abet and null and void represent examples of legal doublets.
Whether
your goal is to clarify (or obfuscate) a legal document or to craft a story
full of shading and nuance, the events of 959 years ago expanded your toolbox
like no other event before or since. Raise a glass to Taillefer, the warrior
storyteller who started it all. Raise another for Sam, whose birth, nativity,
parturition, and delivery came along nine centuries later.
I’ll
be traveling on the day that this blog posts. Apologies for failing to reply to
comments.