It was the hand of God that decided the outcome of battles, the fate of nations and the life or death of kings. Everyone knew that. It was winter, the season of frost and death. And a king lay dying. His name was Edward the Confessor. He was dying childless and it was far from obvious who would succeed him. Because there was no heir, there were many who thought they should be the next king, including some foreign princes like Duke William of Normandy. But among those gathered around the bed of the dying Saxon king was the next most powerful man in England, Harold Godwineson, and he thought the crown would look well on his head. He was hoping for some sign that King Edward felt the same way.


是上帝决定了战斗的胜负，国家的兴衰和国王的生死，这一点妇孺皆知。那是一个冬天，一个充满寒冷与死亡的季节，一位国王正值弥留，他名叫"忏悔者爱德华"（另有"虔诚者爱德华"一说 此处取常用译法），国王生前无嗣，因而王位的继承变得晦暗不明，由于没有继承人，觊觎王位者，遍布四野，这其中包括一些外国王子，比如诺曼底公爵威廉。在垂死的撒克逊国王榻前聚集的众人中，蛰伏着下一任英格兰的掌权者。哈罗德·戈德温森，他认为自己是当之无愧的继承人，并希望爱德华国王也表示出有同样的想法。