The oath became even more binding when in a cheap theatrical trick the cloth was whipped from the table over which Harold had sworn. Underneath was revealed a reliquary containing the bones of a saint. Well, how much trouble was he in now? Had Harold promised something he couldn't deliver, or had he made no promises at all about the English crown? Norman chroniclers like to imagine the returning Harold haunted by guilt, saying one thing and doing another. But in England anyway, there were no signs of a queasy conscience at all.


一个廉价而夸张的把戏，让这誓言看上去更具约束力。哈罗德宣誓用的桌子上的布落下，下面竟是一个圣骨箱，里面放着圣人的骨骸。他究竟惹上了多大的麻烦呢？哈罗德是许下了无法履行的诺言，亦或是只字未提英格兰王位的事呢？诺曼编年史认为归来的哈罗德，为自己说一套做一套的行为万分愧疚。在英格兰，却毫无道德谴责一说。