To get his hands on the crown, Harold now did something inconceivable for a Godwine, something which one day would have disastrous consequences. He sold his own brother, Tostig, down the river. Tostig was the Earl of Northumbria. He was also the family hothead, had managed to provoke a northern rebellion against him. He'd been fleecing abbeys and monasteries, creating his own private army and generally acting like a greedy tyrannical brat. Inevitably, the local nobles rose against him, declared him outlaw and put in their own man to be the new earl. Harold was sent by King Edward to sort out the mess and was immediately faced with two tough choices.


事实上，为了得到王位，作为戈德温家人，哈罗德接下来的举动更令人咋舌，并将在日后引发灾难性后果。他将亲弟弟托斯提戈扔进了河里，诺森比亚伯爵托斯提戈，在家族中向来鲁莽曾挑起过一次北部叛乱，他搜刮各个修道院，建立了自己的私人军队，活脱脱一个贪婪残暴的顽童。当地贵族必然奋起反抗，他们认定他为不合法，并安排自己人顶替了伯爵。哈罗德受爱德华国王派遣，前去解决纷争。他立马就迎来了两难的选择。