The core of the army was provided by the 5,000 Thanes, or noblemen, of England. And in addition there were the 13,000 part-time soldiers, known as the "fyrd", and mobilised by their lords, obliged to give the king two months service each year. With amazing speed, this army was stationed along the south coast. By August 10th, William had his army in place along the Normandy coast. Two great fighting forces bent on each other's annihilation faced each other across a little strip of water to determine the destiny of England. And there they sat, William waiting for a southerly wind that never came, and Harold waiting for William, who never came. This waiting was particularly serious for Harold. By the first week of September he'd kept the fyrd in battle position for at least two weeks longer than their two-month obligation.


队伍核心部分是五千名英格兰领主，再加上一万三千名被称为"民兵"的兼职士兵。他们由各自的领主召集，每年为国王服役两个月，这支军队以惊人的速度在南海岸驻扎了下来，直到8月10日，威廉的军队已在诺曼底海岸驻扎。两支军队隔着窄窄的海峡相望，一心想将对方歼灭，让英格兰的归属尘埃落定。威廉一方万事俱备，只欠南风，但这风最终也没有到来。而哈罗德静候着的威廉，最终也未出现，这种等待，对哈罗德来说更为不利。到九月第一个星期前，民兵待在阵地的时间，超出两个月的义务服役期已逾两周。