So the man who spent his life taking whatever he could by whatever means possible, was finally robbed of everything, even his dignity. Perhaps the hand of God had decided that this was a fitting end. As for his old antagonist, Harold, he certainly didn't stay buried on the shore facing the Channel, as some Norman historians suggested. Rumours had it that he'd escaped and was living as a hermit. But another story is much more likely to be the truth - that once it was safe, the female survivors of the family took Harold's remains and had them interred here at Waltham Abbey. According to William and the Pope, Harold was supposed to have been a despoiler of the Church, deserving of destruction. But the monks at Waltham didn't seem to agree, for they secretly buried him and prayed for his soul. Somewhere, then, beneath the columns and arches of this Romanesque church, is the last Anglo-Saxon King, literally part of the foundations of Norman England.


这个不择手段穷尽一生来抢夺一切的人，最终被抢走了一切，甚至是尊严。也许上帝认为这是一个合理的结局，至于他的老对手，哈罗德。正如一些诺曼史学家所设想的那样，他肯定没有被埋在面朝海峡的海滨上。传言他逃出升天，从此一直过着隐居的生活。但另一似乎更为真实的说法是等一切都安全了之后，家族中的女性幸存者，带走哈罗德遗骸，葬在了沃尔瑟姆的修道院。根据威廉和罗马教皇的说法，哈罗德曾是劫掠教堂的罪人理应处死。但是沃尔瑟姆的修道士却不以为然，他们秘密地埋葬了他，并为他的灵魂祈祷。就在这座罗马式教堂的圆柱和拱门之下，埋葬着盎格鲁撒克逊人的最后一位国王，也是诺曼王朝的奠基者之一。