Draco Normannicus (Dawson)

In his days that comet shone forth, by
whose new fire renowned N'eustria glistened.
For, at the same time, making these things
red, it turned its tail towards the English :
the people wondered : all Gaul was amazed.
For the brightness of such rays (beams,
splendour) burneth for five days, as I think
this fifth king will shine on it.

As Harold knew that the Normans were
near, he gathered together, as troops, all
who were capable of bearing arms. Thus,
together with its King, English valour raged
and was inflamed, and refused to submit its
neck to the Norman yoke. He called the
gods to witness, that he would send William
to the lower regions, so that, whilst he was
seeking to obtain the kingdom, he might
cut the Duke in two with his sword.

The Duke, therefore, ordered his allied
legions to arm ; war will now bring forth the
diadem to him. Then he himself, strong,
clothed himself in his own armour, and an
omen happened to him, which the soldiers
themselves saw. For, whilst putting on his
breastplate, he, unconscious of the fact,
turned to the front what should be behind.
He swore by the 'Divine splendour' that
every tli ing that was prosperous was foreshown
to him now by such an omen. Perfidious
Harold, who held the first place of the
kingdom, coming behind, shall be put to
death. Here the Duke drew up his Norman
battle array, and ordered each man to
maintain his first position.
Under the cover of the ground, Harold,
panting, leads his forces, so that he might cut
up the incautious Duke with the sword. The
splendour of his arms, and he himself, were
seen by the Danes, and the stratagem was
discovered by the rays of the sun. Nor
were the others less cunning : the Danes
remained under arms, and kept watch during
the night. Bright Arcturus had shone i
with slanting beams, when the Pleiades
made the ground wet with their dark
storms. Then springs the day, noted on
account of the death of Callixtus, and cruel
England will drink the cup of the Danes.
The Duke drew up his legions in three
ranks ; Harold drew up his without any
order. Then the highest planet and the
father of the Gods saw the day : on it the
Dane fought his last battle. The one lost
his throne. The new man won it for himself
by arms. Behold, the jobs throne that Harold
possessed hath become the throne of the
Duke. When he had drawn up all his
legions, it was the third hour of the day ;
on all sides there resounded the noise of
trumpets.

When, therefore, his legions were armed,
he stood up above them in his splendour,
and addressed them as follows in a loud voice.
The speech of William, Duke of Normandy,
in the presence of the allied legions,
when King Harold armed, met them with
his forces.

O Valour of the Normans ! O flower of
probity! Behold! the undying fame of our
name is at hand. This day will bring the
highest glory to the victors, but this [day] will
also remain as a disgrace to the vanquished.
Here it is our delight to remember the
triumphs of Rollo, my father, whose praise
and probity Normandy will always be. This
he wrested from the Franks by his might and
arms, and he left it to us later. He who conferred
this on his people by his great probity,
moves his people to walk in his footsteps.
He subdued his native land by the sword.
He himself tells us as a witness that thus
his heir would conquer another fatherland.
That perfidious man violated both justice
and his sacred oath, when he made my
diadem to belong to him. Edward, when
dying, gave the crown of the kingdom to
me, as his heir ; and I seek it by right.
He passed over Harold ; the treaties
were confirmed. That perfidious man laid
aside the burden of the flesh and seized the
sceptre. Being defiled with the uncleanness
of fratricidal blood, he inflicted many wounds
for that double crime. He held the crown
as a perjurer and the murderer of his
brother. May he perish and fall in like
manner by the sword. I am not trying to
subject foreign kingdoms to myself by
armed forces, but I am seeking my rights.
I am striving to imitate the renowned
labours of Rollo, and may my allies equally
strive for the honour of glory. He subdued
fierce men to himself with the greatest
savageness ; it pleases us to subdue the
English to our sceptre. Let the soldier see
clearly how much probity there is in arms
to have seized the diadem for himself by
his own hand. For probity belongs to a
commander's character, and also the glorious
valour of a soldier, as well as fierceness
of mind, and vigour in counsel. If these
be wanting, what good arc arms to him,
except as a burden ? For steel seems to be
a base weight to the timid. I confess that
nothing more disgraceful ever happened to
the Danes than if th.it Englishman should
conquer so many troops. It has resounded
to the Alps, that the Normans wished to
subdue the English kingdom to themselves
by force and the sword. The terrible reputation
remains either for praise or disgrace :
to conquer would be praise ; to be conquered,
will be the worst terror. If \ve are conquered,
we shall be the laughingstock of the
French and of the world. We conquer !
Our renown shines bright with them. It is
vain to be attacked by ship, for the Danes
know not how to yield in battle ; it is his
part to stand there : to fall there. Harold
confides in his thousands, we on our bravery.
Battles are won not by numbers, but by
bravery. Rollo is a witness to this, who
defeated so many troops : he slew innumerable
men, nor had he himself so great an
ar.ned force. But yet, we have not a small
number of legions, since your army filled
three thousand ships, and of all the number
that I ordered to come, not one was wanting.
Never was there a more splendid fleet
of war. For if England twice felt the effects
of Caesar's fleet, the greater part of it was
buried in the sea. Thus also, when the
warlike crowd beheld the city of Alexander
the Great, with its ships drawn up, it
murmured. Then from the city the ships,
with the king in person sped : fleet was
close to fleet : the one strikes the other and
rushes on [to destruction]. When the sea
received the troops when the ships' beaks
were cut away, Caesar himself with many
companions escaped by swimming. His
right hand held a book, the waves of
the sea held his left hand. Caesar and
the Roman leaders gained the shore. Here,
the king of that city sinking in the waves
died from exhaustion : his golden breastplate
makes him known ; and the shore
holds him. This being brought before
Caesar's eyes, was carried into the city: the
citizen looked at it and the closed walls
open. Pompey had already been defeated
in war, and Julius himself wept when he
saw his head cut off. Thus fortune cast
ashore the ships of the ruler of the world ;
but the swelling waves bore ours reverently.
That rebel shall pay the same penalty as
Pompey ; the head which seizes the crown
justly loses it. Hannibal, who was in the
habit of drawing up his forces in crescent
shape, overthrew the nation of Romulus,
while the sun shone favourably on him.
He took off gems and gold from their
lingers, and Carthage possesses three pecks
of them. Tonight let our troops with
like valour be ready and at sunrise let the
Danish trumpets sound. That traitor is
already approaching with many troops :
he thinks that we being incautious he can
slaughter us. That hostile charge will be
great I think ; but may our valour repress
them, puffed up with craftiness. May the
vigorous right hand redouble wounds on
those who are already worn out ! By fighting
prudently, may [each one] avoid the
danger of death ; whilst, fleeing, he wishes
to avoid shameful loss. This warlike spot
holds us, either as victors or slain ; but
nobody is able to repulse us. I think that I
have already proclaimed here whatever was
useful. I compress in three words everything
which it is pleasant to retain. May
the power of the Normans, the hope of
the kingdom, and glorious fame, move us
to arms, stir us up, and protect us.
When the duke had finished his speech
the Norman ardour resounded, each one
declared that he would conquer or die.

The Danish and the English chiefs were
both renowned for their zeal in arms. The
armies attack : the din of arms resounds : on
all sides might contends with violent hands
Recently Harold had overcome the Norsemen,
and, tired of fighting, he and his
troops were less fierce. Their fierceness of
mind was unchanged in William's legions,
and each with his own leader wished to
conquer. Only when the quivers were
emptied did the discharge of arrows cease,
the shield resists the spears, the helmet resounds
under the blow of the sword. The
terrible power of so great forces is seen :
fierceness and inborn strength incite them.
The fury of the one side is increased by
the hope of a kingdom, by the possession of
wealth, whilst the English, fearing this, rage
fiercely in arms. The King admonishes
them to fight for their country, and to repulse
the enemy with slaughter, whilst he himself
strives [to imitate] the Danes by his bravery.
The legion of the English surrounds the
King, and terrible in arms gleams with the
thunderbolt of war.

The Duke, who was skilled in the art of
war, ordered the weary soldiers to retire ;
then he bringeth up fresh troops. Here the
valour, the fury, of the Normans burneth and
rageth against the English, and rusheth
madly at the King. They are beaten back by
the swords of the English, and resist with the
sword, while slaughter, with the din of battle,
holdeth possession of the blood-stained field.
Who, I ask, is able to tell what fury was
here ? What violence, what madness, what
an onset, and what horror were there ? The
English were fighting for their King's life,
and for the kingdom ; the Dane was aiming
at the former and seeking to gain the latter,
raging in arms.

When the English were slain, the royal
lines were penetrated, and he alone was
sought for who wore the crown. For there
would be an end of the war so soon as the
King was dead ; but the iron valour of his
knights shut him in. Unless he were taken
or slain by the sword, no way remained :
the terrible battles forbade it. Phoebus was
declining from the centre while seeking the
realms of Neptune, and was already turning
his back on the armed men. Then the
soldiers of the Duke and of the King joined
battle with swords, and the result showeth
what great bravery was here. The bold
Duke himself rode through the royal phalanx
and the valour of the English and all their
glory raged ; but the might of the Normans,
which overcame the Franks, now overcometh
the English, overwhelmeth them, slayeth
them with the sword.

When the princes who stood by the
King's side were killed, the English fled,
by whatever road each one could find.
Thus the cubs run away when the roaring
lion is slain, and the she-bear is deserted
by her young when she is overcome by
death.