Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings Book X: The Sacrifice on the Altar

Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings Book X: The

Bishop Alred, newly raised to the See of York, is summoned to counsel the ailing King Edward, and is in his London cell when Harold rushes in, travel-stained and distraught, to confess his story: the captivity at Belrem, the detention at William's court, and the oath sworn over holy relics by the riverside. Harold reveals that William would release only Haco, keeping Wolnoth as hostage, and that Wolnoth himself chose to remain, professing love for Normandy and William, leaving Harold to return with Haco alone, tormented by the extorted vow. Alred, after hearing the full tale, declares that an oath obtained through fraud and compulsion, to commit a crime, need not be kept, and absolves Harold before the crucifix, restoring him to purpose and to the pull of home, mother, Edith, king, and country. News of Harold's return spreads through London as the realm unravels: Northumbria has risen against Tostig's cruelty, marched on York, and proclaimed Morcar in his place, while the sons of Algar muster in Mercia. Edward's health fails amid mystical forebodings. Harold rides to Havering, where Edward, reclining beneath carved symbols of Jerusalem, tells of a ring once given to a pilgrim and now miraculously returned with a message from St. John that the King will die on Twelfth-Day Eve; Edward bids Harold set aside doubt and take up the business of the realm. Harold learns from Anlaf and others the scale of the rebellion, proclaims the Herr-bann, and summons Gurth's forces to London. Harold visits his mother Githa, who, guided by Hilda's rune-lore, has already made peace with Wolnoth's refusal, believing his return would have meant death; Haco, Sweyn's son, attaches himself wholly to Harold's fate, calling their destinies entwined. Riding to Hilda's house near the old Druid temple, Harold reunites with Edith, who sings the Lay of the Phoenix to Harold's ailing sister Thyra; Haco and Thyra, drawn together by shared gloom, speak of death and doom, and Thyra kisses Haco as if greeting death itself. Edith shows fear on first seeing Haco, sensing something from a dream. That night Hilda tells Haco that Edith is Harold's protecting Fylgia, but will not foretell Haco's own fate; Harold renounces further reliance on rune-craft, declaring he will trust God and his own conscience, with Edith as his only oracle. Harold, with Alred, thegns, and Haco, visits the young Atheling Edgar, hoping to support him as heir, but finds the boy vain, ignorant of Saxon speech and history, and contemptuous of his own people, dashing all hope in him; the thegns instead proclaim Harold the only man fit to be king. In the field, Harold restrains the vengeful Tostig from attacking the Northumbrian rebels led by Gamel Beorn, hears their grievances of Tostig's extortion and murder, and refers the dispute to the Witan at Oxford. There Tostig's own defense exposes his cruelty, and the assembly strips him of his earldom, confirming Morcar over Northumbria and Edwin over Mercia; Tostig, cursing Harold, sails for Flanders with his wife. At Oxford, Alred and the great men of the realm formally offer Harold the crown. Before accepting, Harold insists on confessing his extorted oath to William to a select council of thegns and clergy; after debate, they conclude the oath was compelled and its fulfillment would be treasonous, and they urge Harold to accept the throne. Harold submits himself to this council's judgment in all things. Haco is revealed as the tireless, calculating architect binding Harold's succession together, moving between factions, including cultivating ties with the young Earls Edwin and Morcar and their mother Aldyth, whom Harold also visits. The Witan resolves the Tostig affair, and soon after, Alred returns to Harold with the harder demand: to secure Mercia and Northumbria's loyalty and stave off civil war, Harold must set aside his long betrothal to Edith and marry Aldyth, sister of the young Earls. Harold refuses in anguish, clinging to his vow to Edith, until Gurth and finally Edith herself arrive; Edith, having learned the truth, urges Harold to choose England over her, declaring that if he weds Aldyth it is for the realm, not for love of another woman, and that she would rather see him great than see herself his wife. After a last embrace, Edith departs into the night, replaced in the moonlight by the silent, watching figure of Haco, while Harold is left desolate in Gurth's arms.

By Edward Bulwer-lytton · First published 1848 · Genre: Historical Fiction, Adventure, Political · 10 chapters · 23,750 words

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The good Bishop Alred, now raised to the See of York, had been summoned from his cathedral seat by Edward, who had indeed undergone a severe illness, during the absence of Harold; and that illness had been both preceded and followed by mystical presentiments of the evil days that were to fall on England after his death. He had therefore sent for the best and the holiest prelate in his realm, to advise and counsel with.

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Harold, the Last of the Saxon Kings Book X: The Sacrifice on the Altar is listed on Textopian as a novel by Edward Bulwer-lytton, dated 1848 CE.

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Historical Fiction · Medieval Period · Saxon Kingdom · English History · Monarchy · Royal Family · War and Conflict · Battle Scenes · Heroic Deeds · Loyalty and Honor · Chivalry · Knights and Nobility

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