The Story of Erelwin Sarpo

 

My name is Erelwin Sarpo. I was born in the year 1050, in a small town called Abbeville. My parents are of minor noble status and I grew up in much the Norman way, learning the arts and skills of war and the horse.

Rumors were about that Duke William was going to invade England. These rumors proved to be true as the Duke, having the blessing of Pope St. Peter, called for a force of me to help him claim the throne of England. I was anxious to prove myself in battle and begged my parents to allow me to accompany the Duke.

I left Abbeville and spent many days traveling the one hundred miles to the city of Troan on the River Dive. Having never ranged that far from home, I was awed at the sites and sounds that surrounded me. I enlisted in the army of Duke William, but before I was accepted I had to prove my skill in the ways of the sword and shield, the spear, and the axe. Many thought me too young, until I bested some of them on the field of practice. I was garrisoned with the other knights and trained in the art of group attack.

In late summer, we loaded several hundred ships and set sail. To my surprise, we headed east to the port of St. Valery, not across the channel toward England. By the grace of God, I was only ten miles from my home. I was quite pleased to be able to see my family again before we left for England. As it turned out, I had quite a stay with my family as the winds kept us from sailing. But, after much praying, the winds changed and in no time I was leading my faithful steed Cauf onto a ship with five other horses.

I remained on this ship and crossed the channel with my animal, as any knight worth his spurs should. Cauf was well behaved traveling across the water, but we were both anxious to get onto solid ground once more. Not one Englishman did I see anywhere near the beach at Pevensey. We waded to shore and prepared to sack England. We tethered, saddled, and groomed our mounts, awaiting the order to attack.

I was assigned to the rear guard, much to my dislike, but did ride against the town of Hastings, which fell without a fight. We awaited King Harold and the English army; I would see battle this day. To boast that I was not affright would be a lie against my honor. To be honest, the steady one was my horse! Finally, Harold and his army drew up just outside of Hastings and the battle was afoot. At Duke William’s signal we charged. I was so excited and affright, that my first spear cast missed the mark by a wide margin.

Many charges were made and both my luck and my aim improved, but it seemed as though the English shield wall was born from the earth itself. But nearing dark, Duke William ordered a high angle archery attack from the bowmen and the day was soon to be ours. I was lucky enough to be near the summit of the hillock when the Duke led the final assault of King Harold’s standard. Still, the famed Housecarls, the personal troops of Harold, refused to give up the battle. They died to almost a man and, alas, my luck was not much better. I took a sword slash to my right leg, but the Englishman quickly died as two of my comrades speared him. Due to my wound, I missed the finish of King Harold and his troops, but I did receive a mail shirt from one of the many dead Housecarls.

Our army rested in hasting for five days healing wounds, mine included. The Duke set out to surround and cut off London by way of Dover, then through Canterbury. Due to my wounds, I was left as part of the garrison at Hastings. This was good, as my leg was so stiff from the wound I was unable to ride for more than a week! I took this time to tend to the minor bruises and scratches on my mount Cauf, we both seemed to heal rather quickly.

In a short time, news came to us that another force from Normandy had landed at Bosham, some forty miles to our west. In due time, Duke William became King William and ruled most of England. As he promised, he was generous and parceled out land to those whom had fought and won for our homeland. Myself, I was given a small section of land near Hastings for which I ride a mounted patrol for King William.

Much later, King William went to Scotland and forced King Malcolm to pay him homage, but that is another story……..