Housecarl - Laurence J Brown

1066: The storm clouds are gathering over England. Beyond the grey waters of the Channel, Duke William of Normandy, ambitious, ruthless, and seething with anger after having been cheated of the English Crown, prepares his great invasion fleet for the conquest of England.

Far to the north, Harald Hardraada, the warrior King of Norway also lays claim to the English Throne and begins to make his plans. Caught between the two, Harold Godwineson, the embattled English King, enlists the aid of his personal Champion Ranulf Redbeard to recruit men for his elite Housecarl regiment, the cream of the English army.

Then news arrives of Harold's betrayal by his brother, the treacherous Tostig Godwineson, and in the skies over England there appears a portent of doom. Torn by guilt and wracked by indecision Harold Godwineson has to make some difficult choices and before long the men of his Housecarl regiment are fighting for their very lives, bound by solemn blood-oaths to die on the field of battle for their King. Within the space of a month three great battles change the course of history as the land runs with blood...