Harold-as-Aeneas? The influence of the Aeneid on a rescue scene in the Bayeux Tapestry

Abstract

• This article examines a particular scene in the Bayeux Tapestry where Earl Harold of Wessex rescues Normans from the River Couesnon (Brittany/Normandy) in reference to a similar scene in the Aeneid. It considers the qualities of the 'heroes' in both scenes - Harold and Aeneas - and considers the a relationship between them in the light of Classical, Anglo-Saxon and Norman literary tradition.