Count the archers in the Bayeux Tapestry. On the Norman side there are a great many — William is reckoned to have brought over a thousand bowmen to Hastings, and they crowd the lower border of the embroidery. On the English side there is exactly one. That single figure carries a lot of meaning: Harold's army had almost no archery at all. Part of the reason may have been money and speed. Archers were poor men, poor men had no horses, and Harold had just marched the length of England at a punishing pace after Stamford Bridge — the men who could not keep up were precisely those who could least afford to. There is a cultural side as well. Among the Saxons the bow seems to have been mainly a hunting weapon of the well-off, carried to war only occasionally by the ceorlish ranks, whereas among the Vikings archery was widely used. All of which makes a Saxon archer the most unusual man in this range.

W. Britain have him at full draw, arrow to the cheek, in a green tunic and leg wraps with a knife and quiver at the belt — no mail, no shield, no helmet beyond a leather cap, which is exactly the point about who these men were. He completes the trio with "Osfirth" Saxon Archer No.2 and "Recene" Saxon Archer, and the three of them shoot best over the top of "Seaver" Saxon Shield Wall Defender — arrows arcing above a locked shield wall is what the sources describe William's own archers doing. For the other side of the story, King & Country's The Fighting Bishop is Odo of Bayeux, who fought at Hastings and commissioned the very tapestry this figure contradicts. Both ranges are 1/30, so they stand together properly.

Model: 62129 / W. Britain / 1/30 scale / matte finish / 1 piece set