King Harold has about the same number of men as William, but most of his men are exhausted by the time they set up camp near the village of Battle near Sussex. There are two main types of Saxon soldiers. The house-carls are a group of about 3000 foot soldiers that make up the king's bodyguard. They fight with with long, heavy axes that can split a man in two with one blow. The house-carls wear hauberks for protection.
Hauberks are coats of mail made by sewing wire rings together and are extremely heavy.
These soldiers also carry kite shaped shields to protect them from arrows, stones, swords, and other objects hurled at them. The house-carls are said to be the finest soldiers in Europe. The Saxon soldiers begin to tense up as they see this enormous army heading towards them. No matter how afraid, they stand ready to fight the Normans and defend King Harold and England. The Battle of Hastings has begun.