Cultural depictions of Harold Godwinson
Fictional accounts based on the events surrounding Harold Godwinson's brief reign as king of England have been published. These include the 1851 poem "The Swan-Neck", by Charles Kingsley, and the play "Harold", by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in 1876. Several novels were published in the Victorian era about Harold Godwinson. These included "Harold, the Last of the Saxons" (1848) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton, "Wulf the Saxon: a story of the Norman Conquest" (1895) by G. A. Henty, "The Andreds-weald; or The House of Michelham: a Tale of the Norman Conquest" (1878) by Augustine  David Crake; and "William the Conqueror: An Historical Romance" (1858) by General Charles James Napier. Rudyard Kipling wrote a short story, included in his 1910 collection, "Rewards and Fairies", where an aged King Harold (who survives Hastings) meets and dies in the arms of a Saxon knight. The short story "The Eye of the Hurricane" by Kevin Crossley-Holland (in the 1969 book "Wordhoard: Anglo-Saxon Stories" by Crossley-Holland and Jill Paton Walsh) depicts Harold fighting in the Battle of Hastings. In the posthumously published Robert E. Howard story "The Road of Azrael" (1976), Harold survives the battle and  escapes to the Middle East. Modern novels have included "The Golden Warrior" (1949) by Hope Muntz, "Harold Was My King" (1970) by Hilda Lewis, "The Wind From Hastings" (1978) by Morgan Llywelyn, "Lord of Sunset" (1998) by Parke Godwin, "The Last English King" by Julian Rathbone, the fantasy novel "God's Concubine" (2004) by Sara Douglass, and "The Handfasted Wife" (2013) by Carol McGrath. The one-act play "A Choice of Kings" (1966) by John Mortimer deals with his deception by William after his shipwreck. "The Rhyme of King Harold" (2014) by Ian Macgill is a verse novel about Harold 's life. "After Hastings" (2020) by Steven H. Silver is an alternate history novel where Harold defeats Williams at Hastings, and subsequently comes into conflict with the Papacy. Film. In the 1982 French/Romanian production ""William the Conqueror"" (aka "Guillaume le Conquérant" or "Wilhelm Cuceritorul"), directed by Sergiu Nicolaescu and Gilles Grangier, John Terry played King Harold. Television. Michael Craig portrayed Harold in a 1966 TV adaptation of Mortimer's "A Choice of Kings" in the ITV Play of the Week series. Radio. Christopher Eccleston played Harold in the 2001 radio play "Bayeux" by Simon Armitage and Jeff Young, based  on the Bayeux Tapestry.