Chapter XXXIII

REIGNS OF HAROLD HAREFOOT AND HARDICANUTE.

Sketch of Canute's reputed sons--The succession disputed--
Rise of earl Godwin--Refusal of the archbishop to crown
Harold Harefoot--Harold crowns himself, and bids defiance
to the church--Conduct of Emma of Normandy--Her letter to
her son Alfred--He lands in England, with a train of Norman
followers--His reception by earl Godwin--Massacre of the
Normans at Guildford--Death of Alfred, the son of Ethelred
--Emma banished from England--Her residence at Bruges--
Hardicanute prepares to invade England--Death of Harold
Harefoot--Accession of Hardicanute--Disinters the body of
Harold--Summons earl Godwin to answer for the death of Alfred
--Godwin's defence--Penalty paid by earl Godwin--Character
of Hardicanute--His Huscarls--The inhabitants of Worcester
refuse to pay the tax, called Dane-geld--They abandon the
city--Reckless conduct of Hardicanute--He invites Edward,
the son of Ethelred, to England--Hardicanute, the last of the
sea-kings, dies drunk at a marriage-feast in Lambeth p. 272