Harold Captured in Ponthieu
Harold comes ashore in the wrong county and is immediately a prisoner.
Count Guy of Ponthieu arrests Harold and takes him to Beaurain, where the two men talk at length — the tapestry gives the conversation a whole scene, with Harold gesturing and an armed guard behind him. Seizing a shipwrecked noble and holding him for ransom was ordinary practice on this coast, and Guy was within his rights as the local lord.
Word reaches Duke William, whose messengers ride to demand Harold. One of them is named in the embroidery: Turold, a small figure holding the horses. He is one of only a handful of minor characters the tapestry bothers to name, which has kept scholars arguing about who he was and why he mattered enough to label.
Guy gives Harold up. Whatever Harold's errand had been, he is now in Normandy as William's guest, and a guest who arrived as a captive is not free to leave.
Listen while you walk — free
Our free walking guide keeps pace with you along the cloth: open audioguide.london/bayeux-tapestry on your phone before you go in. It needs no app and no sign-up.
Photography is not permitted in the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition, so the camera on the audioguide.london home page will not work there. Open audioguide.london/bayeux-tapestry instead and keep your phone in your hand.
audioguide.london now covers the British Museum’s permanent galleries too, in beta. This walking guide is separate, made for the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition, where photography is not allowed.
What the audio guide says here
The narration for these scenes, word for word, as you hear it in the walking guide — 2:05 to 3:54 into the 20-minute walk. It was written with reference to Wikipedia, whose text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Earl of Wessex is no longer a free agent; he is a prisoner in hostile hands. They drag him inland, away from the sea that brought him, and shut him up in a castle upriver. The inscription calls it Beaurain, a place of iron bars and cold stone. He sits in the lower border, bound and silent, while the wind that drove him there still howls outside. His fate now rests entirely in the hands of the man who holds the keys.
Yet the castle is not his final prison. From the south, a rider cuts through the mist, bearing a message from Duke William. The duke demands his prize. Count Guy, bound by old debts and new threats, agrees to hand over the English earl.
The messenger rides hard, his horse’s head turned sharply left, bearing William’s demand across the moors. He is not alone; another rider follows close behind, urging the message toward the count’s gate. Guy hears the duke’s voice in the rider’s breath and knows his time as jailer is spent. Harold is no longer a hostage, but a guest who cannot leave.
The inscriptions in these 7 scenes
The embroidered Latin, letter for letter, with translations. Positions are measured from the start of the cloth.
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Scene 6
HAROLD
Harold
Harold
4.9 m along the cloth
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Scene 7
hIC APRЄhЄNDIT VVIDO HAROLDUM
Here Guy arrests Harold
Ici Guy se saisit de Harold
5.6 m along the cloth
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Scene 8
ЄT DVXIT EVM AD BЄLRЄM ET IBI ЄVM TENVIT
And led him to Beaurain and kept him there
Et le mena à Beaurain et l’y retint
6.1 m along the cloth
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Scene 9
VBI hAROLD ET VVIDO PARABOLANT
Where Harold and Guy talk
Où Harold et Guy parlent
7.4 m along the cloth
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Scene 10
VBI NVNTII VVILLELMI DVCIS VENERVNT AD VVIDONЄM / TVROLD
Where the messengers of Duke William came to Guy / Turold
Où les envoyés du duc Guillaume vinrent (trouver) Guy / Turold
8.7 m along the cloth
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Scene 11
NVNTII VVILLELMI
The messengers of William
Les messagers de Guillaume
9.6 m along the cloth
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Scene 12
† HIC VENIT NVNTIVS AD WILGЄLMVM DVCEM
Here came a messenger to Duke William
Ici un messager vint (auprès du) duc Guillaume
10.8 m along the cloth
See it in person
The Bayeux Tapestry is at the British Museum from 10 September 2026 to 11 July 2027 — the first time it has been in Britain in roughly 950 years. Entry is by timed ticket, booked in advance and separate from the museum's free general admission, and each slot is short, so it is worth knowing what you are looking at before you arrive.