Harold's Oath and the Death of Edward

The Bayeux Tapestry, scenes 21–29: Everything the Normans later claimed rests on one scene in this stretch of cloth.

Bayeux Tapestry scenes 21–29 · 21.7 m to 28.5 m along the cloth

Everything the Normans later claimed rests on one scene in this stretch of cloth.

William gives Harold arms — a gesture that in eleventh-century terms could mean honouring a comrade or binding a vassal, and the tapestry does not tell us which. Then, at Bagias (Bayeux), Harold stands between two reliquaries with a hand on each and swears. The inscription reads "where Harold made an oath to Duke William" and stops there. It does not say what he swore.

That gap is the whole Norman argument. Post-conquest Norman writers filled it in: Harold swore to support William's claim to England, then broke the oath, and the invasion was therefore a lawful punishment rather than a conquest. The tapestry shows the relics — swearing on relics made an oath binding before God — but leaves the words to the viewer.

Harold sails home and reports to Edward, who looks far from pleased. Then the king dies, and the tapestry tells it out of order: the funeral procession to the newly consecrated Westminster Abbey comes first, with the hand of God pointing down at it, and only then the deathbed above and the shrouded body below. The crown is offered to Harold.

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 — 6:39 to 8:31 into the 20-minute walk. It was written with reference to Wikipedia, whose text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

William puts weapons into Harold's hands, and then asks him for a promise. In the embroidery, one knight gestures toward another while a horse stands between them on grassy ground. Harold kneels before sacred relics to seal the bond, binding his future to the duke’s claim. This oath becomes the hinge of the Norman case, a legal weapon William will wield years later when Harold sits on the English throne.

Harold sails back to England, leaving the Norman coast behind. He goes to see King Edward, who sits in a robe with red curtains drawn around him. The old king gestures sharply, his hand raised as if in rebuke. Harold stands before him, hand lifted in a posture of submission, perhaps in disgrace. The king’s face is hard to read, but the tension is clear in the stiff lines of the figures.

Edward’s body moves toward the church of St Peter. He lies in bed, speaking to those who keep him, though the stitched words here are uncertain; some read it as his final words, others as his death. The next morning, the witan convenes. They choose Harold. He sits on the throne, crowned in chain mail and robes. A man stands behind him, holding cloth over his lap. William has his claim, and Harold has his crown, and the distance between them is measured in steel.

The inscriptions in these 9 scenes

The embroidered Latin, letter for letter, with translations. Positions are measured from the start of the cloth.

  • Scene 21

    hIC VVILLЄLM DЄDIT hAROLDO ARMA

    Here William gave arms to Harold

    Ici Guillaume donna les armes à Harold

    21.7 m along the cloth

  • Scene 22

    hIЄ VVILLELM VЄNIT BAGIAS

    Here William came to Bayeux

    Ici Guillaume vint à Bayeux

    22.1 m along the cloth

  • Scene 23

    VBI hAROLD SACRAMЄNTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI

    Where Harold made an oath to Duke William

    Où Harold fit un serment au duc Guillaume

    22.9 m along the cloth

  • Scene 24

    hIC hAROLD DVX RЄVERSVS EST AD ANGLICAM TERRAM

    Here Duke Harold returned to the English country

    Ici le duc Harold revint en Angleterre

    23.6 m along the cloth

  • Scene 25

    ET VЄNIT AD EDVVARDVM REGEM

    And came to King Edward

    Et vint (trouver) le roi Édouard

    24.8 m along the cloth

  • Scene 26

    hIC PORTA TVR CORPVS EADVVARDI RЄGIS AD ЄCCLЄSIAM SANCTI PETRI APOSTOLI

    Here the body of King Edward is carried to the church of St Peter the Apostle

    Ici le corps du roi Édouard est porté à l’église de Saint Pierre Apôtre

    26.1 m along the cloth

  • Scene 27

    ET HIC DЄFVNCTVS ЄST

    And here he is died

    Et ici il est mort

    27.1 m along the cloth

  • Scene 28

    ET HIC DEFUNCTUS EST

    and here he died

    27.9 m along the cloth

  • Scene 29

    hIC DEDERVNT hAROLDO CORONAM REGIS

    Here they have given the crown of the king to Harold

    Ici, ils donnèrent à Harold la couronne de roi

    28.0 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.

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