In this scene from the Bayeux Tapestry (Tapisserie) a few figures are gathered under a canopy. In the Latin script we are told that “DUX WILGELM CUM HAROLDO VENIT AD PALATIU(M) SUU(M) “ (William comes with Harold to his palace). Harold wears a moustache and has longish hair in the character of the English. He is depicted as a large figure, equal in size to the seated William, wearing a cloak, gesturing to William and pointing backwards to another figure who also has a moustache. In the iconography of the tapestry, hairiness is an English trait so we assume this figure is also English. Behind them are three armed Norman knights. The figure that seems to be the subject of intense discussion between Harold and William is almost certainly Wulfnoth.

Who was Wulfnoth? Simply, he was the younger brother of Harold, later King Harold. His life, like his representation here, goes almost unnoticed in history. Hardly anyone has heard of him. His life was undoubtedly tragic and obscure, but there are a few scattered references to him in the archives and this sole depiction in the tapestry. Eadmer tells a something of his story in Historia Novorum in Anglia and the Prior of Winchester, Godfrey of Cambrai, wrote a touching verse tribute at his death.

To find out more about the extraordinary story of Wulfnoth see Deaths, Disasters and Destinies (Chapter Two,  p. 59).