Scandinavian sagas that describe the battle—allowing for poetic license—claim that at the outset, Harold and 20 of his housecarls rode to the foot of the bridge to parley with the Viking commanders. Disguised as a herald, the king met both Tostig and Hardrada. Tostig, perhaps feeling a tinge of regret, allowed his brother’s subterfuge to continue throughout the discussions. Harold is said to have offered his outcast brother reinstatement of his earldom and one-third of the kingdom; but when Tostig inquired as to Hardrada’s fate, Harold sternly replied, “We will give him seven feet of English ground or as much more, as he is taller than most men.” With his honor on the line, Tostig countered that he would not be remembered for bringing the king of Norway to England only to betray him. Tostig and Hardrada then rode off.

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As they trotted away, Hardrada asked Tostig who that herald was. When Tostig told him it was his brother the king, the mighty Norwegian growled that he would’ve killed Harold on the spot had he known his true identity. Tostig explained that he couldn’t knowingly betray and murder a brother who’d offered him peace, and further, if one brother was destined to kill the other this day, he wished to be the one who fell under the other’s sword. Composing himself, Hardrada is said to have remarked that the English king stood well in his stirrups for such a small man—an especially cocky quip considering that at 5-foot-11, Harold Godwinson was fairly tall for his day. But as men raced to find weapons and armor to replace those they’d left behind at the ships, it became clear that Hardrada’s overconfidence could be his undoing.

As Vikings on the east bank of the Derwent raced to prepare for battle, the scouts west of the river faced the task of delaying the English advance across the bridge. Fighting uphill, their backs against the river, the Norsemen were quickly overrun by the oncoming English. What happened next has taken on a mythical quality but is largely accepted: As Harold’s troops reached the bridge, they were met by a lone Viking defender, who used his massive battle-ax to cut down numerous challengers (some sources claim 40 Saxons), much to the glee of onlookers on the east bank. The lone warrior’s feat provided his compatriots with crucial time to assemble their defense.

Chroniclers state that one of Harold’s housecarls found an empty swill tub upstream and, under the cover of overhanging willows, managed to glide undetected beneath the bridge. The housecarl then aimed his spear deliberately at the Viking’s unprotected groin and, with necessity prevailing over honor, skewered the berserker where he stood. The English then poured over the bridge.

Waiting for them on ground now called Battle Flats, the Norsemen had formed into a traditional shield wall, against which the oncoming English smashed themselves like waves on a rocky shore, pitting famed housecarls against feared Vikings. Details of the combat remain murky, except that the fighting was as savage as one might imagine. The English may have well outnumbered their opponents, and a Viking messenger was dispatched to Riccall to summon Eystein Orri with reinforcements. Whatever the numbers, the Vikings were renowned for their ferocity in combat, and the fighting is said to have lasted well into dusk, both sides sustaining heavy casualties.

When Hardrada, slashing away savagely amid the fray, took an arrow in the throat, the balance tipped in favor of the English. As the Viking commander fell, there was a brief pause in the fighting, and Harold made another attempt at diplomacy in the interest of sparing lives, again offering peace to Tostig. But the fever of battle proved too much, and the Norwegians rejected the offer, opting to fight to the death in a “corpse ring” around their fallen leader. The surging English cut down scores of Vikings and drove still more into the river to drown. Tostig was soon dispatched to join Hardrada.

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