12-06-2016, 10:12 PM
I've got one that's about someone who isn't as clever, but is still remarkable.
There's an old story involving the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1,066, where the English were attacking a surprised Norwegian force lead by Harald Hardraada. The Norwegian army was caught unprepared and split on either side of the bridge, the Western group was killed, while the eastern formed a hasty defensive circle around their end while some of the Western troops fled across towards them. The English army was slowed by having to cross the choke-point of the bridge, but they were further delayed by one huge viking believed to have wielded a Danish axe. The story says he killed 40 men and held the entire army back in doing so, giving his friends on the Eastern end more time. He was only killed when an English soldier floated under the bridge and stabbed up through the slats, wounding the viking.
Harald and the Norwegians ended up losing the battle, but the English army took a big hit. The truth of that story is debatable, but the mental image of it is too good to pass up. Some day I'll try to draw that scene, I've been thinking about it for a while.
There's an old story involving the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1,066, where the English were attacking a surprised Norwegian force lead by Harald Hardraada. The Norwegian army was caught unprepared and split on either side of the bridge, the Western group was killed, while the eastern formed a hasty defensive circle around their end while some of the Western troops fled across towards them. The English army was slowed by having to cross the choke-point of the bridge, but they were further delayed by one huge viking believed to have wielded a Danish axe. The story says he killed 40 men and held the entire army back in doing so, giving his friends on the Eastern end more time. He was only killed when an English soldier floated under the bridge and stabbed up through the slats, wounding the viking.
Harald and the Norwegians ended up losing the battle, but the English army took a big hit. The truth of that story is debatable, but the mental image of it is too good to pass up. Some day I'll try to draw that scene, I've been thinking about it for a while.