Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 11.djvu/395

 ON T]1E LIFE AND DEATH OF EARL GODWINK. 331 his coming into England at all. I cannot help thinking that wc here have two distinct versions of the story, which have been confused. As the tale is generally t^^ ^er- told, we hear that the kingdom was divided """^s confuted. between Harold and Harthacnut, the latter taking all south of the Thames, but as the new King of the West- Saxons still remained in Denmark, Emma and Godwine governed in his name at Winclicster. Alfred comes ovei*, lands at Sandwich, is seized by Godwine at Guildford, carried before Harold, and blinded or murdered; Emma is then driven into exile, Harthacnut forgotten, and Harold elected king over all England. Of this story half comes from one version of the Chronicle, half from the other ; each of the tw^o is tolerably consistent with itself, but the whole which they produce cannot lay claim to that merit. Godw^ine, so lately the chief support of Harthacnut, is^ silently trans- formed into the minister of his rival Harold ; the tale also is always told as if the aggression had been made upon the Icingdom of Harold, whereas Sandwich and Guildford both lie within the territory assigned to Harthacnut. It is always Harold and his party, not the agents of Harthacnut, who are represented as opposing his entry ; Godwine, as minister of Harold, seises him within the region wdiich he is just before described as governing in the name of Harthacnut. In fact it may be doubted whether those wdio told the tale of iElfred's landing and being betrayed by Godwine, knew anything of the division of the kingdom, still less of Godw' ine's position as the minister of Harthacnut. This is the situation of the writer of one version of the Chronicle ; he seems to linAO regarded Harold as succeeding to the whole kingdom on the death of Cnut, Harthacnut being rather mentioned as a mere unsuccessful rival than as one wdio shared the kingdom by a formal division. Florence avoids that part of the difficulty which is concerned with Godwine's personal share in these transactions, by recording the dissensions on the death of Cnut without any mention of his name ; ))ut still he leaves the other untouched, namely, how it happened that an incursion into the dominions of Harthacnut was nvenged. not by the ministers of that prince, ' Hume indeed tells us that Harold hail more prudently says that he won him over gained over Godwine by a promise to " par des voyes que I'histoire n'a pas marry his d.aughtcr, but 1 can find notlun;^ ddvelopp^es, mais qui ne sont pas nial- ot this in any trustwortliy writer. Raj-iii aisdes a diviner." VOL. XI. X X