In the grounds of Battle Abbey on the field where King Harold and William, Duke of Normandy, fought in 1066, a group of elite “Saxon warriors” is preparing for battle against the invading Norman knights. Kite shields are raised and the steel blades of Dane axes glint in the sunshine. Saxon chieftain, Taran, tells onlookers: “Nothing threatens a Norman knight like a Saxon huscarl with a Dane axe. The Normans thought it very unsporting to take off a horse’s head with an axe.”
Nearby, where spears, slings and bullets are at hand for missile combat, children are ordered to pick up a sling bullet (it’s a beanbag). “Right, slingers,” commands Taran. “The field is yours. Let ’em have it!”
