“Two brothers rode out before dawn, by nightfall, both would be dead.”
Before dawn on the day of the battle, Wace reports that Harold and his brother, Gyrth, leave their camp in secret to supposedly “look” at the Norman camp.Which they do, and on the return, they have an argument.
All very strange.
Whatever this was, it did not lead to any recorded action, so the question begs: why put it in?
I suggest the purpose of this episode was to explore the possibility of a pre-dawn strike on the Norman camp.
Just as William had been told was the plan.
But, upon viewing the camp, it became immediately obvious to Harold and Gyrth that due to the watchtower, there could be no surprise. This then was the collapse of Harold’s preferred plan and the cause of an argument between Harold and Gyrth. What do we do now? I told you it was a bad idea, type of repartee.