However, something has been quietly happening, standing on a camber for a number of hours with your hips asymmetrically loaded, placing all your weight on one side and bracing it from shocks caused by attacks causes neuromuscular fatigue that is central. This is not the kind of muscle fatigue where you can rest and get back to it, when you are in pain because of this kind of fatigue, rest does not make it go away. This might seem like a very modern concept, but human bodies are the same today as they were in 1066 and just as prone to central fatigue as we are.
Once every available man has gone through the shield wall and taken his turn, each rotation gets shorter and shorter. Eventually, some cannot return. And the shield wall begins to lose something.
This may be mentioned in JW.
“The English being crowded in a confused position, many of them left their ranks, and few stood by him with resolute hearts”
The key phrase being: ‘many of them left their ranks’.
Which arguably describes the fatigue cycle.
Obviously, this weakening has consequences. But what can be done about it?
Earlier, we heard from Wace who stated the battle started at the third hour and was still going on at the ninth hour without much change. We can fairly place these times to around 9:30 am to 3:30 pm.
Therefore, in mid-October, there is approximately 2-2:30 hours left of usable daylight.
Harold needs to bridge that gap, he needs his shield wall to last for those final 200 or so minutes.
The shield wall is going to fail if something isn’t done.
And it doesn’t fail, not in the collapse sense. Something else happens—something catastrophic.
His presence at the front, fighting with his men, is the only thing he can do. Being up there, seen, the king pitching in, is the best morale boost that can be delivered at this point, each man knows how exhausted he is, just telling him he’s strong and can outlast the Normans isn’t going to work.