After they left the Normans they went home and found that they had trouble on their hands. The Welsh were raiding different towns on the edges of their land. Harold decided that once and for all he would defeat the Welsh.
He gathered his men and all his thane's men and set out to defeat the Welsh. Instead of actually going himself though, he sent his brother to command the troops.
Harold's brother sent Wulf and Beorn to go capture Porthwyn and so they went out with about 150 men. Along the way 100 of the men were lost because their thanes were not very responsible, so Wulf and Beorn continued with the other 50 men to try and capture Porthwyn.
Even with the few men that they had, they were still able to capture Porthwyn. There were about 50 men in the castle at most and about that many Saxons.
Most of the men that normally lived in the castle were out looking for the Saxons when they captured the castle. So they made ready after they captured the castle to defend it from attack.
Something tells me this may be your favorite book. :)
ReplyDeleteCheck this out:
Delete... One day Beorn and Wulf, with their own following and two hundred and fifty light-armed levies, were dispatched by Gurth to Porthwyn, a stronghold belonging to a powerful chief named Llewellyn ap Rhys.
So there were around 320 Soldiers at the start of this tour!
Greeting,
Klaus