uelties sometimes inflicted, in such cases, on the innocent
hostages, were awful. At one time, during the contentions between
Ethelred and Canute, Canute, being driven across the country to the
sea-coast, and there compelled to embark on board his ships to make his
escape, was cruel enough to cut off the hands and the feet of some
hostages which Ethelred had previously given him, and leave them
writhing in agony on the sands of the shore.

The hostages which are particularly named by historians as given by
Godwin to King Edward were his son and his grandson. Their names were
Ulnoth and Hacune. Ulnoth, of course, was Harold's brother, and Hacune
his nephew. Edward, thinking that Godwin would contrive some means of
getting these securities back into his possession again if he attempted
to keep them in England, decided to send them to Normandy, and to put
them under the charge of William the duke for safe keeping. When Godwin
died, Harold applied to Edward to give up the hostages, since, as he
alleged, there was no longer any reason for detaining them. They had
been given as security for _Godwin's_ good behavior, and now Godwin was
no more.

Edward could not well refuse to surrender them, and yet, as Harold
succeeded to the power, and evidently possessed all the ambition of his
father, it seemed to be, politically, as necessary to retain the
hostages now as it had been before. Edward, therefore, without
absolutely refusing to surrender them, postponed and evaded compliance
with Harold's demand, on the ground that the hostages were in Normandy.
He was going, he said, to send for them as soon as he could make the
necessary arrangements for bringing them home in safety.

Under these circumstances, Harold determined to go and bring them
himself. He proposed this plan to Edward. Edward would not absolutely
refuse his consent, but he did all in his power to discourage such an
expedition. He told Harold that William of Normandy was a crafty and
powerful man; that by going into his dominions he would put himself
entirely into his power, and would be certain to involve himself in some
serious difficulty. This interview between Harold and the king is
commemorated on the Bayeux tapestry by the opposite uncouth design.

What effect Edward's disapproval of the project produced upon Harold's
mind is not certainly known. It is true that he went across the Channel,
but the accounts of the crossing are confused and contradictory, some o