A.D. 538, mention of which is found in the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_. The
track of totality did not, however, come near our islands, for only
two-thirds of the sun's disc were eclipsed at London.

In 840 a great eclipse took place in Europe, which was total for more
than five minutes across what is now Bavaria. Terror at this eclipse is
said to have hastened the death of Louis le Debonnaire, Emperor of the
West, who lay ill at Worms.

In 878--_temp._ King Alfred--an eclipse of the sun took place which was
total at London. From this until 1715 no other eclipse was total at
London itself; though this does not apply to other portions of England.

An eclipse, generally known as the "Eclipse of Stiklastad," is said to
have taken place in 1030, during the sea-fight in which Olaf of Norway
is supposed to have been slain. Longfellow, in his _Saga of King Olaf_,
has it that

"The Sun hung red
As a drop of blood,"

but, as in the case of most poets, the dramatic value of an eclipse
seems to have escaped his notice.

In the year 1140 there occurred a total eclipse of the sun, the last to
be visible in England for more than five centuries. Indeed there have
been only two such since--namely, those of 1715 and 1724, to which we
shall allude in due course. The eclipse of 1140 took place on the 20th
March, and is thus referred to in the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_:--

"In the Lent, the sun and the day darkened, about the noon-tide of the
day, when men were eating, and they lighted candles to eat by. That was
the 13th day before the calends of April. Men were very much struck with
wonder."

Several of the older historians speak of a "fearful eclipse" as having
taken place on the morning of the Battle of Crecy, 1346. Lingard, for
instance, in his _History of England_, has as follows:--

"Never, perhaps, were preparations for battle made under circumstances
so truly awful. On that very day the sun suffered a partial eclipse:
birds, in clouds, the precursors of a storm, flew screaming over the two
armies, and the rain fell in torrents, accompanied by incessant thunder
and lightning. About five in the afternoon the weather cleared up; the
sun in full splendour darted his rays in the eyes of the enemy."

Calculations, however, show that no eclipse of the sun took place in
Europe during that year. This error is found to have arisen from the
mistranslation of an obsolete French word _esclistre_ (lightning), which
is employed by Froissart