Our aim was not to tell the typical story of Kings and Dukes, but instead to experience 1066 through the eyes of ordinary people. Unfortunately, the medieval sources don't say much about the little people, so our task was to piece together the various clues left to us by history, so that we might create fictional, but highly realistic, characters to tell the true story of 1066.
We wanted to include the Vikings and Normans in our drama, but chose to foreground the English as our central heroes. It was their land that was being invaded, so finding their home village was crucial. The obvious place to look was the Domesday Book, a census carried out in 1086, which states that many villages were burned by the Normans - our choice was Crowhurst, in East Sussex, and this became the factual linchpin of the whole film.
Now we needed to name our cast. There are many medieval sources for names, the best being legal charters. We wanted names that sounded good, but also translated well. For example, Ordgar means 'Spear-Point' in Old English, highlighting his warrior role. Likewise, Gyrd means 'Yard Stick' in Old Norse, which is a great name for our giant! Hakon perfectly translates to 'Highborn Son', and Snorri means 'Attacker'. For the Normans, Ozouf translates to 'God's Wolf', alluding to his violent brand of Christianity, while the Baron de Coutances is named after a real place in Brittany.
For our characters' journeys we strived for realism, but it was necessary to find legitimate ways for them to be in the thick of the action. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle speaks of a Viking giant on Stamford Bridge, killed by an Englishman stabbing him from below. We will never know the real identities of these people, so we told the story using our characters of Gyrd and Leofric, as such a scene requires emotional resonance. Elsewhere, several Norman sources mention Duke William's jester called Ivo Taillefer who began the Battle of Hastings with a suicidal charge at the English. Taillefer may never have existed, but we wanted to portray his sacrifice. In our film, the Baron de Coutances fulfils this role to save his kidnapped family. It seemed more psychologically true that a man would die for his loved ones, rather than just for prestige.
Our characters don't all speak the same language, so we wanted a character to communicate between all three armies. The best way to do this was to make Snorri a former Varangian Guard - an elite mercenary in the Byzantine Army, formerly commanded by Harald Hardrada of Norway. The Varangians recruited Vikings, Normans and English, meaning Snorri is able to speak both French and English, making him a useful ally in our story.
Ultimately, after 18 months of historical research, little in our film is invented. Ours are fictional characters, but their actions are source-able, and have been stitched together to make a grand 1066 narrative. Disagreement amongst the medieval sources makes it impossible to find the absolute truth, so sometimes we had to just pick the likeliest interpretation. We tried hard not to compromise the history, finding the truth incredibly dramatic in its own right. What subtle changes we made were for clarity of storytelling, and the constraints of time. However, as ever, there was not room for everything. Anyone curious to know more should look to the original sources listed below.
- - Carmen de Hastingae Proelio (The Song of The Battle of Hastings), Bishop Guy of Amiens
- - The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Various
- - Heimskringla (The Sagas of the Norse Kings), Snorri Sturluson
- - The Domesday Book
- - The Bayeux Tapestry
- - Chronicon ex Chronicis (The Chronicle,) John of Worcester
- - Gesta Normannorum Ducum (The Deeds of the Norman Dukes), William of Jumieges, Orderic Vitalis, Robert of Torigni
- - Gesta Guillelmi II Ducis Normannorum (The Deeds of William, Duke of the Normans), William of Poitiers
- - Historia Ecclesiastica (The Ecclesiastical History), Orderic Vitalis
- - Gesta regum Anglorum (The History of the English Kings), William of Malmesbury
- - The Roman De Rou, Wace
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