Battle of Stamford Bridge - Aftermath

Aftermath

King Harold accepted a truce with the surviving Norwegians, including Harald's son Olaf and Paul Thorfinnsson, Earl of Orkney. They were allowed to leave after giving pledges not to attack England again. The losses the Norwegians had suffered were so horrific that only 24 ships from the fleet of over 300 were needed to carry the survivors away. They withdrew to Orkney, where they spent the winter, and in the spring Olaf returned to Norway. The kingdom was then divided and shared between him and his brother Magnus, whom Harald had left behind to govern in his absence.

Three days after the battle, on 28 September, the Normans under William the Conqueror landed on the south coast of England. King Harold had to rush his battered, weary army south to meet the new invasion. Less than three weeks after Stamford Bridge, on 14 October, Harold was defeated and killed at the Battle of Hastings, beginning the Norman Conquest of England, and ending the Anglo-Saxon era. So many English senior Thegns and lesser noblemen died at Stamford Bridge and Hastings that it was difficult for the Anglo-Saxons to resist their new Norman lords; there were literally no leaders with standing to rally around.