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Plate 05 / 21
Original embroidery · Scene 05
Public domainMont-Saint-Michel and the Couesnon Crossing
Embroidered Latin titulus: « ET HIC TRANSIERUNT FLUMEN COSNONIS ET HIC HAROLD DUX TRAHEBAT EOS DE ARENA »
William and Harold's allied army marches past the tidal island abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel. Crossing the river Couesnon, Harold displays heroic physical strength by pulling sinking Norman soldiers and horses from the deadly quicksands.
This fragment belongs to a continuous narrative: the upper and lower registers extend the main story with a bestiary, decorative motifs and symbolic echoes.