Welcome to Ebbs of History, the show where we dive into the strangest, wildest, and sometimes downright creepiest stories the past has to offer. From Dancing Plagues to Pirate Queens, we’ll laugh, we’ll gasp, but most importantly, we will learn how history is way cooler than your textbook ever told you. Every episode, we will take a quick trip through time, then see what lessons we can still learn today. This is the Ebbs of History!
In the spring of 1066, a flaming comet lit up the skies over England for seven straight nights — and every kingdom in Europe knew what it meant: blood. Three men wanted Harold Godwinson's crown. A Viking warlord with the wildest résumé in medieval Europe was sharpening his axes. And Harold's own brother had switched sides. Join us for a bridge, a berserker, and the greatest victory an English king ever won — three days before it stopped mattering.
Primary sources
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle — Manuscripts C and D. C
Snorri Sturluson, Heimskringla
Kekaumenos, Strategikon (11th c.)
William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum (1120s)
William of Poitiers, Gesta Guillelmi
The Bayeux Tapestry
Reputable secondary / accessible
Battle of Stamford Bridge (Britannica) (https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Stamford-Bridge) | Battle of Stamford Bridge (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stamford_Bridge) | The Battle of Stamford Bridge (History Today) (https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/battle-stamford-bridge)
Harald Hardrada: The Battle of Stamford Bridge (Medievalists.net) (https://www.medievalists.net/2023/05/harald-hardrada-the-battle-of-stamford-bridge/) | Harald Hardrada: In Service to the Byzantine Empire (Medievalists.net) (https://www.medievalists.net/2021/12/harald-hardrada-byzantine-empire/)
Battle of Fulford (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fulford) | The Battle of Fulford (Battlefields Trust) (https://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=52)
Harald Hardrada (Encyclopaedia Romana, U. Chicago) (https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/britannia/anglo-saxon/hastings/harald.html) • King Harold II Godwinson (Historic UK) (https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Harold-II-Godwinson/)
1066: Pope Alexander II (English Heritage) (https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/teaching-resources/story-of-1066/collectible-2/) Comet / Halley's specifically
955 Years Ago: Halley's Comet and the Battle of Hastings (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/history/955-years-ago-halleys-comet-and-the-battle-of-hastings/) — clean science + history tie-in, good for the show
Everything you need to know about the Bayeux Tapestry (British Museum) (https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/everything-you-need-know-about-bayeux-tapestry)
Lost at Sea Shanty by legacyAlli Link: **https://freemusicarchive.org/music/legacyalli/sound-phrases/rf-lost-at-sea-shanty/** (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/legacyalli/sound-phrases/rf-lost-at-sea-shanty/**)
License: Attribution 4.0 International License
24 Sept 2026
When a Saint, a Strongman, and a Bastard All Wanted England
A celibate almost-saint on the throne. An earl who may or may not have been struck dead by a piece of bread. A young Norman duke across the Channel who's been quietly told England is his — and one English nobleman tricked into swearing on a chest full of hidden holy relics. Before 1066 has three kings in a single year, it has one very tangled promise. This is the calm before the storm.
Primary sources -
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
-Vita Ædwardi Regis (Life of King Edward), anon. c. 1065–67, Barlow edition (Internet Archive) (https://archive.org/details/vitaaedwardiregi0000unse)
-Story of 1066 (English Heritage) (https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/teaching-resources/story-of-1066/collectible-1/)
-Edward the Confessor (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_the_Confessor)
-Godwine (Britannica) (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Godwine)
-Royal touch / King's Evil: RCP history blog (https://history.rcp.ac.uk/blog/touching-kings-evil-short-history) | JSTOR Daily (https://daily.jstor.org/the-divine-power-of-kings-to-heal-by-touch/)
Godwin's death & Alfred Aetheling: Death of Alfred Aetheling (Historical Britain Blog) (https://historicalbritainblog.com/death-of-alfred-aetheling/)
The ring / incorrupt body: St Edward's Shrine (English Monarchs) (https://englishmonarchs.co.uk/confessor_shrine.html)
Lost at Sea Shanty by legacyAlli Link: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/legacyalli/sound-phrases/rf-lost-at-sea-shanty/ (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/legacyalli/sound-phrases/rf-lost-at-sea-shanty/)
License: Attribution 4.0 International License
17 Sept 2026
When England Had Three Kings in Seven Years
A stranded heir. A usurper nicknamed "Bunny Feet." A grieving mother locked in a treasury. And a Norman prince whose murder England will pay for fifty years later. Three kings, seven years, and the moment that gave William the Conqueror his excuse.
Primary sources
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
John of Worcester, Chronicon
Encomium Emmae Reginae (c. 1041–42)
Encomium Emmae Reginae (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encomium_Emmae_Reginae)
Reputable secondary
Harold Harefoot (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Harefoot) | Harthacnut (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harthacnut)
The Death and Exhumation of Harold Harefoot (Brandon M. Bender) (https://brandonmichaelbender.com/2022/03/17/the-death-and-exhumation-of-harold-harefoot/)
A Clerk of Oxford: The Death and (Un)Burial of Harold Harefoot (https://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2011/03/bad-ways-to-die-ii.html)
King Harold I – Harold Harefoot (Historic UK) (https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/King-Harold-Harefoot/)
The English King Who Drank Himself to Death in Lambeth (Londonist) (https://londonist.com/london/history/the-english-king-who-drank-himself-to-death-in-lambeth)
Anglo-Saxon burial site in Guildford likely holds Prince Alfred's massacred troops (Surrey Live) (https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/nostalgia/anglo-saxon-burial-site-guildford-10168337)
The Saxon-period burials from Guildown Avenue (Berkshire Archaeological Society) (https://www.berksarch.co.uk/index.php/the-saxon-period-burials-from-guildown-avenue-guildford/)
New perspectives on the Guildown cemetery, Guildford ( (https://www.academia.edu/129222534/New_perspectives_on_the_Guildown_cemetery_Guildford_Surrey)academia.edu (http://academia.edu)) (https://www.academia.edu/129222534/New_perspectives_on_the_Guildown_cemetery_Guildford_Surrey)
Lost at Sea Shanty by legacyAlli Link: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/legacyalli/sound-phrases/rf-lost-at-sea-shanty/ (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/legacyalli/sound-phrases/rf-lost-at-sea-shanty/)
License: Attribution 4.0 International License
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
9 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
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