Remember he already had a common law wife by the name of Edith Swan Neck. How she must have felt when she heard this news is obvious. This was a political marriage for the sake of the kingdom. Harold was in a difficult position. He knew he was going to be invaded on two fronts, but who would be first? It would seem that his plans were more biased towards an invasion by William than Hardrada. The alliance with Edwin and Morcar allowed some semblance of security North of the Wash, which would be the invasion destination of Hardrada. Hardrada would seek the assistance of the naturalized Nordics. This was strange because Hardrada was Norwegian and many of the settlers in Danelaw were Danish. Considering the animosity that was taking place between Norway and Denmark, his perception that he would receive immediate support on landing seemed somewhat arrogant. It was bad enough to know how to plan a defence of his kingdom with two possible invasion forces ready to strike. He had not even managed to stop his own brother Tostig from raiding the English shores. Tostig on his own was no threat. Unfortunately circumstances were to change. Tostig forged an alliance with Hardrada. Tostig arrived with about 60 ships and men and managed to recruit others from England, mostly from the town of Sandwich, which he occupied. He continued around the Eastern coast of England and headed north. Here he came across the resistance of Edwin and Morcar. To counteract the raids of Tostig and to prepare for the invasion of William, Harold mobilized his fyrd and fleet and stationed them in Sandwich and off the Isle of Wight respectively. Harold obviously cared more about his beloved Wessex than what was occurring in the north. His political marriage was a small price to pay for the alliance of Edwin and Morcar. The logistics of keeping a large army in battle readiness in those days was itself a major achievement. Eventually when no invasion happened, Harold disbanded the fyrd and brought his ships to port to await further developments. To keep them active any longer became expensive to the Crown. It was not Harold's intention at this stage to disband his army, but by the 8th September there was no more food left to feed such a large force. Another more mundane reason for the disbandment, was the fact that it was harvest time. To try and keep the fyrd on active duty when their crops were due to be harvested, whatever the threat to the country, the land came first.

Harold must also have calculated that it was becoming increasingly unlikely that William would attempt an invasion this late in the season. How wrong he would be.
Aware of the atrocities at Scarborough and other locations on their way to Ricall, Edwin and Morcar rallied the fyrd. They marched to Tadcaster to engage Hardrada and Tostig. A battle ensued on the Northern bank of the Ouse. It raged all day. Heavy casualties were sustained by both sides but at the end of the day, Hardrada was victorious. Today this conflict is known as the Battle of Fulford, fought on the 20th September 1066. This victory for Hardrada seriously weakened Harold's options. Harold could not allow Hardrada and Tostig to continue terrorizing the north, he immediately marched north. He quickly assembled his housecarls and fyrd and in a legendary march of nearly 200 miles, covered in five days he made camp about 20 km south west of York around or in Tadcaster. Harold was now very close. Hardrada must have been unaware of the danger his men were in. Much of their armour and weapons were left at Ricall with his ships. He probably thought that Harold would not dare come north after the heavy defeat of Edwin and Morcar. Not only that, how could he possibly be here, only five days after the Battle of Fulford? Hardrada was camped on the East bank of the Derwent river and therefore had a natural barrier to aid his defence. This river would have to be breached if a battle was to take place. The only crossing was a wooden footbridge that could be defended by a single individual. Once the bridge had been breached the battle commenced. By early evening it was over. Harold was victorious. To consolidate his victory, he could so easily have marched to Ricall and destroyed what was left of the invaders. He however, allowed Hardrada's son Olaf to round up the injured and defeated and sail back to Norway. Of the hundreds of ships Hardrada had arrived with, Olaf required only 24 to return home. Hardrada and Harold's brother Tostig now lay dead. The Battle of Hastings
By the middle of August 1066 Harold`s second big enemy William was finally ready to set sail. His ships landed at Pevensey Bay. Hastings was a good choice of base for William. The area along the South Downs between Hastings and Pevensey was difficult but had the advantage of security for William's troops. He knew he would not be invaded from the east coast side. William also knew that he was only a few tens of KM's from Dover where a Roman road stretches to London, his eventual goal.