Harold:

This is a very richly written novel that is emotionally satisfying, though at times rather slow. While it follows the broad sweep of historical events, there are omissions reflecting the mores of the time in the 19th century when it was written. For example, Harold's love for Edith "Swan Neck" (though she is not called that here) is chaste and there is no mention of the several illegitimate children they in fact had (the author hints in his introduction that he had changed this to fit the mores of the times, but that the "less pure connection" rests upon slight authority; however Harold unquestionably had sons old enough to try to avenge him in the next couple of years); and Christianity is shown as inherently more robust and superior to the pagan Norse beliefs that Harold might have acquired from his Danish mother, Gytha.