Anglo-Saxons Ceorls

“He who can hold his place, let him hold it. He who cannot, let him flee.”
— The Battle of Maldon, line 199

The ceorl was no professional soldier, but his duty was clear: hold the line.

The law called him, custom placed him in formation, and necessity kept him there—shoulder to shoulder, shield to shield. With only a spear, a seax, and the trust of the man beside him, the ceorls formed the kingdom’s living wall.

They did not strike hard. They endured. Their strength lay not in the individual, but in the whole: the line that does not bend.

These miniatures reflect that collective strength—men who fight not for glory, but because they cannot afford to give ground.