My Bayeux Tapestry Experience - Essay Example

You see, life at camp is always in a hurried state, and there is always a task which needs completion before day light fades - horses to be fed and watered, swords to be sharpened, clothes to be mended. At night, several of us have to stay up and guard the camp. And when I say “the camp”, it meant patrolling not only the sleeping quarters but also checking tents and the neighboring forests. I have grown tired of the seemingly endless smoke issuing from the tents, the hastily prepared food which has to be eaten hurriedly, the constant drills for the upcoming battle, and the burden of having to carry food supplies and armor each time we move camp (Essential Norman Conquest, 2006).

At first I was excited to engage in battle, but after the first one where many of my friends perished, I have started to rethink why I enlisted in the first place. But don’t get me wrong, life at camp was a great adventure. I loved how fellow soldiers come together at night to sing songs around the bonfire. I loved feasting with the other soldiers as we share adventure stories. I took pleasure in the lessons learned by older soldiers in their conquests with William. I feel the pride of being in the field with other men who feel as strongly as I do about our cause.

I take satisfaction in the fact that each day I spend with great men is another day of lessons to be learned. I have grown so much in these past few months and I feel as if I have gained so much knowledge to last me the entire lifetime. I realize that only with the company of such men will I learn these lesson which I know will enrich my future life. But after reaching our goal, I feel that I must also think about what my future would be like. I want to experience silence at this point so that I get to realize what I want to do next.

Fighting another battle is not an option for me right now, as I know I must do if I stay to serve the King here in England. I feel that I have had too much adventure already, and I fear that if I subject myself to anymore of this, I will no longer be able to get it off my system which could ruin my countenance entirely. Now my only wish is to experience the peace and quiet of home. My happiness for our victory is about winning a good cause, but more so because I am now free to go back home. It has only been a few months since we first set sail out to England, but I feel as if I have gained 10 years.

I am no longer the 21 year old boy from the countryside whose only wish was to become a soldier. I have become an old man, bearing with me the wisdom from the battlefield. I have experienced more than any other youngster can ever hope for in his entire life. I have earned the badge of recognition from the King himself. For all these, I am thankful, but at the same time I am also wondering: “What will I be if I didn’t sign up for this war? What have I given up in those months when I was at camp and in battle?

Could my life be any better than it already is?” Despite all the lessons I have learned in this war, I know that there is something I have not yet explored, and this is the reason why I am coming back home, instead of continuing to serve for King William. The good news is that I have explained the situation to the King and he is sympathetic, so you may expect me back in a month or so. Everyone at court is ecstatic at the upcoming coronation but I have barely gotten over the battle just yet.

I still remember how the battle erupted