![]() ![]() ![]() He recalled an old sentiment, Wel bið þam þe him are seceð, frofre to Fæder on heofonum, þær us eal seo fæstnung stondeð (“It is well for him, the one who seeks grace, comfort from the Father in the heavens, there, for us, all security stands”), but wondered if perhaps its author had never seen a city as magnificent as Constantinople. The world was turbulent enough and it was said permanence rested with the Lord alone, but that hadn’t done him any good in the meantime when he wandered without king or home. Wulf had never considered himself particularly devout until coming to Constantinople. Wulf was generally fatalistic in temperament, but when he looked around him at the wonders of Alexios’s splendid city, he could not help praying that such a great and godly land would never be left open to foreign conquest. He had fought with the emperor before in the field as well, and had no reason to think him anything but a capable commander. Wulf was proud to be one of his personal guards and had thwarted several attempts on his life with zeal. He was courteous and generous with his foreign soldiers’ pay. He was not terribly tall or broad shouldered, but Wulf had always found him firm and well spoken. The emperor Alexios I was another matter entirely. His loyalty to his former liege lords had been remote and largely inherited he had never seen Harold Godƿinson in the flesh and never personally sworn him an oath of fealty. It had been the better part of a lifetime since the Conquest, and Wulf was resolved to stay and settle in his adoptive city.
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