Well, as you can see from my screen name, I regard the year 1066 as probably only second in significance to the year Christ was born!
Keeping in mind that it is the victors that write the histories, at least before modern times, I cannot help but feel for Harold of Wessex, son of Godwin, and last Anglo-Saxon King of England. What few remember is that 1066 was a 3-corner battle for England, with Harold having already defeated a Scandinavian invasion under the command of Harald Sigurdsson Hardrada and Harold’s half-brother Tostig in Yorkshire, 180+ miles away from London.
Harold’s army was long assembled (7 months) waiting for William of Normandy’s attack. Harold had to release his troops as supplies ran low, then reassemble the core troops, march to the Hardrada invasion (4 days) and after the victory turn right around and march to Hastings, 250 miles.
One does wonder what the outcome might have been with a different sequence of events? If Harold or Hardrada had ended victorious, England would have stayed more Scandinavian and more inclined towards the Irish Church traditions at least for a longer time.
Oddly enough, the Saxon language remained as the primary source of English; we don’t speak a Romance Language, but a Germanic one.
While I don’t downplay Roman influence (especially in southern Europe), it is incredible that both Dublin and Moscow were Viking settlements.