The Flying Monk

In the year 989 a light appeared in the sky and sat there for several days. It was what we now call Halley’s Comet. For a young Wiltshire lad it sparked a passion for learning and for the sky. Eilmer became a monk at Malmesbury Abbey. Once, reading in the abbey library, he read the ancient Greek story of Daedalus and Icarus – how they flew with wings made from wax and birds’ feathers. He made his own wings from canvas and wood and launched himself from the tower of the abbey. For a moment he glided, caught in wonder, surrounded by chattering crows, till he looked down, forgot to flap his arms, and plummeted to the ground … but he lived to tell the tale. Although the Abbot forbade him to fly again, he took to watching the stars. In 1066, an old man, he saw the comet again and prophesied doom for England. That October, William of Normandy invaded, won the Battle of Hastings, and changed English history for ever.