If only ...

Some historians disagree with the traditional view that Harold II is the figure struck in the eye with an arrow in this section of the Bayeux Tapestry.

If Harold Godwinson had not been struck in the eye with an arrow at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, he might have remained on the throne as the king of England.

And if frogs had wings, they wouldn't bump their little butts every time they jumped. (My Appalachian grandfather, who was never at a loss for aphorisms, used to say that every time I'd begin a sentence with "if.")

I had heard about the Bayeux Tapestry since high-school history class. The tapestry, which is really an embroidery, is a 234-foot-long illustration of the events leading up to the epic Norman conquest of England. The really exciting part is toward the end and depicts the Battle of Hastings, which took place not far from the English Channel seacoast at Hastings, England, in 1066. It was there that the invading Norman French defeated the Anglo-Saxon English. The Anglo-Saxons were led by Harold Godwinson, who had recently been crowned as king of England, and the Normans were led by the man who was thenceforth known as William the Conqueror. Legend has it that Harold was killed by a Norman arrow that struck him in the eye.

There's a lot more to the story of the Bayeux Tapestry, which could be said to be an early example of pictorial journalism. Some date its origins to the 1070s, just a few years after the battle was fought, although the earliest written reference to it is from 1476.

The tapestry, which was made in England, was earlier housed in the cathedral at Bayeux, which is on the Normandy coast and was the first French city to be liberated after D-Day in World War II. Now it's on display in what used to be the Bayeux Seminary, a classical-style building that stands on the site of a medieval priory from the 13th century.

As our D-Day anniversary group entered the room housing the tapestry, which is dimly lit to preserve the ancient cloth and dyes, we were given hand-held audio devices that told the story of the tapestry picture-by-picture. As somebody who spent a career in a museum, I picked up right away on the fact that the audio devices also kept us moving right along in order to stay in synch with what we were hearing. Visitors flock to see the tapestry, and if somebody stops to study a panel, the line clumps up quickly. Yet I didn't sense that I was being rushed.

And as in museums everywhere now, the exit leads through a gift shop. It costs about $10 to see the tapestry, and for me it was money well spent. But the gift shop is where museums really make their budgets. And that's okay by me. As Harold might have said, it beats a sharp stick in the eye.