Harold Godwinson has been depicted in a number of modern works.
In drama, film and television Plays about Harold include the 1778 play The Battle of Hastings by Richard Cumberland,Baines, Paul & Ferraro, Julian & Rogers, Pat. The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Eighteenth-Century Writers and Writing, 1660-1789. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. (p.87) and the drama Harold, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, in 1876."Harold", in Valerie Purton and Norman Page (eds.), The Palgrave Literary Dictionary of Tennyson. Houndsmills, Basingstoke. Palgrave Macmillan, 2010. (p.103). The one-act play A Choice of Kings (1966) by John Mortimer deals with his deception by William after his shipwreck."...there was a one-act play by John Mortimer called A Choice of Kings about his [William's] tricking of Harold Godwinson". "A Theatregoer’s Guide to the English Monarchs" by Tim Treanor. DC Theatre Scene, 19 February 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
In the 1982 French/Romanian production "William the Conqueror" (aka Guillaume le Conquérant or Wilhelm Cuceritorul), directed by Sergiu Nicolaescu and Gilles Grangier, John Terry played King Harold.Caranfil, Tudor. Dicționar de filme românești: lungmetraje de ficțiune. Litera Internațional, 2002 .
Michael Craig portrayed Harold in a 1966 TV adaptation of Mortimer's A Choice of Kings in the ITV Play of the Week series.
A fictional version of Harold was played by James Norton in the 2025 BBC series King & Conqueror.
In literature Fictional depictions of Harold have appeared in literature. The 1851 poem "The Swan-Neck", by Charles Kingsley is about Harold and his wife Edith.Billie Melman, "Claiming the Nation's Past: The Invention of an Anglo-Saxon Tradition". Journal of Contemporary History Vol. 26, No. 3/4 (pp. 575-595) Several novels were published in the Victorian era about Harold Godwinson. These included Harold, the Last of the Saxons (1848) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton,Drabble, Margaret (2000). The Oxford Companion to English Literature Sixth edition, (p. 147). Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. . Wulf the Saxon: a story of the Norman Conquest (1895) by G. A. Henty,Ernest A. Baker, A Guide to Historical Fiction. London : G. Routledge and Sons, 1914. (pp. 12-15.) The Andreds-weald; or The House of Michelham: a Tale of the Norman Conquest (1878) by Augustine David Crake; William the Conqueror: An Historical Romance (1858) by General Charles James Napier, and In the New Forest : A Story of the reign of William the Conqueror by Herbert Strang and John Aston (1910).Buckley, John Anthony and Williams, William Tom, A Guide to British Historical Fiction. G.G. Harrap: London, 1912. (pg. 20) Rudyard Kipling wrote a short story, included in his 1910 collection, Rewards and Fairies, where an aged King Harold (who survives Hastings) meets and dies in the arms of a Saxon knight. The short story "The Eye of the Hurricane" by Kevin Crossley-Holland (in the 1969 book Wordhoard: Anglo-Saxon Stories by Crossley-Holland and Jill Paton Walsh) depicts Harold fighting in the Battle of Hastings.Kevin Crossley-Holland, Green Blades Rising: the Anglo-Saxons. London, Andre Deutsch, 1975 (p.58) In the posthumously published Robert E. Howard story "The Road of Azrael" (1976), Harold survives the battle and escapes to the Middle East.Richard E. Geis, "Review: The Road of Azrael by Robert E. Howard". Science Fiction Review, November 1979. (p.57)
Modern novels have included The Golden Warrior (1948) by Hope Muntz,The Golden Warrior: the story of Harold and William. London: Chatto & Windus, 1949"In 'The Golden Warrior,' Harold, king of Saxon England, goes to his death with such awesome courage..." Courage and Hope in New Novels. The West Australian (Perth, WA). 22 July 1950. (p. 25) The Fourteenth of October (1952) by Bryher,Myron J. Smith, War story guide: an annotated bibliography of military fiction. Scarecrow Press, 1980. (p. 32). Harold Was My King (1970) by Hilda Lewis,Lynda G. Adamson, World Historical Fiction: An Annotated Guide to Novels for Adults and Young Adults. Phoenix, AZ; Oryx Press (p. 156) The Wind From Hastings (1978) by Morgan Llywelyn,Kathryn Falk, Love's Leading Ladies. Pinnacle Books, 1982. (p. 180). Lord of Sunset (1998) by Parke Godwin,"Review of Lord of Sunset by Parke Godwin". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 29 July 2019. The Last English King by Julian Rathbone,Siobhan Brownlie, Memory and Myths of the Norman Conquest. Woodbridge, Suffolk. Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2013, (p.99) and The Handfasted Wife (2013) by Carol McGrath."Review: The Handfasted Wife by Carol McGrath". (Review by Sarah Bower). Historical Novel Society. Retrieved 25 August 2019. Fatal Rivalry (2017) by Mercedes Rochelle focuses on Harold's relationships with Tostig Godwinson and Edgar The Aetheling."Review: Fatal Rivalry by Mercedes Rochelle", (Review by Anna Belfrage) Historical Novel Society. Retrieved 9 June 2025. Rite of Conquest (2003) by Judith Tarr"Tarr, Judith" in Stableford, Brian M. The A to Z of Fantasy Literature.Lanham (Md.) : Scarecrow Press, 2009. (p. 397) and God's Concubine (2004) by Sara Douglass"Review: God's Concubine by Sara Douglass". (Review by Vivane Crystal). Historical Novel Society. Retrieved 18 July 2019. are both fantasy novels that feature Harold as a character. The Rhyme of King Harold (2014) by Ian Macgill is a verse novel about Harold's life."The Rhyme of King Harold" By Ian Macgill medievalists.net Retrieved 2 September 2019. After Hastings (2020) by Steven H. Silver is an alternate history novel where Harold defeats Williams at Hastings, and subsequently comes into conflict with the Papacy.O'Neill, John. "What if King Harold had Prevented the Norman Conquest: After Hastings by Steven H Silver" Black Gate, 12 July 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
Radio Christopher Eccleston played Harold in the 2001 radio play Bayeux by Simon Armitage and Jeff Young, based on the Bayeux Tapestry."Classic Serial:"Bayeux" BBC Radio 4, . Retrieved 18 October 2021.
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