<P> Individual episodes from the ensuing carnage are described , and the fates of several Anglo - Saxon warriors depicted -- notably that of Byrhtnoth himself , who dies urging his soldiers forward and commending his soul to God . Not all the English are portrayed as heroic however : one , Godric the son of Odda ( there are two Godrics in the poem ) , flees the battle with his brothers and , most improperly , does so on Byrhtnoth 's horse . Several lines later , the English lord Offa claims that the sight of Byrhtnoth 's horse ( easily recognisable from its trappings ) fleeing , and so Byrhtnoth , as it would appear from a distance , has bred panic in the ranks and left the English army in danger of defeat . There follow several passages in which English warriors voice their defiance and their determination to die with their lord , and descriptions of how they are then killed by the un-personified `` sea - wanderers '' . The poem as it has come down to us ends with another Godric disappearing from view . This time , it is Godric , the son of Æthelgar , advancing into a body of Vikings and being killed . </P>
who is the first to flee in the battle of maldon and why did he flee
Godric the son of Odda