At midday in the Battle of Hastings, the Anglo-Saxon forces led by King Harold Godwinson held firm against the Norman invaders led by William the Conqueror. The Norman cavalry, which had dominated the early stages of the battle, struggled to make any headway against the shield wall formation of the Anglo-Saxons. However, the Normans began to gain an advantage as they used archers to fire arrows into the densely packed Anglo-Saxon ranks. They also began to feign retreats, drawing the Anglo-Saxons out of their formation and making them vulnerable to cavalry charges. By midday, the battle was still fiercely contested, but the Normans were slowly beginning to gain the upper hand.