Examines the episode's sources and the diverse imagery of its multiple accounts of the fight to suggest the poet's consciousness of the role of the teller in transforming the tale, showing that the poet makes use of diverse animal imagery (especially that of the baited bear) to explore the complex ways in which we experience bondage, and that his diverse perspectives and dynamically changing imagery lead him to sacrifice any claim to be providing an authoritative account of Havelok's life, recognising instead the fallibity of oral discourse and marshalling it to unlock deeper truths about the social and spiritual nature of bondage revealed by Havelok's social liberation and acquisition of political authority.