The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Alfred collected such scanty records together and added to them a history of the century in which he lived. Egbert's wars were not yet forgotten, and the deeds of his son and grandsons were still nearer the king's own experience. The account of his own wars down to the year 892 is probably from the pen of the west-saxon monarch himself; no definite judgement can be given, but the spirit and style of the narrative is wholly Alfred's. We know from other sources that the king's mind soared above the isolated life of his own island; he felt in all its ful ness the great man's need of a less restricted atmo sphere. To this unconscious instinct we may trace the sending of alms to India and the frequent men tion of foreign events in that portion of the Chronicle attributed to him. Note, too, the curiosity which is shown about the three Irish exiles of the year 891 Alfred was ever interested in tales of the outside world; compare the account of the voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan which be inserted in his translation of Orosius' History.

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