Saron Chronicle And they there delivered to him hostages as many as he would have, and swore many oaths and then they observed the peace well. And afterwards, during harvest, the army went into Mercia, and some part of it they apportioned, and some they delivered to Ceolwulf. A. 878. Asser waves of the sea, fought Ethelwerd 877 place called Suanewic. In the same year the army of pagans, leaving Wareham, partly on horseback and partly by water, arrived at Suanewic, where one hundred and twenty of their ships, were lost; and king Alfred pursued their land-army as far as Exeter; there he made a covenant with them, and took hostages that they much confused and apparently in would depart.] The same year, in the month All that is included in brackets from [THIS SAME ROLLO (p. 62) is not found in the earliest MS. of Asser. The narrative is here very double. The barbarians renew their fraud and offer peace: hostages were given, more than were demanded, to the effect that they would withdraw out of the territories of king Alfred; and they did so. They devastata the kingdom of the Mercians and drive out all the free men. They erect their huts in the town of Gloucester. At the end of that year therefore, 878. The army above-mentioned left Exeter, and, went to Chippenham, a royal villa, Essays In the 7th year of king Alfred, when now the Danes were in possession of all the kingdom on the northern side of the Thames, and king Haldene was reigning in Northumberland, and the brother of Haldene was in East-Anglia, and the 3 kings aforesaid were with their king Ceolwlf in Mercia and London and Essex, but to king Alfred nothing was left save the land beyond the Thames; it seemed to the Danes to be a disgrace to them that even this should remain to him. The 3 kings therefore came to Chippenham in Wessex with a wonderful multitude of men who had lately come from Denmark, and covering the earth like locusts, since no 9 And going to the royal vill of Chippenham, there wintered. Saxon Chronicle And many of the people they drove beyond sea, and of the remainder the greater part they subdued and forced to obey them, except king Ælfred. And he, with a small band, with difficulty retreated to the woods and to the fastnesses of the moors. Asser situated in the west of Wilt- named king Alfred, with a few of his nobles, and certain soldiers and vassals, used to lead an unquiet life among the woodlands of the county of Somerset,in great tribulation; for he had none of the necessaries of life, except what he could forage openly or stealthily, by frequent sallies, from the pagans, or even from the Christians who had submitted to the rule of the pagans, and as we read in the Life of St Neot, at the house of one of his cowherds. But it happened on a certain day, that the countrywoman, wife of the cowherd, was preparing some loaves to bake, and the king, sitting at the hearth, made ready his bow and arrows and other warlike instruments. The unlucky woman espying the cakes burning at the fire, ran up to remove them, and rebuking the brave king, exclaimed : Ca'sn thee mind the ke-aks, man, an' doossen zee 'em burn? I'm boun thee's eat 'em vast enough, az zoon az 'tiz the turn. * The blundering woman little thought that it was king Alfred, who had fought so many battles against the pagans, and gained so many victories over them. But the Almighty not only granted to the same glorious king victories over his enemies, but also permitted him to be harassed by them, to be sunk down by adversities, and depressed by the low estate of his followers, to the end that he might learn that there is one Lord of all things, to whom every knee doth bow, and in whose hand are the hearts of kings; who puts down the mighty from their seat and exalteth the humble; who suffers his servants when they are elevated at the summit of prosperity to be touched by the rod of adversity, that in their humility they may not despair of God's mercy, and in their prosperity they may not boast of their honours, but may also know, to whom they owe all the things which they possess. We may believe that the calamity was brought upon the king aforesaid, because, in the beginning of his reign, when he was a youth, and influenced by youthful feelings, he would not listen to the petitions which his subjects made to him for help in their necessities, or for relief from those who oppressed them; but he repulsed them from him, and paid no heed to their requests. King Ælfred was at this time straitened more than was becoming. *This is in the Somerset dialect. "When King Etheldred was dead, his brother, who hitherto, during the life of his brothers, had been of secondary rank, succeeded to the entire sovereignty of Wessex in the year of our Lord 872, and he was the first of all the kings of England who received regal unction, which was administered to him, as it is written, by Pope Leo at Rome. That same year the Danes pursued the new king, and came up with him at Walton in Sussex, where King Alfred, in the midst of the fight, fled from the field of battle, and escaped to the wood. From thence he went into Wessex, where he collected all the people of his kingdom, and in a short time had so large an army, consisting of his own subjects and others, that the Danes did not dare to meet him in the field. He then went to attack them in London, where they had taken up their residence: but the Danes, not venturing to give him battle, asked peace of him, and offered to let him choose out of them whatever hostages he pleased, on condition that they should leave his dominions, and never again enter them. On that same day, therefore, the hostages were given, and the Huntingdon one could resist them, they took possession of it for themselves. Part, therefore, of the people fled beyond the sea, part followed king Alfred, who hid himself with a few men in the marshes, and part submitted to the enemy. Danes leaving London, marched the whole night, and never rested until they reached Exeter, which they surprised and occupied. When King Alfred heard this, he first hanged the hostages, and then followed the Danes with all his army to Exeter. The Danes, hearing that he was coming, abandoned the city and went as far as Chippenham in Wessex; where they did much damage, plundering the country, and expelling the people from their habitations. But King Alfred came upon them there, and bravely encountered them in a battle, where Hubba the brother of Hinguar, and Bruern Bocard, who had first con ducted them from Denmark, were both slain, besides many others on both sides. At last the Danes prevailed, and Alfred, who had in too great haste marched against them with too small an army, escaped from the battle in the best manner that he could. The Danes, finding the body of Hubba among the slain, buried it amid loud lamentations, and placed over it a mound, which they called Hubbelowe, as it still is called to this very day in the county of Devon, where it is to be seen. "When the barons of the counties of Somerset, Wilts, and Dorset, heard of the calamity that had befallen their king Alfred, they all assembled in great force at the place where he was; for they were rejoiced to see him safe and sound, having believed that he was dead. Wherefore the king and the barons immediately took counsel about pursuing the Danes, and galloping after them with an immense army all that night, the next morning at the ninth hour This particular gave much annoyance to the holy man St Neot, who was his relation, and often foretold to him, in the spirit of prophecy, that he would suffer great adversity on this account; but Alfred neither attended to the reproof of the man of God, nor listened to his true prediction. Wherefore, seeing that a man's sins must be corrected either in this world or the next, the true and the righteous Judge was willing that his sin should not go unpunished in this world, to the end that he might spare him in the world to come. From this cause, therefore, the aforesaid Ælfred often fell into such great misery, that sometimes none of his subjects knew where he was or what had become of him. Ethelwerd 878 And the same winter the brother of Inwær and of Healfdene came with twenty-three ships to Devon shire in Wessex. And he was there slain, and with him eight hundred and forty men of his army and there was taken the war-flag which they called Raven. In the same year the brother into which many of the king's servants, with their followers, had fled for safety. The pagans, seeing that the castle was altogether unprepared and unfortified, except that it had walls in our own fashion, determined not to assault it, because it was impregnable and secure on all sides, except on the eastern, as we ourselves have seen, but they began to blockade it thinking that those who were inside would soon surrender either from famine or want of water, for the castle had no spring near it. But the result did not fall out as they expected; for the Christians, before they began to suffer from want, inspired by Heaven, judging it much better to gain victory or death, attacked the pagans suddenly in the morning, and from the first cut them down in great numbers, slaying also their king, so that few escaped to their ships.* 5 In the same year arrived Healfdene brother of the tyrant Inguuar with thirty galleys, in the western parts of the Angles, and besieged Odda duke of Devon in a certain castle, and war was stirred up on all sides. 6 The king of the barbarians fell, and eighty decads with him. 7 At last the Danes obtain the victory. The ANNALS add here: "There they gained a very large booty, and called Raven, for they say that the three sisters of Hungar and Habba, flag and got it ready in one day. daughters of Lodebroc, wove that They say, moreover, that in every battle, whenever that flag went before them, if they were to gain the victory a live crow would appear flying on the middle of the flag; but amongst other things the standard if they were doomed to be defeated it would hang down motionless; and this was often proved to be so.' |