'A HISTORY OF CAMBRIDGESHIRE,' ''LA MORTE D'ARTHUR,' ETC. LONDON: ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 1900. I PREFACE. DESIRE in the following pages to present to English readers in a popular and readable form the early authorities for the life of King Alfred of England, which, interesting as they are, are for the most part scarcely known, save to professed students of history, and are in some cases hard to come by. I give, accordingly, in full, his biography by Asser, his friend and chaplain, and such entries as relate to his reign in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the leading mediæval historians-Ethelwerd, Florence of Worcester, Henry of Huntingdon, William of Malmesbury, Simeon of Durham, Geoffry Gaimar, Roger of Wendover, etc. In each case I have made a new translation from the original, and have endeavoured, as far as possible, in my selections from each writer, to confine myself to such events as are narrated by him alone, or with some special colouring of his own; for each, as a matter of course, made the freest use of the work of his predecessors, and almost invariably without one syllable of acknowledgment. But each adds his own. touches to the story-touches which may well be founded on some floating tradition still surviving to his day. I have also prefixed to each a few words of critical notice, and, when needful, a table of contents. The Introductory Sketch will, I hope, show how the information derived from these various sources combines into an |
