Ethelstan: Or, the Battle of Brunanburgh, a Dramatic Chronicle

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When King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark converted to Christianity, he was opposed by his son Sweyn Forkbeard, who despite being baptized with his father opposed the spread of Christianity. Armrings in the VKNG Collection

William of Malmesbury wrote of him two hundred years later ' The firm opinion is still current among the English that no one more just or learned administered the state.' It is also known that Christianity caused conflict in communities as followers of the Norse religion and new Christian religion battled between themselves. So, the reaction of Floki and other characters to the Christian influence of Athelstan also rings true. In 937 the Constantine, King of the Scots made an alliance with Owain, King of the northern Britons and Olaf, King of Dublin, who had his eyes on the still Viking-dominated York. The combined forces of these men marched south and invaded Athelstan’s kingdom. Wood, Michael (2013). "Searching for Brunanburh: The Yorkshire Context of the 'Great War' of 937". Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. 85 (1): 138–159. doi: 10.1179/0084427613Z.00000000021. ISSN 0084-4276. S2CID 129167209. This battle is also credited with being an important moment in the creation of the idea of English nationalism, with an English identity emerging among the soldiers and subjects of Athelstan.

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Athelstan then turned his eyes on Scotland, invading their territory and forcing their King Constantine II to pledge allegiance to him. Brunanburh is thought to have been one of the bloodiest battles of the period. Five kings and seven earls lost their lives in the carnage. The king's cousins Alfric and Athelwin and a prominent Saxon bishop were also among the casualties. The events of the battle are unclear, but according to some sources, the West Saxons mounted a cavalry charge on the enemy, directly contradicting the popular belief that the early English fought on foot. Cavalry in the Saxon forces was most likely to be mercenaries, however, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle itself makes no such mention of a cavalry charge and it is believed that the mention of the Saxons using cavalry has arisen through a mistranslation of the Anglo-Saxon 'eorodcistum,' which means troop, not cavalry. Constantine of Scotland fled the battlefield after his son was killed in the fighting. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the King's resounding victory in the form of a jubilant poem in celebration of the event:- Far from being the father of Alfred, Athelstan was actually his grandson, the son of King Edward the Elder and his wife Ecgwynn. Deakin, Michael (2022). "Bromborough, Brunanburh and Dingesmere". Notes and Queries. 69 (2): 65–71. doi: 10.1093/notesj/gjac020.

According to Alfred Smyth, the original form of the name Bromswold, Bruneswald, could fit with Brunanburh and other variants of the name. [91] Following an unchallenged invasion of Scotland by Æthelstan in 934, possibly launched because Constantine had violated a peace treaty, it became apparent that Æthelstan could be defeated only by an alliance of his enemies. Olaf led Constantine and Owen in the alliance. In August 937 Olaf and his army sailed from Dublin [2] to join forces with Constantine and Owen, but they were routed in the battle against Æthelstan. The poem Battle of Brunanburh in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recounts that there were "never yet as many people killed before this with sword's edge... since the east Angles and Saxons came up over the broad sea". Much of his reign was occupied, as were his forefather's, with the ongoing struggle with the Viking invaders. Athelstan concluded a treaty with them at Tamworth, by the terms of which he married his sister, Edith, to the Danish leader Sihtric, King of York. Sihtricdied the following year and Athelstan seized the opportunity to take Northumbria. His kingdom thereby became roughly equivalent in size to modern England.The Annals of Clonmacnoise (an early medieval Irish chronicle of unknown date that survives only in an English translation from 1627 [43]) states that: John of Worcester's Chronicon ex chronicis (early 12th century) was an influential source for later authors and compilers. [34]

The Chronica de Mailros (1173–4) repeats Symeon of Durham's information that Anlaf arrived with 615 ships, but adds that he entered the mouth of the river Humber. [40] Robert of Gloucester. ”Metrical Chronicle". In The Battle of Brunanburh. A Casebook. Ed. Michael Livingston. University of Exeter Press. 2011. pp. 84–89 Anonymous. ”Annals of Clonmacnoise". In The Battle of Brunanburh. A Casebook. Ed. Michael Livingston. University of Exeter Press. 2011. pp. 152–153 Importantly, there he also forms a romantic connection with Judith, the daughter-in-law of King Ecbert, with whom he fathers the child Alfred, who goes on to succeed Ecbert as king. Viking Ships in the VKNG Collection The Athelstan of History a b Cavill, Paul; Harding, Stephen; Jesch, Judith (October 2004). "Revisiting Dingesmere". Journal of the English Place Name Society. 36: 25–36.

Wood, Michael (2001). In Search of England: Journeys into the English Past. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-23218-1.

Anonymous. "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Version A)”. In The Battle of Brunanburh. A Casebook. Ed. Michael Livingston. University of Exeter Press. 2011. pp. 40–43 The battle of Brunanburh in 937, in which Athelstan led a force drawn from Britain and defeated an invasion by the king of Scotland in alliance with the Welsh and Danes from Dublin, earned him recognition by lesser kings in Britain. In August 937, Olaf sailed from Dublin [2] with his army to join forces with Constantine and Owen and in Livingston's opinion this suggests that the battle of Brunanburh occurred in early October of that year. [11] According to Paul Cavill, the invading armies raided Mercia, from which Æthelstan obtained Saxon troops as he travelled north to meet them. [12] Michael Wood wrote that no source mentions any intrusion into Mercia. [13] But, aside from the name and general piety, and a connection between Athelstan and King Alfred, it is hard to see much of the Athelstan character that we see on Vikings in this English monarch. William Ketel's De Miraculis Sancti Joannis Beverlacensis (early 12th century) relates how, in 937, Æthelstan left his army on his way north to fight the Scots at Brunanburh, and went to visit the tomb of Bishop John at Beverley to ask for his prayers in the forthcoming battle. In thanksgiving for his victory Æthelstan gave certain privileges and rights to the church at Beverley. [32]

Few other geographical hints are contained in the medieval sources. The poem in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that the invaders fled over deep water on Dingesmere, perhaps meaning an area of the Irish Sea or an unidentified lake or river. [81] Deakin noted that the term ding had been used in the Old English Andreas (poem) where it is suggested to have been used metaphorically for a grave and/or Hell. His analysis of the context of lines 53–56 of the Brunanburh poem suggest to him that dingesmere is a poetic and figurative term for the sea. [57]