The Battle of Eðandun
Ælfrǣd's great victory and the rebirth and rise of Wessex
1,147 years ago, in early May, the men of Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset took to the field of battle behind their leader Ælfrǣd to make a final stand against Guðrum - leader of the Great Summer Army - and the Vikings that had felled every other Saxon kingdom. If they lost, Wessex would fall, and the idea of England as we know it today would have fallen with it…
The exact date Eðandun hasn’t been conclusively recognised but many believe it took place between the 6th and 12th May 878. However, it marked a change in momentum, as the last kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons defied complete conquest from the Great Heathen Army that had been ravaging the country since 865 - according to the Tale of Ragnar Lothbrok’s Sons, this invasion was an act of vengeance after Northumbrian King Ælle threw Ragnar in a pit of snakes to die.
It is a pivotal battle in England’s foundation and history, it essentially stopped the entire country becoming the southern province of Norway and Denmark - well, at least until Cnut came along in 1016. In the fields just outside modern day Westbury and two miles from the village of Edington (which is where we get the name Eðandun from), not only was Wessex saved from conquest, but the seeds of England as we know it were planted in the bloody soil.
Before The Battle
By 877, the kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia had fallen into Viking hands. Æthelred I of Wessex had just about managed to halt the advance of the Great Heathen Army at the Battle of Ashdown in 871 but it was a tense, short lived peace as attacks would continue periodically from 875. Guðrum and his men had adopted the traditional Danish strategy of occupying a fortified town and waiting for a “peace treaty”, which usually involved an exchange money in return for a promise to leave the kingdom immediately - which doesn’t work as, Æthelred II Unræd would find out. However, Ælfrǣd shadowed the army instead, trying to prevent more damage than had already occurred by their marauding. In 875, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that, Guðrum:
"eluded the West Saxon levies and got into Wareham"
Ælfrǣd would eventually exchange hostages and pay them off to leave the country, however, the Vikings being as devious as they are, simply slipped into Exeter, which was even deeper into Ælfrǣd's kingdom. They concluded in the autumn of 877 a "firm peace" with Ælfrǣd that entailed their leaving his kingdom and not returning. Which they did by spending the rest of that year in Gloucester (which was in Mercia at that time).
Ælfrǣd would spend Christmas at Chippenham that year - which is only 50km from the Danish camp at Gloucester. Then on Twelfth Night (6th/7th January), Guðrum ambushed Ælfrǣd and his followers taking Chippenham and forcing Ælfrǣd to flee with a small force into the wilderness. That was as close as the Danes came to capturing Ælfrǣd, had they done so, history would look very different. Ælfrǣd and his small army would end up fleeing to the Somerset Levels, at Æþeling (Athelney).
Ælfrǣd’s Call & The Battle
Ælfrǣd would remain in hiding at Athelney until the spring of 878. His next recorded movement was the construction of a fortress at Athelney around Eater time of that year. Seven weeks after Easter, Ælfrǣd would call a levy at Ecgbryhtesstan (Egbert's Stone), to which the men of Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset rallied to. Once the men had gathered Ælfrǣd moved his army to Iley Oak, and the day after to Eðandun to fight the Danes.
Asser states in his Vita Ælfredi regis Angul Saxonum:
"Fighting ferociously, forming a dense shield-wall against the whole army of the Pagans, and striving long and bravely...at last he gained the victory. He overthrew the Pagans with great slaughter, and smiting the fugitives, he pursued them as far as the fortress." - (Smyth, 2002)
Ælfrǣd’s army proved to be the more formidable force and gained victory on the day. A reason that has been proposed by Alfred P. Smyth in his translation of Asser’s Vita Ælfredi regis Angul Saxonum is that “the men of even one shire could be a formidable fighting force, as those of Devon proved in the same year, defeating an army under Ubba at the Battle of Cynwit.” Of Guðrum he states “in 875 Guðrum had lost the support of other Danish lords, including Ivar the Boneless and Ubba. Further Danish forces had settled on the land before Guðrum attacked Wessex: in East Anglia, and in Mercia between the treaty at Exeter and the attack on Chippenham; many others were lost in a storm off Swanage in 876–877, with 120 ships wrecked.” Alongside disunity amongst the Danes, Wessex took advantage and thoroughly beat them at Eðandun.
After the battle, the Danes took refuge in the fortress and for two weeks the West Saxons removed all food that the Danes might be able to capture in a sortie, and waited. The Danes eventually gave up and sued for peace. Hostages and solemn oaths were exchanged, with the expectation that they would leave the kingdom and Guðrum would be baptised.
After The Battle - The Treaty of Wedmore, The Treaty of Ælfrǣd and Guðrum & The Building of Burhs
Three weeks after the battle, Guðrum would be baptised at Aller in Somerset with Ælfrǣd as his sponsor, in which Guðrum would take the baptismal name of Æthelstan. According to the terms of the Treaty of Wedmore - which is only written in Asser’s Vita and no such document exists so it was thought to be a verbal agreement - Guðrum was required to leave Wessex and return to East Anglia. The Viking army wouldn’t leave Chippenham until 879, where they made their way to Cirencester (in the kingdom of Mercia) and remained there for a year. In 880 they finally made their way to East Anglia.
The Treaty of Ælfrǣd and Guðrum is the official written document that outlines the boundaries of what would become known as the Danelaw, as well as agreements on peaceful trade, and the weregild (“Man-price” the price owed to the family of the victims when a person is killed) value of its people. It aimed to provide a framework that would minimise conflict and regulate commerce between the two peoples as well as defining the social classes of Danish East Anglia and their equivalents in Wessex. The Treaty’s exact dating is sometime between 878 and Guðrum’s death in 890, and is one of the few existing documents of Ælfrǣd's reign. It survives in an Old English copy held in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Manuscript 383, and in a Latin compilation, which is known as known as Quadripartitus.
The terms of the agreement are laid out in Frederick Levi Attenborough’s 1922 book "Treaties with the Danes". The laws of the earliest English kings:
Prologue: These are the terms of peace which King Alfred and King Guthrum, and the councillors of all the English nation, and all the people who dwell in East Anglia, have all agreed upon and confirmed with oaths, on their own behalf and for their subjects both living and unborn, who are anxious for Gods favour and ours.
First as to the boundaries between us. [They shall run] up the Thames, and then up the Lea, and along the Lea to its source, then in a straight line to Bedford, and then up the Ouse to Watling Street.
Secondly, if a man is slain, whether he is an Englishman or a Dane, all of us shall place the same value on his life — namely 8 half-marks of pure gold, with the exception of commoners who occupy tributary land, and freedmen of the Danes. These also shall be valued at the same amount — [namely] 200 shillings — in either case.
If anyone accuses a king's thegn of homicide, if he dares to clear himself, he shall do so with [the oaths of] twelve king's thegns. If anyone accuses a man who belongs to a lower order than that of king's thegn, he shall clear him-self with [the oaths of] eleven of his equals and one king's thegn. And this law shall apply to every suit which involves an amount greater than 4 mancusses. And if he [the accused] dare not [attempt to clear himself], he shall pay [as compensation] three times the amount at which the stolen property is valued.
Every man shall have knowledge of his warrantor when he buys slaves, or horses, or oxen.
And we all declared, on the day when the oaths were sworn, that neither slaves nor freemen should be allowed to pass over to the Danish host without permission, any more than that any of them [should come over] to us. If, however, it happens that any of them, in order to satisfy their wants, wish to trade with us, or we [for the same reason wish to trade] with them, in cattle and in goods, it shall be allowed on condition that hostages are given as security for peaceful behaviour, and as evidence by which it may be known that no treachery is intended.
— (Attenborough 1922, pp. 96–101)
The period between 878 and Guðrum’s death in 890 wasn’t always peaceful, Guðrum was no longer considered a threat. While we don’t know how he took to his new found faith, he was the first Danish king to mint coins in the Alfredian way.
The most notable action that took place after the battle, was Ælfrǣd’s military reforms and Burh (fortified town or settlement) building programme. These reforms to military obligations in Wessex made it increasingly difficult for the Vikings to raid and conquer successfully, as well as containing the Viking threat. By 896 the Vikings had given up and went to settle in Northumbria or East Anglia. Ælfrǣd had not only won the battle, he contained the threat, allowing his successor’s to gain a strong foothold in which to expand Wessex with over the coming decades.
Legacy
For me personally, the legacy of Eðandun cannot be understated. Ælfrǣd’s last stand in the fields of Wiltshire was an all or nothing scenario, and as a result of his victory the England as we know it today was born. Has Wessex had fallen that day, the Anglo-Saxon period would have been cut short by 188 years and the idea of England would have been completely different, taken on by someone else to achieve. The reforms that took place after the battle stemmed the tide of Viking aggression and conquest and were key in helping Edward the Elder, Æthelflæd of Merica and Æthelstan build England after Ælfrǣd’s death.
Ælfrǣd is certainly a hero of mine. I have visited the memorial stone at Bratton Camp and seeing it from the hillfort, you get a strong sense of place and the weight of the battle sinks onto your shoulders - it’s equally special and frightening.
Ælfrǣd is one of only two English kings to gain the epithet “The Great” - the other being King Cnut - and throughout the centuries has been idolised and ascended to national fame. There are numerous statues and monuments to him, as well as a plethora of depictions in literature, TV (The Last Kingdom and Vikings to name two), theatre, opera, video games (Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and Crusader Kings II & III), and even in the military where his name was used for HMS King Alfred and USS Alfred. His significance and achievements still remain in the English psyche today, and he is a reminder to never give up in the face of overwhelming odds.
Bibliography
Bishop Asser, (893), Vita Ælfredi regis Angul Saxonum (Alfred the Great: Asser's Life of King Alfred and Other Contemporary Sources), Penguin Classics, Penguin Publishing
Swanton, M. J., (2021), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Adams, M., (2017), Aelfred's Britain: War and Peace in the Viking Age, Head of Zeus
Crawford, J., (2017), The Saga of the Volsungs with The Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok, Hackett Publishing Company
Wood, M., (2022), In Search of the Dark Ages, BBC Books
Smyth, A. P., (2002), The Medieval Life of King Alfred the Great: A Translation and Commentary on the Text Attributed to Asser, Palgrave Macmillan
Attenborough, F. L., (1922), "Treaties with the Danes". The laws of the earliest English kings, Cambridge University Press