King Alfred's VikingA Story of the First English Fleetby Charles W. Whistler.
Preface.
The general details and course of events given in this story are, sofar as regards the private life and doings of King Alfred, from hislife as written by his chaplain, Asser. One or two further incidentsof the Athelney period are from the later chroniclers--notably thesign given by St. Cuthberht--as are also the names of the herdsmanand the nobles in hiding in the fen.
That Alfred put his first fleet into the charge of "certainVikings" is well known, though the name of their chief is notgiven. These Vikings would certainly be Norse, either detached fromthe following of Rolf Ganger, who wintered in England in 875 A.D.the year before his descent on Normandy; or else independent roverswho, like Rolf, had been driven from Norway by the high-handedmethods of Harald Fairhair. Indeed, the time when a Norsecontingent was not present with the English forces, from thisperiod till at least that of the battle of Brunanburh in 947 A.D.would probably be an exception.
There are, therefore, good historic grounds for the position givento the hero of the story as leader of the newly-formed fleet. Thedetails of the burning of his supposed father's hall, and of theOrkney period, are from the Sagas.
Much controversy has raged over the sites of Ethandune and thelanding place of Hubba at Kynwith Castle, owing probably to theduplication of names in the district where the last campaign tookplace. The story, therefore, follows the identifications given bythe late Bishop Clifford in "The Transactions of the SomersetArchaeological Society" for 1875 and other years, as, both fromtopographic and strategic points of view, no other coherentidentification seems possible.
The earthworks of the Danish position still remain on Edingtonhill, that looks out from the Polden range over all the country ofAlfred's last refuge, and the bones of Hubba's men lie everywhereunder the turf where they made their last stand under the old wallsand earthworks of Combwich fort; and a lingering tradition yetrecords the extermination of a Danish force in the neighbourhood.Athelney needs but the cessation of today's drainage to revert in avery few years to what it was in Alfred's time--an island, aldercovered, barely rising from fen and mere, and it needs but littleimagination to reproduce what Alfred saw when, from the same pointwhere one must needs be standing, he planned the final stroke thathis people believed was inspired directly from above.
It would seem evident from Alfred's method with Guthrum that herealized that this king was but one among many leaders, and notdirectly responsible for the breaking of the solemn peace sworn atExeter and Wareham. His position as King of East Anglia has gainedhim an ill reputation in the pages of the later chronicles; butneither Asser nor the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle--our best authorities--blames him as they, for his contemporaries knew him to be but a"host king," with no authority over newcomers or those who did notchoose to own allegiance to him.
Save in a few cases, where the original spelling preserves a lostpronunciation, as in the first syllable of "Eadmund," the modernand familiar forms of the names have been used in preference to theconstantly-varying forms given by the chroniclers. Bridgwater hasno Saxon equivalent, the town being known only as "The Bridge"since the time when the Romans first fortified this one crossingplace of the Parret; and the name of the castle before which Hubbafell varies from Cynuit through Kynwith to Kynwich, whoseequivalent the Combwich of today is. Guthrum's name is given inmany forms, from Gytro to Godramnus. Nor has it been thought worthwhile to retain the original spelling AElfred, the ae diphthonghaving been appropriated by us to an entirely new sound; while ourown pronunciation of the name slightly broadened as yet in Wessex,is correct enough.
The exact relationship of St. Neot to Alfred, beyond that he was aclose kinsman, is very doubtful. He has been identified with abrother, Athelstan of East Anglia, who is known to have retired toGlastonbury; but there is no more than conjecture, and I have beencontent with "cousinship."