If there is one thing that characterizes England’s infancy the most, it may just be the age’s plethora of royal nicknames. The way that leaders were characterized by their people allows historians to see England’s early years through the eyes of those that lived them. Uhtred the Bold (d.1016) earned his epithet when defending England from the Scots in 1006. Ethelred the Unready (d.1016) got his name from the old Saxon word unræd, meaning ill-advised. In this week’s installment of Fact vs. Fiction, I am moving from Bernard Cornwell’s 11th century ancestor Uthred to the ninth century to dissect the life and legacy of Alfred the Great, the real inspiration behind “the Saxon Tales.” Cornwell’s novels and the Netflix adaptation of his novels, “The Last Kingdom,” paint Alfred as a devoutly pious, intelligent man and scholar whose ultimate goal is uniting England under Christian rule. While there is no doubt that Alfred’s reign was significant for England and beyond, Cornwell’s novels and their adaptations left me wondering how true pop culture stayed to the man who established Danelaw and brought his successors one step closer to the England we know today.
Alfred (or Aelfred, meaning “wise elf” or “elf counsel”) was born as the youngest of five sons to King Aethelwulf of Wessex in 849. The village of Wanating where he was born is now known as Wantage in Oxfordshire. According to the “Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,” Alfred was sent to Rome in 853. The text reveals that at only four years of age, Pope Leo IV anointed Alfred as king. However, a letter from Leo IV later contradicts this message, as he explains that Alfred was actually made a consul. As the youngest of five sons, his time in the city was likely to prepare him for a life in the Church, and his years in Rome gave him an early look at Christianity and its traditions.
As a child, Alfred expressed great interest in English poetry and the Latin language. Asser, a ninth century Welsh scholar and bishop, tells the story of how Alfred won a book of Saxon poems from his mother. According to Asser, Alfred’s mother proclaimed that the first of her children to memorize the collection would be awarded the text. After many hours of practice with his tutor, Alfred won, and from that moment forward, he was launched into a life of reading and scholarship.
It seemed unlikely that Alfred would ever succeed to the throne with four older brothers ahead of him, but the near-constant waves of Viking attacks on Wessex’s coast and farther inland dwindled down his father’s successors until only he remained. After his brother King Aethelred passed away in 871, Alfred inherited the Kingdom of Wessex, an Anglo-Saxon Kingdom in southern Great Britain. Though Aethelred had two sons, they were both very young at the time of his death, and for the sake of the kingdom, Wessex was placed in Alfred’s hands. Alfred inherited a heavy burden, as Northumbria, East Anglia and Mercia all fell to Viking raiders, leaving Wessex the only Anglo-Saxon providence left.
Scholars may overstate Alfred’s greatness, as historian Barbara Yorke explains in an interview with BBC History magazine: “There was also an element of luck in his survival at the beginning of his reign, and in the fact that Vikings were more interested in eastern England that was closer to their homelands.” Alfred and the Danes made peace after a failed battle at Wilton in May 871. A truce was struck after heavy casualties on both sides, and the strength of the West Saxon resistance (and perhaps a bit of luck) deterred attacks until 876.
The Danes made further attempts on Wessex in 876, but they quickly retired after only a year of small skirmishes. Wessex had let its guard down, resulting in near catastrophe when Danish King Guthrum seized Chippenham in Jan. 878. Asser writes of the Danes, “There they wintered, and drove many of the people of Wessex overseas by force of arms, and through lack of the necessities of life. They reduced to almost complete subjection all the people of the country.” Alfred was celebrating the Christmas holidays in Dorset when Guthrum invaded, and after the Danish king captured the north, Alfred was forced to flee south into Somerset.
Alfred’s time in the Somerset marshlands resulted in a famous English story that demonstrates one of the noble man’s few flaws. Chased into the swamps, Alfred and his men were reduced to beggars, relying on local peasants for food and shelter. One peasant woman shared her home with Alfred on the condition that he carefully watch the cakes she had placed into the hearth while she milked her cow. Though Alfred may have been great, he was not so great at baking bread, and the cakes quickly burned under his distracted supervision. The woman returned, scolding him for ruining their supper, and Alfred was forced to endure yet another blow to his wounded ego.
Luckily for Wessex, the king’s culinary chops were not indicative of his brilliance in battle. Despite being stranded in the vast marshes, Alfred was able to mount a resistance and establish a fort at Athelney. It was there that he began using guerilla warfare, depleting the Vikings’ numbers little by little while waiting for further reinforcements. In May 878, Alfred defeated Guthrum and his men with an army composed of soldiers from Wiltshire, Somerset and Hampshire. Asser describes the battle of Edington in Alfred’s biography: “‘Alfred attacked the whole pagan army fighting ferociously in dense order, and by divine will eventually won the victory, made great slaughter among them, and pursued them to their fortress… After fourteen days the pagans were brought to the extreme depths of despair by hunger, cold and fear, and they sought peace.” After Edington, the future of Wessex was looking up, and Alfred sought to secure his kingdom’s prospects with a variety of treaties and alliances.
Though Alfred’s tale is nowhere near complete, his bookworm background and wit in warfare brand him as a man destined for greatness. While some of his achievements have been exaggerated in bedtime stories, Alfred is still a crucial player in making the England we know today. In the next installment of Fact vs. Fiction, I will look at the implications of his victory at Edington and his achievements in military and law. His achievements did not stop after a successful campaign against the northmen, because despite his incident with the peasant woman’s bread, he was never one to loaf around.
Celine Butler is a third-year student majoring in psychology and minoring in French and history. CB869017@wcupa.edu