The reader familiar with the traditional Asser will miss some matter with which he is familiar, such as the story of Alfred and the cakes, that of the raven-banner of the Danes, etc. These are derived from interpolations made in the manuscript by Archbishop Parker, which modern critical scholarship has at length excised. For all matters regarding the manuscript, the earlier editions, etc., as well as for copious illustrative notes on the text, the reader is referred to Stevenson’s edition.
Insertions made in the text by Stevenson, on what he considers sufficient grounds, are indicated by < >. The chapter-divisions and -numbering are Stevenson’s; the chapter-headings mine. Where modern forms of proper names exist, I have not hesitated to adopt them, and in general have tended rather to normalize them than scrupulously to follow the sometimes various spellings of the text. The notes have almost always been derived from Stevenson’s edition, whether or not explicit acknowledgment has been made, but now and then, as in the case of the long note on chapter 56, are my own.
Yale University
July 4, 1905
CONTENTS
| PAGE | ||
| 1. | Alfred’s Birth and Genealogy | [1] |
| 2. | Genealogy of Alfred’s Mother | [2] |
| 3. | The Danes at Wicganbeorg and Sheppey | [3] |
| 4. | The Danes sack Canterbury | [3] |
| 5. | Battle of Aclea | [4] |
| 6. | Defeat of the Danes at Sandwich | [4] |
| 7. | Æthelwulf assists Burgred | [4] |
| 8. | Alfred at Rome | [5] |
| 9. | Other Events of 853 | [5] |
| 10. | The Heathen winter in Sheppey | [6] |
| 11. | Æthelwulf journeys to Rome | [6] |
| 12. | Rebellion of Æthelbald | [6] |
| 13. | Judith’s Position in Wessex | [7] |
| 14. | Offa and Eadburh | [8] |
| 15. | Eadburh’s Further Life | [9] |
| 16. | Æthelwulf’s Will | [10] |
| 17. | Æthelbald marries Judith | [11] |
| 18. | Æthelbert’s Reign | [12] |
| 19. | Æthelbert’s Death | [12] |
| 20. | The Danes in Kent | [12] |
| 21. | Æthelred’s Accession | [13] |
| 22. | Alfred’s Rearing | [13] |
| 23. | Alfred and the Book of Saxon Poems | [14] |
| 24. | Alfred’s Handbook | [14] |
| 25. | Alfred’s Love of Learning | [15] |
| 26. | The Danes occupy York | [16] |
| 27. | Defeat of the Northumbrians | [16] |
| 28. | Death of Ealhstan | [17] |
| 29. | Alfred marries | [17] |
| 30. | The Danes at Nottingham | [17] |
| 31. | The Danes at York | [18] |
| 32. | The Danes at Thetford | [18] |
| 33. | The Danes triumph | [18] |
| 34. | Ceolnoth dies | [18] |
| 35. | The Danes defeated at Englefield | [19] |
| 36. | Battle of Reading | [19] |
| 37. | Battle of Ashdown | [20] |
| 38. | Alfred begins the Attack | [20] |
| 39. | The Heathen Rout and Loss | [21] |
| 40. | Battle of Basing | [22] |
| 41. | Æthelred’s Death | [22] |
| 42. | Alfred comes to the Throne; Battle of Wilton | [22] |
| 43. | Peace made | [24] |
| 44. | The Heathen winter in London | [24] |
| 45. | The Heathen winter in Lindsey | [24] |
| 46. | The Danes in Mercia | [24] |
| 47. | The Danes in Northumbria and Cambridge | [25] |
| 48. | Alfred’s Battle at Sea | [25] |
| 49. | Movements of the Danes | [25] |
| 50. | Halfdene partitions Northumbria | [26] |
| 51. | Division of Mercia | [26] |
| 52. | The Danes at Chippenham | [26] |
| 53. | Alfred in Somersetshire | [27] |
| 54. | The Danes defeated at Cynwit | [27] |
| 55. | Alfred at Athelney | [28] |
| 56. | Battle of Edington, and Treaty with Guthrum | [28] |
| 57. | The Danes go to Cirencester | [30] |
| 58. | Danes at Fulham | [31] |
| 59. | An Eclipse | [31] |
| 60. | The Danes in East Anglia | [31] |
| 61. | The Smaller Army leaves England | [31] |
| 62. | The Danes fight with the Franks | [31] |
| 63. | The Danes on the Meuse | [31] |
| 64. | Alfred’s Naval Battle with the Danes | [31] |
| 65. | The Danes at Condé | [32] |
| 66. | Deliverance of Rochester | [32] |
| 67. | Alfred’s Naval Battle at the Mouth of the Stour | [32] |
| 68. | Death of Carloman, of Louis II, and of Louis III | [33] |
| 69. | The Danes in Old Saxony | [33] |
| 70. | Charles, King of the Alemanni | [34] |
| 71. | Death of Pope Marinus | [34] |
| 72. | The Danes break their Treaty | [34] |
| 73. | Asser makes a New Beginning | [34] |
| 74. | Alfred’s Maladies | [35] |
| 75. | Alfred’s Children and their Education | [37] |
| 76. | Alfred’s Varied Pursuits | [38] |
| 77. | Alfred’s Scholarly Associates: Werfrith, Plegmund, Æthelstan, and Werwulf | [41] |
| 78. | Grimbald and John, the Old Saxon | [42] |
| 79. | Asser’s Negotiations with King Alfred | [42] |
| 80. | The Welsh Princes who submit to Alfred | [44] |
| 81. | How Alfred rewards Submission | [45] |
| 82. | The Siege of Paris | [46] |
| 83. | Alfred rebuilds London | [47] |
| 84. | The Danes leave Paris | [47] |
| 85. | Division of the Empire | [47] |
| 86. | Alfred sends Alms to Rome | [48] |
| 87. | Alfred begins to translate from Latin | [48] |
| 88. | Alfred’s Manual | [48] |
| 89. | Alfred’s Handbook | [50] |
| 90. | Illustration from the Penitent Thief | [51] |
| 91. | Alfred’s Troubles | [51] |
| 92. | Alfred builds Two Monasteries | [54] |
| 93. | Monasticism was decayed | [55] |
| 94. | Monks brought from beyond Sea | [55] |
| 95. | A Crime committed at Athelney | [55] |
| 96. | The Plot of a Priest and a Deacon | [56] |
| 97. | The Execution of the Plot | [57] |
| 98. | The Convent at Shaftesbury | [58] |
| 99. | Alfred divides his Time and his Revenues | [58] |
| 100. | The Threefold Division of Officers at Court | [59] |
| 101. | The Distribution for Secular Purposes | [59] |
| 102. | The Distribution for Religious Purposes | [60] |
| 103. | Alfred’s Dedication of Personal Service | [61] |
| 104. | Alfred’s Measure of Time | [61] |
| 105. | Alfred judges the Poor with Equity | [63] |
| 106. | His Correction of Unjust and Incompetent Judges | [63] |
| APPENDIXES | [67] | |
| Appendix I: Alfred’s Preface to his Translation of Gregory’s Pastoral Care | [69] | |
| Appendix II: Letter from Fulco, Archbishop of Rheims, to Alfred | [72] | |
| INDEX | [79] | |
ASSER’S LIFE OF KING ALFRED
To my lord Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, the worshipful and pious ruler of all Christians in the island of Britain, Asser, least of all the servants of God, wisheth thousandfold prosperity for both lives, according to the desires of his heart.
1. Alfred’s Birth and Genealogy.[1]—In the year of our Lord’s incarnation 849, Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons, was born at the royal vill of Wantage, in Berkshire (which receives its name from Berroc Wood, where the box-tree grows very abundantly). His genealogy is traced in the following order: King Alfred was the son of King Æthelwulf; he of Egbert; he of Ealhmund; he of Eafa; he of Eoppa; he of Ingild. Ingild and Ine, the famous king of the West Saxons, were two brothers. Ine went to Rome, and there ending the present life honorably, entered into the heavenly fatherland to reign with Christ. Ingild and Ine were the sons of Cœnred; he of Ceolwald; he of Cutha[2]; he of Cuthwine; he of Ceawlin; he of Cynric; he of Creoda; he of Cerdic; he of Elesa; <he of Esla;> he of Gewis, from whom the Welsh name all that people Gegwis[3]; <he of Wig; he of Freawine; he of Freothegar;> he of Brond; he of Beldeag; he of Woden; he of Frithowald; he of Frealaf; he of Frithuwulf; he of Finn<; he of> Godwulf; he of Geata, which Geta the heathen long worshiped as a god. Sedulius makes mention of him in his metrical Paschal Poem, as follows: