[111] Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1016.
[112] Opera, ii., 148.
[113] Snorre, Saga of Saint Olaf, cc. 46-51.
[114] Snorre, Olaf Trygvesson's Saga, c. iii., Corpus Poeticum Boreale, ii., 92.
[115] Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1016.
CHAPTER IV
THE STRUGGLE WITH EDMUND IRONSIDE—1016
The Old English kingship was elective: on the death of a ruler, the great lords and the high officials of the Church, the "witan" or wise, would meet in formal assembly to select a successor. Usually the nearest male heir of the house of Alfred would be chosen; but circumstances might dictate a different selection, and in such cases the "wise men" seem to have possessed plenary powers. In the spring of 1016, however, a free choice was impossible; nearly the whole kingdom was pledged to the invader. In his camp were the Saxon hostages; and the great Dane had shown on an earlier occasion that he could be cruel when he thought a pledge was broken.