The Boys' Book of Famous Rulers

by Lydia Hoyt Farmer

Within six weeks after his marriage he was called to arms by the invasion of the Danes, already mentioned, under Guthrum and Hubba; and within a few short months his brother Ethelred had been killed in battle, he himself had become king, and nine pitched battles had been fought in his own kingdom of Wessex under his leadership.

To understand more clearly the character of the Danes, a slight description of their weird and fantastic religious ideas is necessary. Woden was the chief figure in their ancient mythology. He was the god of battles, “who giveth victory, who re-animates warriors, who nameth those who are to be slain.” This Woden had been an inspired teacher as well as a conqueror, and had given to these wild Northmen a Scandinavian alphabet, and songs of battle. Their traditions related that Woden had led them from the shores of the Black Sea to the fiords of Norway, the far shores of Iceland. Having departed from them, he drew their hearts after him, and lived ever after in Asgard, the garden of the gods. There in his own great hall, Valhalla, the hall of Odin, he dwelt. And it was believed that the brave slain in battle should be permitted to go to Valhalla, and feast there with the mighty Odin.

There were also supposed to be other gods in this hall of Valhalla. Chief of these was Balder, the sun-god, white, beautiful, benignant; and Thor, the thunder-god, with terrible smiting hammer and awful brows, engaged mainly in expeditions into Jotun land, a chaotic world, the residence of the giants, or devils, known as frost, fire, tempest, and the like. Thor’s attendant was Thealfi, or manual labor. This thunder-god was described to be full of unwieldly strength, simplicity, and rough humor. There was supposed to be a tree of life also in the unseen world,—Igdrasil, with its roots in Hela, the kingdom of death, at the foot of which sit the three Nornas, known as the past, present, and future. They also believed that there would some day be a struggle of the gods and Jotuns, or dwellers in the chaotic world, and that at last the gods, Jotuns, and Time himself would all sink down into darkness, from which in due season there should issue forth a new heaven and a new earth, in which a higher god and supreme justice shall at last reign.

So their religion was only a religion of war; and, to be brave in battle, they thought the most pleasing devotion they could show to their warlike gods. So this contest between the Danes and Saxons was not only one for the possession of the fruitful land of England, but was a contest between Paganism and Christianity. King Alfred was a devout Christian, and although the Saxons’ ideas of religion were mixed with much superstition and bigotry, they believed in the true God, Jehovah, and in salvation through the redemption of Jesus Christ; although the pure Gospel, as taught by Christ himself when on the earth more than eight hundred years before this time, had become mixed with all sorts of legends of saints and marvellous stories fabricated by the priests, and handed down as traditions among the people, whose ignorance placed them completely under the sway of the only class of men who were educated sufficiently to read and write, and by whom all copies were made of such books as they possessed at that day, which consisted only of rolls of parchment, penned laboriously by hand in the various monasteries, scattered throughout the different kingdoms of the then civilized world. The most famous battle between the Saxons and the Danes is known as the battle of Ashdown, and is thus described in the old English annals:—

“At early dawn the hosts were on foot. Alfred marched up promptly with his men to give battle, but King Ethelred stayed long time in his tent at prayer hearing the mass. Now the Christians had determined that King Ethelred with his men should fight the two pagan kings, and that Alfred his brother, with his men, should take the chance of war against the earls. Things being so arranged, the king remained long time in prayer, while the pagans pressed on swiftly to the fight. Then Alfred, though holding the lower command, could no longer support the onslaught of the enemy without retreating, or charging upon them without waiting for his brother. A moment of fearful anxiety was this for the young prince, who thus no doubt mused: ‘Bagsac and the two Sidrocs at the top of the down with double my numbers, already overlapping my flanks: Ethelred still at mass—dare I go up at them? In the name of God and St. Cuthbert, yes!’ and with a strong heart, brave for this great crisis, Alfred puts himself at the head of his men, and leads them up the slope against the whole pagan host, ‘With the rush of a wild boar.’ For he too relied on the help of God. He formed his men in a dense phalanx to meet the foe, which was never broken in that long fight. Mass being over, Ethelred comes up to the help of his brother, and the battle raged along the whole hillside. The pagans occupied the higher ground, and the Christians came up from below. There was also in that place, a single stunted thorn-tree. Round this tree the opposing hosts came together with loud shouts from all sides, the one party to pursue their wicked course, the other to fight for their lives, their wives and children, and their country. And, when both sides had fought long and bravely, at last the pagans, by God’s judgment, gave way, being no longer able to abide the Christian onslaught; and after losing a great part of their army, broke in shameful flight. One of their two kings and five earls were there slain, together with many thousand pagans, who covered with their bodies the whole plain of Ashdown. And all the pagan host pursued its flight, not only until night, but through the next day, even until they reached the stronghold from which they had come forth. The Christians followed, slaying all they could reach until dark. Neither before nor since was ever such slaughter known since the Saxons first gained England by their arms.”

Alfred’s decision and promptness, in that time of emergency, not only won the day, but hardened his own nerve to flint, and his judgment, amid the clash of arms, to steel. Through all the weary years of battle and misfortune that followed, there was no sign of indecision and faint-heartedness. He had conquered fear and hesitancy there, as valiantly as he had conquered temptations to evil in his earlier youth. About two months after the battle of Ashdown, Ethelred and Alfred fought for the last time together, against their unwearied foes. In this contest Ethelred was mortally wounded, and died soon after, and was buried by Alfred with kingly honors in Wimborne Minster.

Alfred, now at the age of twenty-three, ascended the throne of his fathers, which seemed at that time tottering, and was not an inheritance to be desired in the year of 871, when Alfred succeeded his brother. It would not be surprising if for a moment he lost heart and hope, and allowed himself to doubt whether God would by his hand deliver his afflicted people from their relentless foes. In the eight pitched battles which had been fought with the pagan army, the flower of the youth of the Saxon nation had fallen. Kent, Sussex, and Surrey were at the mercy of the Danes. London had been pillaged and was in ruins, and several provinces in his own Wessex had been desolated. The Danes were even then striking into new districts, and if the rich lands yet unplundered were to be saved from their voracious grasp, it would only be by prompt and decisive action.

A month has passed since the death of Alfred’s brother and his succession to this tottering throne. Alfred, with the greatest difficulty, collects enough men to take the field openly. The first great battle that Alfred fought, as king, was at Wilton. At first Alfred’s troops carried all before them, but the tide turned in favor of the Danes, and Alfred and the Saxons were driven from the field. There was immense loss upon both sides, and a treaty was agreed upon between Alfred and Hubba, the Danish chieftain. By this treaty, the Danes were to retire from Alfred’s dominions, provided that he would not interfere with their conquests in other parts of England. Alfred has been censured for making this treaty; but he was obliged to choose between protection for his own realm, and perhaps the entire destruction and overthrow of not only his dominions, but of all England. He had no power to aid others, and therefore endeavored to protect, if possible, his own subjects. The Danes then went to Mercia. The king of Mercia was Buthred, the brother-in-law of Alfred. Buthred paid the Danes large sums of money to leave his kingdom. The Danes departed for a while, but treacherously returned, and were again bought off. Hubba scarcely left the kingdom this time, but spent the money received, and then went to plundering as before, regardless of all promises. Buthred, in despair, fled the country and went to Rome, where he died soon after of grief. The Danes then took possession of Mercia, and set over the people a king from whom they demanded an annual tribute. In the meantime, new hordes of Danes arrived in England; and one place after another was plundered by them, and they obtained possession of the town of Exancester (now Exeter), which was a great loss to Alfred. King Alfred then determined to meet the Danes upon their own element; and he built and equipped a small fleet, and was successful in his first encounter with his enemies, having defeated a fleet of Danish ships in the channel, and having captured one of the largest of their vessels.

But after all, Alfred gained no decisive victory over his foes. He then tried to bind the Danes by Christian oaths, in making a treaty with them. The Danes were accustomed to swear by a certain ornament which they wore, when they wished to impose a very solemn religious oath; and to swear by this bracelet was to place themselves under the most solemn obligations they could assume. Alfred, however, was not satisfied with this pagan ceremony, but obliged them, in one treaty, to swear by certain Christian relics, which were held in great awe and sacredness by the Saxons. But the Danes broke their treaties with the most reckless defiance; and, as years passed, Alfred found his army broken, his resources exhausted, his towns and castles taken, until about eight years after his coronation at Winchester, as monarch of the most powerful of all the Saxon kingdoms, he found himself unable to resist the further attacks of the Danes, who had come over in fresh hordes, and captured his kingdom of Wessex; which calamity Alfred was powerless to prevent.