Assers Life of Alfred 849. 849. 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 Cutha²; 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 Gegwis³; [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:

If heathen poets rave o'er fancied woe,

While in a turgid stream their numbers flow

Whether the tragic buskin tread the stage,

Or waggish Geta all our thoughts engage;

If by the art of song they still revive

The taint of ill, and bid old vices live;

If monumental guilt they sing, and lies

Commit to books in magisterial wise;

Why may not I, who list to David's lyre,

And reverent stand amid the hallowed choir,

Hymn heavenly things in words of tranquil tone,

And tell the deeds of Christ in accents all my own?

Note 1. Based on the Chronicle under 855.

Note 2. MS. Cudam. So always, but see the Chronicle.

Note 3. Bede, Eccl. Hist. 3. 7: 'The West Saxons, formerly called Gewissae.' Plummer comments in his edition, 2. 89: 'It is probably connected with the "visi" of "Visigoths," meaning "west," and hence would indicate the western confederation of Saxon tribes; ... "Gewis" is probably an eponymous hero manufactured out of the tribe-name.' The gw of Gegwis is a Welsh peculiarity (Stevenson).

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 854. This year the heathen men³⁴ for the first time remained over winter in the Isle of Shepey [Map]. The same year [his father] King Ethelwulf registered a TENTH of his land over all his kingdom for the honour of God and for his own everlasting salvation. The same year also he went to Rome with great pomp, and was resident there a twelvemonth. Then he returned homeward; and Charles, king of the Franks (age 30), gave him his daughter, whose name was [his step-mother] Judith (age 10), to be his queen. After this he came to his people, and they were fain to receive him; but about two years after his residence among the Franks he died; and his body lies at Winchester. He reigned eighteen years and a half. And Ethelwulf was the son of Egbert, Egbert of Ealhmund, Ealhmund of Eafa, Eafa of Eoppa, Eoppa of Ingild; Ingild was the brother of Ina, king of the West-Saxons, who held that kingdom thirty-seven winters, and afterwards went to St. Peter, where he died. And they were the sons of Cenred, Cenred of Ceolwald, Ceolwald of Cutha, Cutha of Cuthwin, Cuthwin of Ceawlin, Ceawlin of Cynric, Cynric of Creoda, Creoda of Cerdic, Cerdic of Elesa, Elesa of Esla, Esla of Gewis, Gewis of Wig, Wig of Freawine, Freawine of Frithugar, Frithugar of Brond, Brond of Balday, Balday of Woden, Woden of Frithuwald, Frithuwald of Freawine, Freawine of Frithuwualf, Frithuwulf of Finn, Finn of Godwulf, Godwulf of Great, Great of Taetwa, Taetwa of Beaw, Beaw of Sceldwa, Sceldwa of Heremod, Heremod of Itermon, Itermon of Hathra, Hathra of Hwala, Hwala of Bedwig, Bedwig of Sceaf; that is, the son of Noah, who was born in Noah's ark: Laznech, Methusalem, Enoh, Jared, Malalahel, Cainion, Enos, Seth, Adam the first man, and our Father, that is, Christ. Amen. Then two sons of Ethelwulf succeeded to the kingdom; [his brother] Ethelbald to Wessex, and [his brother] Ethelbert to Kent, Essex, Surrey, and Sussex. Ethelbald reigned five years. Alfred (age 5), his third son, Ethelwulf had sent to Rome; and when the pope heard say that he was dead, he consecrated Alfred (age 5) king, and held him under spiritual hands, as his father Ethelwulf had desired, and for which purpose he had sent him thither.

Note 34. i.e. the Danes; or, as they are sometimes called, Northmen, which is a general term including all those numerous tribes that issued at different times from the north of Europe, whether Danes, Norwegians, Sweons, Jutes, or Goths, etc.; who were all in a state of paganism at this time.

Assers Life of Alfred 876. 876. 49. Movements of the Danes.¹⁰⁷ In the year of our Lord's incarnation 876, being the twenty-eighth year of King Alfred's (age 27) life, the oft-mentioned army of the heathen, leaving Cambridge by night, entered a fortress called Wareham, Dorset [Map]¹⁰⁸, where there is a monastery of nuns between the two rivers Froom [and Tarrant], in the district which is called in Welsh Durngueir¹⁰⁹, but in Saxon Thornsæta¹¹⁰, placed in a most secure location, except on the western side, where there was a territory adjacent. With this army Alfred (age 27) made a solemn treaty to the effect that they should depart from him, and they made no hesitation to give him as many picked hostages as he named; also they swore an oath on all the relics in which King Alfred (age 27) trusted next to God¹¹¹, and on which they had never before sworn to any people, that they would speedily depart from his kingdom. But they again practised their usual treachery, and caring nothing for either hostages or oath, they broke the treaty, and, sallying forth by night, slew all the horsemen [horses?] that they had¹¹², and, turning off, started without warning for another place called in Saxon Exanceastre [Map], and in Welsh Cairwisc, which means in Latin 'The City [of Exe],' situated on the eastern bank of the river Wisc¹¹³, near the southern sea which divides Britain from Gaul, and there passed the winter.

Note 107. Chiefly from the Chronicle.

Note 108. In Dorsetshire.

Note 109. Dorchester.

Note 110. For the usual Dornsæte.

Note 111. Here the Chronicle. has 'on the holy arm-ring,' on which the Danes, it would seem, were accustomed to swear.

Note 112. Here the Chronicle has: 'They, the mounted army, stole away from the fierd [the English forces] in the night into Exeter.' This, of course, is the true account, while the statement in Asser is incredible.

Note 113. Exe.

Assers Life of Alfred 887. 887. 89. Alfred's Handbook.²²⁶ When that first quotation had been copied, he was eager at once to read, and to translate into Saxon, and then to teach many others - even as we are assured concerning that happy thief who recognized the Lord Jesus Christ, his Lord, aye, the Lord of all men, as he was hanging on the venerable gallows of the holy cross, and, with trustful petition, casting down of his body no more than his eyes, since he was so entirely fastened with nails that he could do nothing else, cried with humble voice, 'O Christ, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom!'²²⁷ since it was only on the cross that he began to learn the elements of the Christian faith.²²⁸ Inspired by God, he began the rudiments of Holy Scripture on the sacred feast of St. Martin.²²⁹ Then he went on, as far as he was able, to learn the flowers²³⁰ collected from various quarters by any and all of his teachers, and to reduce them into the form of one book, although jumbled together, until it became almost as large as a psalter. This book he called his Enchiridion²³¹ or Handbook²³², because he carefully kept it at hand day and night, and found, as he then used to say, no small consolation therein.

Note 226. Original.

Note 227. Luke 23. 42.

Note 228. The following phrases, introduced at this point, seem to be corrupt: Hic aut aliter, quamvis dissimili modo, in regia potestate.

Note 229. November 11.

Note 230. Alfred calls the passages which he translated from St. Augustine's Soliloquies by the name of 'flowers' or 'blossoms' (blōstman). See Hargrove's edition (Yale Studies in English XIII), and his version into modern English (Yale Studies in English XXII).

Note 231. The application of the word to a work of St. Augustine's gave it great currency in the Frankish Latin of the period.

Note 232. The Handbook seems to have been known to William of Malmesbury (d. 1143); cf. his Gesta Pontificum, pp. 333, 336.

Assers Life of Alfred 887. 887. 88. Alfred's Manual.²²² On a certain day we were both of us sitting in the king's chamber, talking on all kinds of subjects, as usual, and it happened that I read to him a quotation out of a certain book. While he was listening to it attentively with both ears, and pondering it deeply with his inmost mind, he suddenly showed me a little book²²³ which he carried in his bosom, wherein were written the daily course, together with certain Psalms and prayers which he had read in his youth, and thereupon bade me write the quotation in that book. Hearing this, and perceiving in part his active intelligence and goodness of heart, together with his devout resolution of studying divine wisdom, I gave, though in secret, yet with hands uplifted to heaven, boundless thanks to Almighty God, who had implanted such devotion to the study of wisdom in the king's heart. But since I could find no blank space in that book wherein to write the quotation, it being all full of various matters, I delayed a little, chiefly that I might stir up the choice understanding of the king to a higher knowledge of the divine testimonies. Upon his urging me to make haste and write it quickly, I said to him, 'Are you willing that I should write that quotation on some separate leaf? Perhaps we shall find one or more other such which will please you; and if that should happen, we shall be glad that we have kept this by itself.' 'Your plan is good,' said he; so I gladly made haste to get ready a pamphlet of four leaves, at the head of which I wrote what he had bidden me; and that same day I wrote in it, at his request, and as I had predicted, no less than three other quotations which pleased him. From that time we daily talked together, and investigated the same subject by the help of other quotations which we found and which pleased him, so that the pamphlet gradually became full, and deservedly so, for it is written, 'The righteous man builds upon a moderate foundation, and by degrees passes to greater things.'²²⁴ Thus, like a most productive bee, flying far and wide, and scrutinizing the fenlands, he eagerly and unceasingly collected various flowers of Holy Scripture, with which he copiously stored the cells of his mind.²²⁵

Note 222. Original.

Note 223. Cf. chap. 24.

Note 224. Author unknown.

Note 225. Cf. chap. 76.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 897. In the summer of this year went the army, some into East-Anglia, and some into Northumbria; and those that were penniless got themselves ships, and went south over sea to the Seine. The enemy had not, thank God, entirely destroyed the English nation; but they were much more weakened in these three years by the disease of cattle, and most of all of men; so that many of the mightiest of the king's thanes, that were in the land, died within the three years. Of these, one was Swithulf Bishop of Rochester, Ceolmund alderman in Kent, Bertulf alderman in Essex, Wulfred alderman in Hampshire, Elhard Bishop of Dorchester, Eadulf a king's thane in Sussex, Bernuff governor of Winchester, and Egulf the king's horse-thane; and many also with them; though I have named only the men of the highest rank. This same year the plunderers in East-Anglia and Northumbria greatly harassed the land of the West-Saxons by piracies on the southern coast, but most of all by the esks which they built many years before. Then King Alfred (age 48) gave orders for building long ships against the esks, which were full-nigh twice as long as the others. Some had sixty oars, some more; and they were both swifter and steadier, and also higher than the others. They were not shaped either after the Frisian or the Danish model, but so as he himself thought that they might be most serviceable. Then, at a certain turn of this same year, came six of their ships to the Isle of Wight; and going into Devonshire, they did much mischief both there and everywhere on the seacoast. Then commanded the king his men to go out against them with nine of the new ships, and prevent their escape by the mouth of the river to the outer sea. Then came they out against them with three ships, and three others were standing upwards above the mouth on dry land: for the men were gone off upon shore. Of the first three ships they took two at the mouth outwards, and slew the men; the third veered off, but all the men were slain except five; and they too were severely wounded. Then came onward those who manned the other ships, which were also very uneasily situated. Three were stationed on that side of the deep where the Danish ships were aground, whilst the others were all on the opposite side; so that none of them could join the rest; for the water had ebbed many furlongs from them. Then went the Danes from their three ships to those other three that were on their side, be-ebbed; and there they then fought. There were slain Lucomon, the king's reve, and Wulfheard, a Frieslander; Ebb, a Frieslander, and Ethelere, a Frieslander; and Ethelferth, the king's neat-herd; and of all the men, Frieslanders and English, sixty-two; of the Danes a hundred and twenty. The tide, however, reached the Danish ships ere the Christians could shove theirs out; whereupon they rowed them out; but they were so crippled, that they could not row them beyond the coast of Sussex: there two of them the sea drove ashore; and the crew were led to Winchester to the king, who ordered them to be hanged. The men who escaped in the single ship came to East-Anglia, severely wounded. This same year were lost no less than twenty ships, and the men withal, on the southern coast. Wulfric, the king's horse-thane, who was also viceroy of Wales, died the same year.

Assers Life of Alfred 80. 80. The Welsh Princes who submit to Alfred.¹⁹⁹ At that time, and long before, all the countries in South Wales belonged to King Alfred, and still belong to him. For instance, King Hemeid, with all the inhabitants of the region of Dyfed²⁰⁰, restrained by the violence of the six sons of Rhodri²⁰¹, had submitted to the dominion of the king. Howel also, son of Ris, King of Glywyssing²⁰², and Brochmail and Fernmail, sons of Mouric, kings of Gwent²⁰³, compelled by the violence and tyranny of Ealdorman Æthelred and of the Mercians, of their own accord sought out the same king²⁰⁴, that they might enjoy rule and protection from him against their enemies. Helised, also, son of Teudubr, King of Brecknock, compelled by the violence of the same sons of Rhodri, of his own accord sought the lordship of the aforesaid king; and Anarawd, son of Rhodri, with his brothers, at length abandoning the friendship of the Northumbrians, from whom he had received no good, but rather harm, came into King Alfred's presence, and eagerly sought his friendship. The king received him with honor, adopted him as his son by confirmation from the bishop's hand²⁰⁵, and bestowed many gifts upon him. Thus he became subject to the king with all his people, on condition that he should be obedient to the king's will in all respects, in the same way as Æthelred and the Mercians.

Note 199. Original.

Note 200. Pembrokeshire and part of Carmarthenshire.

Note 201. 'Rhodri Mawr (the Great), King of Gwyneth, who acquired the rule of the whole of North and Mid-Wales and Cardigan' (Stevenson).

Note 202. Old name of Glamorgan and part of Monmouthshire.

Note 203. In Monmouthshire.

Note 204. Alfred.

Note 205. See chaps. 8. and chap. 56.

Assers Life of Alfred 77. 77. Alfred's Scholarly Associates: Werfrith, Plegmund, Æthelstan, and Werwulf.¹⁸⁷ But God at that time, as some consolation to the king's benevolence, enduring no longer his kindly and just complaint, sent as it were certain luminaries, namely, Werfrith¹⁸⁸, Bishop of the church of Worcester, a man well versed in divine Scripture, who, by the king's command, was the first to interpret with clearness and elegance the books of the Dialogues of Pope Gregory and Peter, his disciple, from Latin into Saxon, sometimes putting sense for sense; then Plegmund¹⁸⁹, a Mercian by birth, Archbishop of the church of Canterbury, a venerable man, endowed with wisdom; besides Æthelstan¹⁹⁰ and Werwulf, learned priests and clerks¹⁹¹, Mercians by birth. These four King Alfred had called to him from Mercia, and he exalted them with many honors and powers in the kingdom of the West Saxons, not to speak of those which Archbishop Plegmund and Bishop Werfrith had in Mercia. By the teaching and wisdom of all these the king's desire increased continually, and was gratified. Night and day, whenever he had any leisure, he commanded such men as these to read books to him - for he never suffered himself to be without one of them - so that he came to possess a knowledge of almost every book, though of himself he could not yet understand anything of books, since he had not yet learned to read anything.

Note 187. Original.

Note 188. See Appendix I, p. 69. In Alfred's will he gives Werfrith (Wærferth) a hundred marks.

Note 189. See Appendix I, p. 71.

Note 190. Perhaps Bishop of Ramsbury (909 a.d.). The later MSS. of the Chronicle say, under the year 883: 'And in the same year Sighelm and Æthelstan took to Rome the alms that King Alfred sent, and also to India to St. Thomas' and St. Bartholomew's.'

Note 191. Or, 'chaplains.' See p. 61, note 6.

Assers Life of Alfred 91. Not to speak of the disease above mentioned, he was disturbed by the quarrels of his subjects²⁴⁴, who would of their own choice endure little or no toil for the common need of the kingdom. He alone, sustained by the divine aid, once he had assumed the helm of government, strove in every way, like a skilful pilot, to steer²⁴⁵ his ship, laden with much wealth, into the safe and longed-for harbor of his country, though almost all his crew were weary, suffering them not to faint or hesitate, even amid the waves and manifold whirlpools of this present life. Thus his bishops, earls, nobles, favorite thanes, and prefects, who, next to God and the king, had the whole government of the kingdom, as was fitting, continually received from him instruction, compliment, exhortation, and command; nay, at last, if they were disobedient, and his long patience was exhausted, he would reprove them severely, and censure in every way their vulgar folly and obstinacy; and thus he wisely gained and bound them to his own wishes and the common interests of the whole kingdom. But if, owing to the sluggishness of the people, these admonitions of the king were either not fulfilled, or were begun late at the moment of necessity, and so, because they were not carried through, did not redound to the advantage of those who put them in execution - take as an example the fortresses which he ordered, but which are not yet begun or, begun late, have not yet been completely finished - when hostile forces have made invasions by sea, or land, or both, then those who had set themselves against the imperial orders have been put to shame and overwhelmed with vain repentance. I speak of vain repentance on the authority of Scripture, whereby numberless persons have had cause for sorrow when they have been smitten by great harm through the perpetration of deceit. But though by this means, sad to say, they may be bitterly afflicted, and roused to grief by the loss of fathers, wives, children, thanes, man servants, maid servants, products, and all their household stuff, what is the use of hateful repentance when their kinsmen are dead, and they cannot aid them, or redeem from dire captivity those who are captive? for they cannot even help themselves when they have escaped, since they have not wherewithal to sustain their own lives. Sorely exhausted by a tardy repentance, they grieve over their carelessness in despising the king's commands; they unite in praising his wisdom, promising to fulfil with all their might what before they had declined to do, namely, in the construction of fortresses, and other things useful to the whole kingdom.

Note 244. The early part of the sentence is corrupt in the MS.

Note 245. The figure is found as early as Sophocles and Aristophanes.