The Battle of Edington was fought in May 878, when an army of West Saxons under King Alfred the Great defeated the Great Heathen Army under the Viking king Guthrum. The victory at Edington forced Guthrum to abandon Wessex, and Alfred resumed control of the entire kingdom, ensuring that the last Anglo-Saxon kingdom survived the Viking onslaught. The Danes settled into their new kingdoms, the Danelaw, and a general peace existed for over ten years.
Background[]
By 878, after a decade of war between the pagan Great Heathen Army of Vikings and the Christian Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England, Wessex was the only remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Britannia. The Viking king of East Anglia, Guthrum, had launched invasions of Wessex in 875 (taking Wareham) and 876-877 (targeting Exeter), but he was twice bribed to retreat by King Alfred in order to buy time. In January 878, during the Christmas festival, Guthrum and his army of cavalry raiders surprised Alfred at his royal estate at Chippenham, nearly ending Alfred there and then. Alfred and a handful of followers, pursued by some of Guthrum's best warriors, fled west into the marshlands of the Somerset Levels, setting up his base on the island of Athelney and preparing to make a final stand with his last 400 followers. For the next several months, Alfred launched raids into his own kingdom, now overrrun by Guthrum's warriors. After hearing of Guthrum's success, the Frisian Viking leader Ubbe Ragnarrsson led a fleet of 23 ships from South Wales to northern Devon near the fortress of Arx Cynuit, intending to corner Alfred in a pincer movement. However, Ubbe was met by Ealdorman Odda of Devon in the Battle of Cynwit, and Ubbe was struck down in battle and his fleet destroyed.
The arrival of the West Saxon soldiers at Egbert's Stone
Guthrum was left overextended, and Alfred and his ealdormen broke up the Danish supply lines and lines of communication. Alfred then called as many of the fyrdmen of Somerset, Wiltshire, and Hampshire as he could, and they assembled at Egbert's Stone over the course of three days. In addition, Ealdorman Aethelred Mucel of Mercia's son Aethelred led an experienced Mercian contingent to join the West Saxons. Once a sufficient force of levies had been raised, they marched to Edington, where Alfred engaged Guthrum's warriors in one final, definitive battle. Alfred gave a rousing speech to his men, urging them to fight against the rapacious Danes and show no mercy. Guthrum, in turn, ordered that no mercy be showed to the Anglo-Saxons.
Battle[]
The West Saxons cheering before the battle
A ferocious battle ensued as the two shield walls crashed against one another, fighting all day. The Anglo-Saxon warrior Leofric of Winchester killed the treacherous ealdorman Wulfhere, who had sided with the Danes, only to suffer an axe wound to the neck and die of his wounds. Uhtred of Bebbanburg led the Anglo-Saxon shield wall as it pressed against the Danes, and, when the Danish warrior Ragnar Ragnarsson had his shield wall withdraw, Uhtred also had his shield wall hold its ground. Meanwhile, the Danish raider Skorpa of the White Horse, dismayed at the loss of ground, led a raid on the Anglo-Saxon camp, slaughtering the camp followers, including Queen Iseult of Cornwall, Uhtred's lover. Skorpa then rode in between the shield walls and threw Iseult's severed head at Uhtred, taunting him about showing no mercy. Uhtred went berserk, climbing over the Danish shield wall and using a javelin thrown to him by Father Beocca to impale Skorpa through the chest. The Anglo-Saxons then charged against the Danes, who faltered. A smaller Danish force broke and fell back to their fortress at Chippenham, and the Saxons killed everyone who did not make it back in the fortress. They then besieged Guthrum for two weeks, starving him into surrender.
Aftermath[]
In addition to the customary hostages and leaving Wessex for good, the Vikings promised that Guthrum would be baptized as a Christian. Alfred was finally convinced that the Vikings would keep their word, and Wessex was generally at peace with the Vikings for the next ten years.