Guthrum (839-891) was the Viking king of East Engle from 879 to 891, succeeding Aethelred II of East Anglia and preceding Eohric of East Anglia. He was a notable opponent of King Alfred the Great of Wessex, who defeated him at the Battle of Edington in 878.
Biography[]
Guthrum at the Siege of York, 866
Guthrum was born in 839, the son of Sigurd Hart and the brother of Ragnhild Sigurdsdotter, and he was one of the Norse warlords who participated in the Great Heathen Army's invasion of England in 865. He became one of the chieftains of Danelaw and came to rule over East Engle around 871, allying with the King of Northymbre, Halfdan Whiteshirt. In 876, he acquired various parts of Mercia and Northumbria, and he also invaded Wessex, where he defeated King Alfred the Great at Wareham. The two kings made peace, but Guthrum reneged on the peace in 877 by attacking towards Exeter. The defeat and death of Ubbe Ragnarrsson in Wales forced Guthrum to once again withdraw. On 6 January 878, he launched a surprise attack on Alfred and his court at Chippenham, Wiltshire, forcing Alfred and a few of his followers to flee to the Somerset marshes and wage guerrilla warfare against the Danes, who came to rule over almost all of Wessex. However, Alfred was joined by loyal soldiers from across the land at Egbert's Stone, and they decisively defeated the Danes at the Battle of Edington, massacring the Danes who were unable to flee to Chippenham. Guthrum was then besieged there, and he was forced to make peace. Guthrum not only abandoned Wessex, but he also agreed to convert to Christianity, being baptized as "Aethelstan". He partitioed Mercia with Alfred in 886, and, for the most part, the two kings remained at peace until Guthrum's death in 891.
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