In the autumn of 856, Danish Viking ships sailed to England and invaded what is now Norfolk in East Anglia. By Easter of 878, the Danes held control of all of East Anglia, Mercia, most of Wessex (all save Hampshire, Wiltshire and Somerset) and had set up a puppet ruler in Northumbria. The invaders had destroyed or overrun almost everything that had been of the four great Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. However, by 896 King Alfred of Wessex and his countrymen had driven the Danes from Wessex completely and also from much of Mercia. When England came so close to becoming another Dane-land, how it was able to fight its way back from the very brink so that over 150 years later England was still decidedly Anglo-Saxon remains one of history's abiding mysteries. While one might argue that the chief factor in Wessex' withstanding the Danish invasion was the marked resistance and singular stubbornness to accept defeat of its people, what is perhaps more reasonable to argue is that it was Alfred and his various qualities as king (not least of which was his own stubbornness to accept defeat) which were also reflected in the actions, if not the will, of the people of Wessex. Indeed, Alf

However, Alfred's creative thinking, resourcefulness and military prowess were not the sole saviours of the English way of life in the ninth century. After all, had not Charles the Bald of the Carolingian House defeated another Danish force with a similar tactic to the one Alfred used on the Lea at Angers on the Maine in 873? Alfred's victories were not his only strengths. He also triumphed in his weaknesses. Much has been made of the months that Alfred spent in the marshes of Somerset at the place that came to be known as Athelney. Alfred and the little of his forces that remained retreated there after the Danes led a surprise attack on Chippenham at the beginning of winter of that year and subsequently overran most of Wessex. Between March and May of 878 was the low point in the Anglo-Danish wars for the people of Wessex and indeed of all England. Many even "yielded themselves and their possessions to those invaders whom they now believed to hold in their grasp all the English land." But even so, Alfred and his men, beaten to the very brink of annihilation, continued to hold the swampy stronghold of Athelney and to organise raids and guerrilla warfare in the woods upon small Danish forces. "Asser writes, "Alfred, with his vassals and the nobles of Somerset sallied forth to make frequent attacks upon the pagans." It was from this desperate position that Alfred and the West Saxons emerged to win the victory of Ethandune.

red would seem to hold the key to the whole puzzle if only because it was he who from 868 to 896, first as secundarius to his elder brother and King, Æthelred, then as King himself, led the long, exhausting and at times seemingly futile campaign against the Danish invaders. Therefore one must turn one's attention to the person and deeds of King Alfred.

Asser also appears to believe in his writings that something much deeper had taken place within Alfred during these months hiding out at Athelney, saying that it forced Alfred to "see life steadily and see it whole" This implies that Alfred was also a very spiritually-minded king and not a purely superficial character. This inference is supported by many of Alfred's oth

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1454
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)