CONQUEST OF ENGLAND BY THE DANES; ALFRED THE GREAT
ENGLAND OVERRUN BY THE DANES
Even before Egbert of Wessex succeeded in uniting all the
Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, bands of Vikings, chiefly from Denmark, had made
occasional forays on the English coast. Egbert kept the Danes at bay, but he
died in 839 A.D., and from that time the real invasion of England began. The
Danes came over in large numbers, made permanent settlements, and soon
controlled all England north of the Thames.
KING ALFRED AND THE DANES
Wessex before long experienced the full force of the
Danish attack. The country at this time was ruled by Alfred, the grandson of
Egbert. Alfred came to the throne in 871 A.D., when he was only about
twenty-three years old. In spite of his youth, he showed himself the right sort
of leader for the hard-pressed West Saxons. For several years fortune favored
the Danes. Then the tide turned. Issuing from the marshes of Somersetshire,
where he had rallied his dispirited troops, Alfred suddenly fell on the enemy
and gained a signal success. The beaten Danes agreed to make peace and to
accept the religion of their conquerors.
