ALFRED AND THE DANES
After the Saxons had been in England many years, when their weapons had
grown rusty and they had almost forgotten how to fight, bands of Danes
came sailing over the North Sea to plunder the land. "God Almighty sent
forth these fierce and cruel people like swarms of bees," says the
chronicler. First, they carried away the beautiful things from the
monasteries and churches, and then they came to live here. They drove
the Saxons from their houses or built new villages by the side of the
old ones. We know that they must have settled in Yorkshire and
Lincolnshire, in Westmorland and Cumberland, because they gave Danish
names to many places, such as Grimsby (Grim's town), Whitby, Appleby.
In those days, the Danes grew very bold. "Ships came from the west
ready for war with grinning heads and carven beaks," runs the legend,
"the golden war banner" shining in the bows. They tried to conquer the
west and south, as well as the north and east. In the land of the West
Saxons, many battles were fought, and still the little band of hungry,
worn-out soldiers stood at bay.
It was at this time that Alfred was made King and, like his father and
brothers, was soon defeated and driven into Athelney, a little island
in the west in the midst of a great swamp. There, he spent the winter
drilling his soldiers and making plans to drive away the Danes in the
spring time. A story is told of how he went into the Danish camp as a
bard. He carried a harp, and while the mead cup was handed round, he
sang the old sagas. When the feast was done and the chess board was
brought out, the captains talked about the war, as they played their
favourite game. So Alfred heard their plans.
The Danes were surprised when the spring came, for Alfred drove them
out of his kingdom and made them promise never to come into the land of
the West Saxons again.
But he did not try to drive them out of England, for he knew that it
would be many years before his people would be strong enough, perhaps
not until his own children were grown up. So he worked hard all his
life to make his people good soldiers and thoughtful men, in order
that, when the time came, they could drive the enemy across the seas
and rule over the whole land in their stead.
"Formerly," said the King, "foreigners sought wisdom and learning in
this land, now we should have to get them from abroad if we would have
them." Alfred found his nobles careless and idle, they loved hunting
and feasting and thought very little about ruling a kingdom or leading
an army. They were too old to learn, but the king made up his mind that
their children should grow up good soldiers and wise rulers. So he made
a school at his court for these boys. There they learned the art of war
and many other things too.
They read the history of their own country from Bede's Book, that had
been kept at York. This book was written in Latin, so the King had to
have it translated for them. He had heard of the fame of a great
writer, Asser, who lived in South Wales. Messages were sent to him to
ask him to come to Alfred's court to write the history of the reign.
Asser did not wish to leave his beautiful home, but in the end, he
promised to stay for six months every year; that is why we know so much
about this great King.
Alfred turned into English some beautiful old Latin books that taught
men how to rule well, and in the margins he himself wrote what he
thought wise counsel. Two of these books had been written by Pope
Gregory who sent Augustine to England, and at the beginning of one of
them there are these words, "Alfred, King, turned each word of me into
English and sent me to his writers, north and south, and bade them make
more such copies that he might send them to the bishops."
Alfred loved reading and he wrote down all the wise sayings that he
found. Asser tells the story of how the King came to do this.
"When we were one day sitting together in the royal chamber and were
holding converse upon divers topics, as our wont was, it chanced that I
repeated to him a quotation from a certain book. And when he had
listened attentively to this with all his ears, and had carefully
pondered it in the deep of his mind, suddenly he showed me a little
book which he carried constantly in the fold of his cloak. In it were
written the Daily Course and certain psalms and some prayers, which he
had read in his youth, and he commanded that I should write that
quotation in the same little book. And when he urged me to write that
as quickly as possible, I said to him, 'Are you willing that I should
write the quotation apart by itself on a small leaf? For we know not
that at some time we shall not find some other such quotation or more
than one, which will please you: and if it should so turn out
unexpectedly we shall rejoice that we have kept this apart from the
rest.'
"And when he heard this, he said 'Your counsel is good.' And I, hearing
this and being glad, made ready a book of several leaves, in haste, and
at the beginning of it I wrote that quotation according to his command.
And on the same day, by his order, I wrote in the same book no less
than three other quotations pleasing to him, as I had foretold."
"This book he used to call his handbook, because with the utmost care
he kept it at his hand day and night and in it he found, as he said, no
small comfort."
Alfred desired to hear of other lands, but there were hardly any maps
in those days and no books of geography. Great travellers were welcomed
at his court, for, when he was very young, he had paid a visit to Rome
and had seen a little of foreign lands. Othere, the famous seaman, who
had sailed in the Arctic regions, came to tell his stories of the
frozen seas that men could walk upon and of the strange midnights when
the sun shone as bright as by day. Othere spoke of whales and walruses
and he brought their tusks of fine ivory to show the King. Wulfstan
came, too, and he had travelled in Prussia and brought stories of a
land rich in honey and fish.
Travellers came from the hot lands, from India and the far east. They
brought presents of tiger skins and spices, of rich silks and jewels.
They told stories of wonderful deserts, of the high snowy mountains and
thick jungles, that they had passed on their long journey. The King
delighted to read of elephants and lions and of "the beast we call
lynx" that men said could see through trees and even stones.
"Or what shall I say," says the chronicler, "concerning the daily
intercourse with the nations which dwell from the shores of Italy unto
the uttermost bounds of Ireland? for I have seen and read letters and
gifts sent to Alfred by Elias, patriarch of Jerusalem."
In this way the West Saxon folk heard of great, unknown countries and
peoples, and the sons of the nobles learned not only "to run, to ride,
to swim and to make runes or rhymes," but to be great rulers and
adventurers as their forefathers had been.
Alfred was a very busy King, for not only had he to receive ambassadors
and counsellors, but he had to ride through the land, seeing justice
done, and restoring the ruined churches and monasteries. He taught the
workers in gold and artificers of all kinds, "to build houses majestic
and good, beyond all that had been built before. What shall I say of
the cities and towns which he restored, and of the others which he
built, where before there had never been any? Or of the work in gold
and silver, incomparably made under his directions? Or of the halls and
royal chambers wonderfully made of stone and wood by his command? Or of
the royal residences built of stone, moved from their former positions
and most beautifully set up in more fitting places by the King's
command?"
The King gave many gifts to the craftsmen whom he had gathered from all
lands, men skilled "in every earthly work," and he gave a portion "to
the wayfaring men who came to him from every nation, lying near and
far, and who sought from him wealth, and even to those who sought it
not."
There were no clocks in those days and the King was much troubled, "for
he had promised to give up to God half his services." "He could not
equally distinguish the length of the hours by night, on account of the
darkness: and oftentimes of the day, on account of storms and clouds."
"After long reflection on these things he at length, by a useful and
shrewd invention, commanded his chaplain to supply wax in sufficient
quantities." "He caused the chaplain to make six candles of equal
length, so that each candle might have twelve divisions marked upon it.
These candles burned for twenty-four hours, a night and a day. But
sometimes, from the violence of the wind, which blew through the doors
and windows of the chambers or the canvas of the tents, they burned out
before their time. The King then considered by what means he might shut
out the wind; and so he ordered a lantern which was closed up, by the
King's command, by a door made of horn. By this means, six candles
lasted twenty-four hours, and when they went out others were lighted."
Thus the King left behind him as he wished "a memory in good works,"
and, after him, his son and daughter drove the Danes eastward beyond
Watling Street.
The northmen came back with the strong King Cnut, who conquered the
whole country. Now Cnut was a great king before he took England, for he
ruled Sweden and Denmark and was lord over Norway. When he was crowned
King of England, he began to love this kingdom more than all his lands,
and he made his home in London. He wanted to be a real English King, so
he looked for the old laws of Alfred the Great and told the English
people that he would rule as Alfred had done.
The King had a fine army of tall, strong soldiers, but he sent nearly
all of them back to their own land and kept only three thousand
house-companions for a body guard. The English people knew that he
trusted them, for he could not have kept the land in order with so few
soldiers, if the people had hated him. For seventeen years, there was a
great peace in the land and ships could pass to and fro, carrying
"skins, silks, costly gems and gold, besides garments, wine, oil,
ivory, with brass and copper, and tin and silver and glass and such
like."
When Cnut's two sons had reigned in the land, then the Saxons once more
had a Saxon King.