The Danes, reenforced by other invaders, overcame Alfred's forces and
compelled him to retreat. He fled to the wilds of Somersetshite, and
was glad to take up his abode for a time, so the story runs, in a
peasant's hut. Subsequently he succeeded in rallying part of his
people, and built a stronghold on a piece of rising ground, in the
midst of an almost impassable morass. There he remained during the
winter.