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The Battlefield of Brunanburh

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

W. S. Angus
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Extract

Brunanburh was fought in the late summer of 937 between king Athelstan and all the might of England on one side, and the viking Olaf Guthfrithson, king of Dublin and claimant to the throne of York, and his ally Constantine II, king of Scots, upon the other. The thousandth anniversary of this British battle of the nations is an occasion for reviewing critically the evidence upon the disputed question of its site. The well-known poem in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, being impressionist rather than narrative, provides only two or three slight clues; the Latin poem preserved by William of Malmesbury,l of early but uncertain date, helps us only a little further; and the Northumbrian annals used by Symeon of Durham seem to have supplied him with an alternative name for the battlefield but no other indication of its locality. Judgment must therefore be based largely upon the names by which the battle was known and upon traditions preserved by writers who had no claim to be contemporary; and the reliability of such evidence must be tested.

Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 11 , Issue 43 , September 1937 , pp. 283 - 293
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 1937

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References

1 William of Malmesbury (Rolls Series),Gestu Regum, lib. 11, §135 (I, 151).

2 See list given byNeilson, G. ‘Brunanburh and Burnswork,’ Scottish Historical Review(1909),38, an article to be consulted passim.Google Scholar

3 See list given byCockburn, J.H. The Battle of Brunanburh andits Period,pp.40–48.Google Scholar

4 Smith, A.H. ‘The Site of the Battle of Brunanburh,’London Mediaeval Studies (1937), 1, Pt. 1,56–59.Google Scholar

5 G. Neilson, op.cit.,

6 Symeon of Durham (Rolls Series),Historia Dunelmensis Ecclesiae,lib. 11, xviii (1,76).

7 Historians of the Church of York(Rolls Series) I, lv, 294–6.

8 Florence of Worcester(ed. B. Thorpe), I, 132.

9 Symeon of Durham (Rolls Series), Historia Regum, ÷107 (11,125); Roger of Hoveden (Rolls Series) 54 ; Roger of Wendover (ed.H.0.Coxe),Flores Historiarum,1, 392.

10 William of Malmesbury,loc. cit.,

11 Chronicle, A.S. A, B, C, D, 937; Four Masters,935;Google Scholar Chronicon Scotorum, 936;Google Scholar Annals of Clonmacnoise, 931.Google Scholar

12 SeeOman, Sir C. England before the Normun Conquest, p. 520.Google Scholar

13 PIummer, Two Saxon Chronicles, 11, 140;Google Scholar Smith, A.H. op. cit.Google Scholar

14 Symeon of Durham (Rolls Series), Historia Dunelmensis Eccles., lib. 11, xviii (I, 75-6), and Historia Regum,÷ 83 (11, 93).Historia de S. Cuthberto, ÷÷ 26, 27, may seem to imply that the gifts were made in 937, but does not necessarily do so. (Symeon of Durham, I,211,212).Google Scholar

15 Liber de Hyda cit.(Rolls Series), I 18, 123.

16 Histmiam of the Church of York (Rolls Series), 1, 263–4.

17 William of Malmesbury,Gesta Regum lib.11, Q 131 and ÷ 135 (I, 142, 151–2).

18 Symeon of Durham,Historia Regum ÷ ÷83,107 (11, 93, 124); Historia Dunelmensis Eccles., lib. 11, xviii (I, 76).

19 Egil’s Saga, ch. 59,67.

20 See Beaven, Murray R.L. ‘The Regnal Dates of Alfred, Edward the Elder.’ E.H.R..(1917).XXX11,517ff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

21 A.S. Chronicle, D 948 ; D, E and F 954.

22 SeeSeeBley, A. Eiglastudien.Google Scholar

23 SeeSeeVigfusson, G. Corpus Poeticurn Boreale, pp.34–51,Google Scholar and Norsk Historisk Tidsskrift,5 R. VI, 146–168 and 5 R. VII, 425–438.On the other side may be quoted Finnur Jonsson,Norsk Hist.Tidsskrift,5 R. VI, 1–15 and Johan Schreiner,Norsk Historisk Tidsskrift,5 R. VII, 161–224. The balance of the argument seems to be with Professor Koht.

24 See Svenska Histolirk Tidsskrift,49 Årg.,Häft I, p. 35 ff.

25 The same mistake may be seen in the Annals of the Four Masters,944 (=946), where Athelstan’s death is recorded for Edmund’s

26 Rev.Whistler, C.W. ‘Brunanburh and Vinheid.’ Saga Book, Viking Club.(1909)VI,59 ;Google Scholar Neilson, G. op. cit., 41.Google Scholar

27 William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum, lib. 11, §135, (I, 151) ; ‘Alia Miracula S.Johannis ’Historians of the Church of York,I, 295 ; Egil’s Saga, ch. 52.

28 Alia Miracula S. Johannis, Ioc. cit.

29 Anglo–Saxon Chronicle, A, B, C, and D, 937.

30 Rev.Armitage, E.S. Early Norman Castles of the British Isles,p.32.Google Scholar

31 Fordun, i, 2: ‘Flumen Esk quod dicitur Scotiswath sive Sulwath’ ; iii, 2:‘ Esk, sed alias dicitur Scotiswath ’.SeeNeilson, G. op. cit., p.39.Google Scholarand Annuls ‘Esk, sed alias dicitur Scotiswath ‘. of the Solway (1899), p. 18 ; Plummer, Two Saxon Chronicles, 11, 262.

32 Fordun, i, z : ‘ Flumen de Forth, quod … dicitur … mare Scoticum ’.

33 SeeSkene, W.F. Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, p.136:Google Scholar‘illa aqua optima, que Scottice vocata est Froch (ie. Forth), Brittanice Werid, Romane vero Scottewatre, id est Aqua Scottorum ’. See also Plummer, op. cit., 11, 267.

34 Symeon of Durham,Vita S. Oswaldi I,lv (Rolls Series, I, pp. 339,382).

35 Acknowledgment for this information must be made to theKeeper of Western MSS. in the Bodleian Library and the Keeper of MSS. in the British Museum. John Tode’s transcript is incorrectly cited as Harl. 4853 in Symeon of Durham (Rolls Series),I, xix.

36 Egil’s Saga, ch. 54 : ‘ They (ie. Thorolf‘s men in Athelstan’s army) had their shields before them, but the wood was on their right : they let it cover them on that aide ’. (E. R. Eddison, Egil’s Sup, 1930,108–109).

37 As is noted by Crawford, O.G.S. ‘The Battle of Brunanburh’ANTIQUITY,1934 8,338–9.Google Scholar

38 Four Masters, 935 (=937) ; Chronicon Scotorum, 936 ; Annals of Clonmacnoise,931.

39 Symeon of Durham,Historia Regum÷83, 11, 93,and Historia Dunelmensis Eccles.,931.lib. 11, xviii (I, 76).