Learnings: The Battle of Edington
In this map, each solid arrow represents an advance, while the dashed arrows show retreats.
RED = Alfred's forces. BLUE = Guthrum's forces.
Each number corresponds to a specific event:
1. January 878, King Alfred and his men were chased from Chippenham by Guthrum's army. They were forced to retreat to the marshes of Athelney, where they built fortifications to protect themselves.
2. In the first week of May 878, Alfred secretly called a levy at Egbert's Stone. Men from neighbouring counties answered and joined the king and his retinue.
3. Guthrum, informed of the gathering of the fyrds (English militia) readied his troops to intercept the coming enemy and moved to the ancient fortifications of Bratton Camp, south of Chippenham.
4. The 12th of May, the two armies met in battle on the fields of Edington.
5. That same day, the Anglo-Saxons routed the Vikings. Guthrum fled, retreating to Chippenham... This defeat marked the end of his reign as a Viking chieftain.
People who enjoy fantasy novels and movies might be interested to learn that this whole narrative was very probably a source of inspiration for J. R. R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings.