Ethelstan: Or, the Battle of Brunanburgh, a Dramatic Chronicle

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A great, lamentable and horrible battle was cruelly fought between the Saxons and the Northmen, in which several thousands of Northmen, who are uncounted, fell, but their king Amlaib [Olaf], escaped with a few followers. A large number of Saxons fell on the other side, but Æthelstan, king of the Saxons, enjoyed a great victory. [62]

The Athelstan that we see in Vikings was named for King Athelstan, the first King of England from 927 to 939.Wirral Archaeology Press Release (22 October 2019). "The search for the Battle of Brunanburh, is over". Liverpool University Press blog. Narrator: Athelfleda was a powerful queen and also a good teacher. She taught Athelstan to love books and learning and her warriors taught him fighting skills. She taught him how to lead an army into war and she also taught him how to make peace. Narrator: One day, not long before he died, it is said that Alfred the Great - King of Wessex - called together the most important people in his court… Far from being the father of Alfred, Athelstan was actually his grandson, the son of King Edward the Elder and his wife Ecgwynn. Athelstan: Athelstan’s army met the forces, led by Constantine, at a place called Brunanburgh in 937…

According to William of Malmesbury it was Owen of Strathclyde who was present at Eamont but the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says Owain of Gwent; it may have been both. [5] The battle of Brunanburh in 937, in which Athelstan led a force drawn from Britain and defeated an invasion by the king of Scotland in alliance with the Welsh and Danes from Dublin, earned him recognition by lesser kings in Britain. On 27 October 939 Athelstan – the first and perhaps the greatest King of England– died in Gloucester at the age of 47. This man was remembered as a famous warrior who defeated the Danes and the Scots and forged the Kingdom we now call England. Ingulf (1908). Ingulph's chronicle of the abbey of Croyland with the continuations by Peter of Blois and anonymous writers. Translated by Henry T. Riley. London: H. G. Bohn.

Breeze, Andrew (2018). Brunanburh Located: The Battlefield and the Poem in Aspects of Medieval English Language and Literature (ed. Michiko Ogura and Hans Sauer). Peter Lang: Berlin. pp.61–80 . Retrieved 27 April 2019. Athelstan's law codes strengthened royal control over his large kingdom; currency was regulated to control silver's weight and to penalise fraudsters. Buying and selling was mostly confined to the burhs, encouraging town life; areas of settlement in the midlands and Danish towns were consolidated into shires. Overseas, Athelstan built alliances by marrying four of his half-sisters to various rulers in western Europe. Fearing further challenges, he banished his other brother Edwin. He set him afloat on a small boat with no provisions. Edwin is said to have drowned himself rather than face starvation. At any rate, he was never seen again. Athelstan later regretted this action and undertook many charity works to compensate for it. Some historians disagree with this tale and state that Edwin fled of his own accord after a rebellion against his brother went awry. Athelstan sent alms to the abbey in France where Edwin was buried.