Members Only 81 – Shop Talk: G&T’s and PhD’s
Category: Featured
230 – Guthrum Gets a Bath
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For Alfred, everything had changed at Chippenham. It was at Chippenham where he had lost his crown and his kingdom… it’s also possible that he was the victim of a coup, considering how Guthrum’s conquest had gone virtually unchallenged. Chippenham was a place of great shame for the House of Wessex.
That is, until now. Now Chippenham was the site of his reinstatement. It had taken a mere matter of months and here Alfred was in May with Guthrum locked behind the walls of the Vill, and he had no choice but to surrender. Here, at Chippenham, Alfred was finally ascendant.
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A Ten Year Old in WWII: A Memorial
229 – The Battle of Edington
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Four months is a long time.
It might not seem it. And in many ways, four months can pass in the blink of an eye. But four months is around 120 days. It’s a full season. In four months, the harshness of winter can be replaced by the the bright warmth of spring.
Four months is a long time.
Especially when you’re living in a swamp. And even moreso when you’re leading a guerilla war. Each day on AEthelney would have been marked with life or death decisions. Missions being sent out. New warriors being recruited. Supplies being… liberated. From their base of operations in Somerset, every day would have brought new challenges.
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228 – Alfred and Odda: The Audacity of Nope
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In spite of everything standing against them, Alfred and AEthelnoth are bringing the war directly to Guthrum on a daily basis. We know this thanks to Asser and the Chronicle, but both sources neglect to tell us exactly HOW the rebel army was bringing the war to Guthrum. The one time I want more information on historic military tactics, and …nothing.
However, while our sources neglect tactics, they do let us know a key point about their tactical situation: Alfred and AEthelnoth’s numbers were few… merely Alfred’s Heorthwerod and whatever forces that AEthelnoth brought with him.
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Members Only 80 – Easter Eggs and Errors in The Last Kingdom: Episode 2
227 – Alfred’s War for the Mind
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The last episode ended with an account by Ethelweard which told us that after the arrival of AEthelnoth, Alfred was attacking Guthrum on a daily basis. Alfred was no longer just trying to survive, he was trying to take his kingdom back.
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226 – Alfred and Legitimacy: The First Steps to War
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Today, we are going to talk about the early steps of Alfred’s guerrilla war against King Guthrum. We will talk about the elements of this sort of war, the circumstances of the West Saxons under Guthrum’s rule, and the resulting fallout within Wessex.
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Members Only 79 – Shop Talk: Dungeons and Discursive Clusters
225 – Alfred in Somerset
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It was January of 878. The dead of British winter – and Alfred was running. Through fields, past hamlets, keeping out of sight whenever he could. He ran. He headed for the Somerset Levels. This was a coastal plane during the 9th century – a dense network of impassable marshes. It wasn’t ideal, but at least Alfred would be difficult to find there. Much like the Fens had protected East Anglia from numerous over-land invasions, Alfred hoped the nigh impenetrable swamps of Somerset would grant him safety.
And so he ran.
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