C.U. English Honours Notes: The Battle of Brunanburh

The Battle of Brunanburh – Old English                                                    [Short Note]

The Anglo Saxon period also has long unheard poems written in old heroic note with contemporary history. “The Battle of Brunanburh” is a 73 line poem found in four extant manuscripts of the Anglo Saxon Chronicle under the date 937. This poem is a panegyric. It is composed in regular Old English verse and uses the full repertoire of traditional alliterative and heroic techniques. It celebrates the victory of Aethelstan of Wessex and Eadmund, his brother, against the combined forces of Olaf the Norseman, Constantine, King of Scots and the Britons of Strathclyde.

The context of the game itself goes some way towards explaining the prominence of the poem in the Chronicle. At the end of King Alfred’s reign in 1899, left Scandinavians in control of most of the north and east of the England. The succeeding West Saxon Kings, Edward the Elder and Aethelstan spent significant portions of their reigns in trying to establish their control, in the name at least, over these areas and their rulers. By 924, Edward had taken submission from rulers on every one of his land borders, Welsh, Scots, Danes and Northumbrians and had built a series of fortresses in Mercia. He died in 925, and Aethelstan tried to take over where Edward had left off. But Olaf, Constantine and Britons joined their forces and began raiding Mercia. Aethelstan army marched north, collecting Mercian forces on the way and defeated the Viking-Celtic coalition in a day’s battle of Brunanburh.

There is an important difference between the heroic tone of this poem and that of other Anglo-Saxon poetry. In older heroic poetry, emphasis was laid on the individual hero and his national origins were of little importance—he was one of the heroes of Germania and as such claimed the admiration of all the Germanic peoples without any national prejudice. “The Battle of Brunanburh” shows strong patriotic sentiment. The victory is regarded as a victory of the English forces against Norse, Scots and Welsh enemies and through the heroism of Aethelstan and Eadmund is celebrated; the two princes appear not as heroes in their own right as much as champions of their nations.