Introduction
At the end of the 9th century, the eastern side of England was occupied by Danish invaders with their own government (‘the Danelaw’), and King Alfred of Wessex on the south coast inherited a kingdom on the edge of extinction. Little more than a century later, his successors had united all England under them.
THE first steps towards a Kingdom of England were taken by Alfred the Great, King of Wessex on the south coast. In 878 he pushed back against the invading Danes, and by astute government laid the foundations of a secure, civilised and stable Christian nation. Alfred’s son Edward the Elder added Mercia in the midlands to the realm in 899.
In 927, the Vikings’ hold over Northumbria was broken by Edward’s son Athelstan, who now found himself lord of a realm comparable to modern England. Athelstan’s brothers Edmund (who died saving his steward from a knife attack) and Edred, and Edmund’s sons Edwy and Edgar ‘the Peaceful’, consolidated the House of Wessex as Kings of England in the tenth century.
However, after Edgar’s son Edward was murdered – martyred, some would say – at Corfe Castle in 978, his half-brother Ethelred ‘the Unready’* allowed corruption and court intrigue so to weaken the kingdom that it fell to Danish king Sweyn ‘Forkbeard’ in 1013.
‘Unready’ here does not mean ‘ill-prepared’, but ‘badly advised’, being a corruption of the Old English word unrede, ‘no-counsel’. It was a play on his Christian name, Ethelred, ‘wise-counsel’.
Archive
Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Attack. Corruption. Tenth.
2 Comparable. Consolidate. Fell.
3 Foundation. Midland. Some.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Statements, Questions and Commands Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Court. 2 Hold. 3 Coast. 4 Step. 5 Knife. 6 Fall. 7 Attack. 8 Stable. 9 Back.
Variations: 1. use a minimum of seven words for each sentence 2. include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never 3. use the words ‘must’ to make commands 4. compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command
Opposites Find in Think and Speak
Suggest words or phrases that seem opposite in meaning to each of the words below. We have suggested some possible answers; see if you can find any others.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations: 1.instead of opposites, suggest words of similar meaning (synonyms). 2.use a word and its opposite in the same sentence. 3.suggest any 5 opposites formed by adding -less.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
ppl (6+1)
appal. appeal. apple. papal. people. pupil.
pupal.
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