An actor at the 2018 Slavic and Viking Festival in Wolin, Poland. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle remarks later on that Edmund was surnamed ‘Ironside’ by the English ‘for his valour’, and Cnut was as impressed as any man by Edmund’s resolute defence of his crown and swashbuckling swordsmanship both here and at The Battle of Assandun. Yet fine warrior though he was, Edmund, it seems, lacked the killer instinct. Henry of Huntingdon leaves us in little doubt that the young king’s gentle nature, which had already lulled him into heeding the evil counsel of Edric, now led him to ease up just when the mighty Cnut was weakening. Had he rained down a few more of those shield-shattering, spear-splintering blows, Edmund Ironside might have ridden away from Alney as King of England, Norway and Denmark.
Part 1 of 2
THE seventh time, the two armies met in Gloucestershire, but the great men of the realm, fearing on one side the power of King Edmund, and on the other that of King Cnut, said among themselves, “Why are we such fools as to be so often putting our lives in peril? Let those who wish to reign singly decide the quarrel by single combat.”* The proposal was approved by the kings, for Cnut was not wanting in courage. Lists were erected in Olney,* and the duel of the kings began.
Their spears on both sides were shattered against the highly-wrought armour they wore, and the affair came to be decided by the sword. Both nations heard and saw with groans and shouts the fearful clang and the gleaming flash of their arms.
* The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says only that “the ‘witan’ [royal council] who were there advised that there should be a reconciliation between the kings; and they gave hostages between them. And the kings came together at Olney by Deerhurst, and there confirmed their friendship both with pledge and with oath.” No mention is made of single combat, though for some years apparently it had been a traditional way to decide disputes among the Anglo-Scandinavians: see The Wooing of Olaf Tryggvason. Even as late as the fifteenth century some were still eager to appeal to it: see A War of Words.
* Not Olney in Buckinghamshire, but Alney Island in Gloucestershire, barely a mile from what is now Gloucester Cathedral, which at that time was a seventh-century Abbey dedicated to St Peter.
Précis
After the setback at Assandun in 1016, King Edmund Ironside continued his dogged resistance to Cnut’s Danish invasion. But when the two armies met near Gloucester, it was decided that, to save bloodshed, the rivals for the crown should settle their dispute by single combat; and thanks to their well-made armour, the fight came quickly to swords at close quarters. (59 / 60 words)
Part Two
King Cnut and his consort Ælfgifu presenting a cross upon the altar of the New Minster, now known as Winchester Cathedral. Ælfgifu of Northampton was Cnut’s first consort; shortly afterwards he took to wife Emma of Normandy, who was Edmund’s mother and the widow of King Ethelred, in an attempt to shore up his position as king by conquest. Cnut also became an enthusiastic, not to say ostentatious Christian, though there is no reason to suppose his conversion was anything other than genuine.
BUT at length the incomparable strength of Edmund dealt thunder on his rival, and Cnut, though he defended himself stoutly, beginning to quail, cried out, “Bravest of youths, why should either of us risk his life for the sake of a crown? Let us be brothers by adoption, and divide the kingdom, so governing that I may rule your affairs, and you mine. Even the government of Denmark I submit to your disposal.” The generous mind of the young king was moved to gentleness by these words, and the kiss of peace was mutually given. The people assenting with tears of joy, the kingdom of Wessex was allotted to Edmund, and the kingdom of Mercia to Cnut, who then returned to London.*
* More precisely, the Treaty signed after the combat was resolved gave Northumbria and Danish Mercia to Cnut, while Wessex, Essex, East Anglia, and English Mercia went to Edmund. In the event, however, the arrangement stood for a few weeks only. Edmund died on November 30th that year, and Cnut ruled as undisputed King of England until his death in 1035. See The Murder of Edmund Ironside.
Précis
The two kings were well-matched, but such was Edmund’s skill as a warrior that at last even the mighty Cnut was forced to offer terms. To the joy of both armies, the rival kings agreed to rule together over England, and even over Cnut’s realms in Denmark and Norway, and sealed their oaths with the kiss of peace. (58 / 60 words)
