XVI.

OFFA, SURNAMED THE TERRIBLE. Offa ascends the throne of Mercia—Drida's introduction and marriage with the Mercian king—Character of queen Drida and her daughter Edburga—Offa's invasion of Northumbria—He marches into Kent—Is victorious—Defeats the king of Wessex—His victory over the Welsh—Description of Offa's dyke—Offa's friendly correspondence with Charlemagne—Adventures of Egbert—Murder of Cynewulf, at Merton, in Surrey—Brihtric obtains the crown of Wessex, and marries the daughter of Offa—Ethelbert, king of East Anglia, visits the Mercian court—Queen Drida plots his destruction—Description of a Saxon feast—Dreadful death of Ethelbert—Offa's daughter, Alfleda, seeks shelter in the monastery of Croyland—Murder of Queen Drida—Edburga poisons her husband, Brihtric, king of Wessex—She flies to France—Her reception at the court of Charlemagne—She dies a beggar in the streets of Pavia p. 139 CHAPTER XVII. EGBERT, KING OF ALL THE SAXONS. Character of Egbert—His watchful policy—Death of Kenwulf, and decline of the kingdom of Mercia—Egbert annexes the kingdom of Kent to Wessex—Compels Wiglaf, king of Mercia, to pay him tribute—He conquers the kingdom of Northumbria, and subjects the whole of the Saxon kingdoms to his sway—Northumbria invaded by the Danes—They sack the abbey of Lindisfarne, and slay the monks—The Danes again land in Dorsetshire—Egbert presides over a council in London, to devise measures to prevent the ravages of the Danes—The remnant of the ancient Britons who have been driven into Wales, form a league with the Danes, and are defeated—Death of Egbert p. 145 CHAPTER XVIII. THE ANCIENT SEA-KINGS. Origin of the Danish invaders—Habits of the early Vikings—Their warlike education—Picturesque description of their wild life—Their hatred of the Saxons—Description of their ships and warlike weapons—Arrangement of their plans to plunder—Their vows on the golden bracelet—Power of their leader only acknowledged in battle—Their rude festivities p. 150 CHAPTER XIX. FIRST SETTLEMENT OF THE DANES IN NORTHUMBRIA. Ethelwulph, king of Kent—His unfitness to govern—The brave bishop of Sherbourne—The two characters contrasted—Boldness of the Danes—They occupy the Isle of Thanet—Battle of the field of Oaks—Character of Osberga, mother of Alfred the Great—Ethelwulph visits Rome in company with his son Alfred—The king of Kent marries Judith, daughter of Charles of France—His presents to the Pope—Returns to England with his youthful wife—Rebellion of his son Ethelbald—Death of Ethelwulph—Ethelbald marries his stepmother Judith—She elopes from a monastery with Baldwin, the grand forester—Death of Ethelbald—Brief reign of Ethelbert—Alfred begins to distinguish himself—The celebrated sea-king, Ragnar Lodbrog—His bravery—Builds a large ship—Is wrecked on the coast of Northumbria—Made prisoner by Ella, and dies in a dungeon—His celebrated death-song—The sons of Ragnar Lodbrog prepare to revenge their father's death—England invaded by their mighty fleet—Their march towards Northumbria—Ravage York—Horrible death of Ella, king of Northumbria—The Danes occupy the kingdoms of the Deiri and Bernicia—Nottingham taken by the Danes—Alfred accompanies his brother Ethelred, and the king of Mercia, in their attack upon the Danes—They enter into a treaty with the invaders—Alfred's marriage and attainments at this period p. 159 CHAPTER XX. RAVAGES OF THE DANES, AND DEATH OF ETHELRED. Ravages of the Danes in Lincolnshire—Destruction of the monastery of Bardney—Gallant resistance of the Mercians—Battle near Croyland Abbey—Destruction of Croyland Abbey, and murder of the monks—Sidroc, one of the sea-kings, saves a boy from the massacre—The abbey of Peterborough destroyed by the Danes—Description of the country through which the invaders passed—Their march into East Anglia—The Danes enter Wessex—Battle of Ash-tree hill, and victory of the Saxons—Death of Ethelred p. 169 CHAPTER XXI. ACCESSION AND ABDICATION OF ALFRED THE GREAT. Miserable state of England when Alfred ascended the throne of Wessex—He is disheartened by the rapid arrival of the Danes—Enters into a treaty with them, and they abandon Essex—The Danes occupy London—Burrhed, king of Mercia, retires to Rome—The Danes now masters of all England, excepting Wessex—Alfred destroys their ships—Again enters into treaty with them—He encounters them at sea—Treaty at Exeter—His strange conduct at Chippenham—Vindication of the character of Alfred—His conduct during retirement—Alfred the Great in the cowherd's hut—Discovery of his retreat—His skirmishes with the Danes—Odin, the earl of Devonshire, captures the magical banner of Hubba, the sea-king—Alfred and his followers fortify their island retreat—Poverty of the great Saxon king p. 179 CHAPTER XXII. ALFRED THE GREAT. Alfred in disguise visits the Danish camp near Westbury in Wiltshire—His interview with Godrun, the sea-king—Alfred musters the Saxon forces at Selwood forest—The arrival of his followers described—His preparation for battle—Description of the combat—Defeat of the