# The Battle of Brunanburh (937): dossier of medieval primary sources bearing on the location Compiled from online editions (URLs given for each item). Conventions: * **Original-language quotations** are transcribed from the edition named. Where the text was read from an archive.org OCR scan I have silently corrected obvious OCR garbles (long-s, ligatures) but any reading I could not confirm is marked **[wording to verify]**. Where I could not get at the original at all I say so and give the best secondary citation (Michael Livingston, ed., *The Battle of Brunanburh: A Casebook*, Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2011 — hereafter *Casebook*; Paul Cavill's chapter "The Place-Name Debate", *Casebook* pp. 327-49 in the Exeter printing, pp. 311ff. in the 2010 TEAMS/Kalamazoo PDF I consulted at ). * **Translations** are from the edition where one exists online (CELT for the Irish annals, O'Donovan for the Four Masters); otherwise they are my own working translations and are marked "(tr. mine)". * Manuscript sigla for the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A = Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 173 (Parker); B = BL Cotton Tiberius A.vi; C = BL Cotton Tiberius B.i; D = BL Cotton Tiberius B.iv; E = Bodleian Laud Misc. 636; F = BL Cotton Domitian A.viii; O = the burnt BL Cotton Otho B.xi known from Nowell's transcript / Wheelock's 1643 print. * Page references to the Oxford Medieval Texts (OMT) editions, to Campbell's 1962 Æthelweard and to *Íslenzk fornrit* could not be checked against the printed volumes from here and are flagged "(page to verify)". A one-line orientation on source relationships, since it governs how much independent weight each item carries: | Layer | Sources | Independence | |---|---|---| | Contemporary / near-contemporary (10th c.) | ASC poem (s.a. 937); Annals of Ulster 937/938; Æthelweard (c. 978x988); Annales Cambriae A-text (compiled 950s-980s); Chronicle of the Kings of Alba (10th-c. core); Armes Prydein (930s/940s); Vita S. Cathroe (c. 980) | Independent of one another except that Æthelweard used a version of the ASC | | Anglo-Norman historians (c. 1100-1140) | Symeon of Durham, *Libellus* (1104x1109) and the *Historia Regum* compilation (whose 888-957 section rests on lost 10th-c. northern annals); John of Worcester (c. 1095-1140); William of Malmesbury (c. 1125); Henry of Huntingdon (c. 1129-1154); Gaimar (1136-37) | All know the ASC; Symeon's northern annals are independent; JW adds the Humber; WM adds Malmesbury/Norse-legend material; Gaimar's *-werce* matches Symeon's *-werc* | | Later medieval | Chronicle of Melrose (13th c.); Roger of Wendover (c. 1230); Langtoft (c. 1300); Mannyng (1338); Egil's saga (c. 1220-40); Annals of Clonmacnoise (lost Irish exemplar, English tr. 1627); Pseudo-Ingulf (late 14th/15th c.) | Derivative except Egil's saga and Clonmacnoise, which carry independent (if problematic) traditions | --- ## 1. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle poem, s.a. 937 (MSS A, B, C, D; prose notices in E and F) **Date and nature.** Old English panegyric poem of 73 lines entered under 937 in the common stock of the Chronicle; the earliest copy is in MS A (Parker), where it was written by a scribe working c. 955 (the annal number 937 has been altered to 938 by a later hand: Jebson's note n934.1/n937.1). B (c. 977x1000), C (mid-11th c.) and D (mid-11th c.) copy the same poem with spelling variants. E and F (12th c.) replace the poem with a one-line prose notice. Essentially contemporary and the only source for the place-names *Brunanburh* and *Dingesmere*. **Text (MS A, from Tony Jebson's diplomatic transcription of the Parker MS, ; standard line numbers as in Campbell 1938 / Dobbie ASPR VI):** Lines 1-5: > Her Æþelstan cyning, eorla dryhten, / beorna beahgifa, 7 his broþor eac, / Eadmund æþeling, ealdorlangne tir / geslogon æt sæcce sweorda ecgum / ymbe Brunnanburh. (tr. mine) "Here King Æthelstan, lord of earls, ring-giver of warriors, and his brother too, Edmund the ætheling, won lifelong glory in battle with the edges of swords around Brunanburh." Lines 26-28 (Anlaf's men came by sea): > þæ mid Anlafe ofer æra gebland / on lides bosme land gesohtun, / fæge to gefeohte. "…who with Anlaf over the mingling of waves, in the ship's bosom, had sought the land, doomed to the fight." Lines 32-36 (Anlaf's escape by ship): > þær geflemed wearð / Norðmanna bregu, nede gebeded, / to lides stefne litle weorode; / cread cnear on flot, cyning ut gewat / on fealene flod, feorh generede. "There the chief of the Northmen was put to flight, driven by need, to the ship's prow with a little company; the ship pressed out onto the water, the king went out on the dark flood and saved his life." Lines 37-44 (Constantine goes home *north*; his son killed): > Swilce þær eac se froda mid fleame com / on his cyþþe norð, Costontinus, / har hildering, hreman ne þorfte / mæcan gemanan; he wæs his mæga sceard, / freonda gefylled on folcstede, / beslagen æt sæcce, 7 his sunu forlet / on wælstowe wundun fergrunden, / giungne æt guðe. "Likewise there the old one, Constantine, hoary warrior, came by flight north to his own country; he had no cause to exult in the meeting of swords; he was shorn of his kinsmen, deprived of friends on the field, cut down in battle, and he left his son on the slaughter-place, destroyed by wounds, young in the fight." Lines 53-56 (the retreat to Dublin): > Gewitan him þa Norþmen nægledcnearrum, / dreorig daraða laf, on Dinges mere / ofer deop wæter Difelin secan, / 7 eft Hiraland, æwiscmode. "The Northmen departed in their nailed ships, the sad remnant of spears, on Dingesmere over deep water to seek Dublin, and back to Ireland, ashamed." Lines 57-59: > Swilce þa gebroþer begen ætsamne, / cyning 7 æþeling, cyþþe sohton, / Wesseaxena land, wiges hremige. "Likewise the brothers, both together, king and ætheling, sought their own country, the land of the West Saxons, exulting in war." **Manuscript variants of the place-names** (Jebson's transcriptions of A-D, checked against the raw HTML markup; Cavill, *Casebook* "Place-Name Debate", §2 and §3.10; Wikipedia "Dingesmere"): | MS | *Brunanburh* (l. 5) | *Dingesmere* (l. 54) | *Difelin* (l. 55) | *Iraland* (l. 56) | |---|---|---|---|---| | A (Parker) | **Brunnanburh** — the MS reads *Bru⟨n⟩nanburh* with the first *n* of *nn* added as a superscript by another hand (Jebson marks it `class="addition"`; original reading therefore *Brunanburh*) | **Dinges mere** (written as two words) | Difelin | Hiraland (i.e. *hira land*, "their land" — a reinterpretation; editors read *Iraland*) | | B | **Brunnanb⟨ur⟩h** (Jebson, expanding an abbreviation; Campbell 1938 reads *Brunnanburh*; Cavill 2010 lists B as *Brunanburh* and notes the disagreement, *Casebook* §2 n. 6) | **Dyngesmere** | Dyflen | Iraland | | C | **Brunnanburh** | **Dingesmere** | Dyflin | Yraland | | D | **Brunanburh** | **dynigesmere** per Campbell and Cavill (*Casebook* §3.10; Wikipedia "Dingesmere"); Jebson's transcription prints *Dyngesmere* — **discrepancy to verify against BL Cotton Tiberius B.iv** | Dyflig | Yraland | | O (Otho B.xi, via Nowell/Wheelock) | Brunanburh (Cavill §2, "MS O3") | dinnesmere (Cavill §3.10) | — | — | | E (Peterborough) | "937. Her Æðelstan cyning lædde fyrde to **Brunanbyrig**." (Jebson, ) | — | — | — | | F | Brunanbyri (Cavill §2) | — | — | — | So three of the four copies of the poem have the *-nn-* spelling (A only by later correction), and D alone has single *-n-*. Note that the distribution "C dyngesmere, D dingesmere" is **not** borne out: C has *Dingesmere*, B *Dyngesmere*, D *dynigesmere*/*Dyngesmere*. **Editions.** A. Campbell, *The Battle of Brunanburh* (London: Heinemann, 1938); E. V. K. Dobbie, *The Anglo-Saxon Minor Poems*, ASPR VI (New York, 1942), pp. 16-20; J. Bately, *The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: A Collaborative Edition, vol. 3: MS A* (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1986), pp. 70-2; S. Taylor, vol. 4: MS B (1983); K. O'Brien O'Keeffe, vol. 5: MS C (2001); G. P. Cubbin, vol. 6: MS D (1996). Online: Jebson's transcriptions at (a/a-L.html, b/b-L.html, c/c-L.html, d/d-L.html, e/e-L.html). Casebook text and translation: Livingston, *Casebook*, pp. 40-5 (item 5). Facsimile of MS A: Parker Library on the Web, CCCC MS 173, f. 26r-27r. **Contribution to the location question.** The only source naming *Brunanburh* and *Dingesmere*. Puts the Norse arrival and departure by sea; the Norse depart "on Dingesmere ofer deop wæter" to Dublin; Constantine goes home "north"; Constantine's son is killed (corroborated by the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, §13). No river, region or landing-place is named. --- ## 2. Æthelweard, *Chronicon*, Book IV, ch. 5 **Date and nature.** Latin chronicle by the ealdorman Æthelweard, written c. 978x988, based on a lost version of the ASC close to A. Independent of the 12th-century writers; its name-form is therefore a second early witness to the name. Æthelweard's chronology ("thirteen years" after 926) would put the battle in 939 and is wrong. **Text** (from the OCR of *Monumenta Historica Britannica*, ed. H. Petrie and J. Sharpe, London 1848, p. 520, "Ethelwerdi Chronicorum lib. IV", ; the standard edition is A. Campbell, *The Chronicle of Æthelweard* (London: Nelson, 1962), p. 54 (page to verify)): > Igitur post annos tredecim, facta est pugna immanis Barbaros contra, in loco **Brunandune**, unde et vulgo usque ad praesens, bellum praenominatur magnum: tum superantur Barbarae passim turbae nec ultra dominari, post quos ultra pellit oceani oris; nec non colla subdunt Scoti pariterque Picti; uno solidantur Brittannidis arva, undique pax, omniumque foecundia rerum, nec usque ad istas motus adhaesit sine littora Anglorum foedere classicus. (tr. mine) "So thirteen years later a huge fight was fought against the barbarians at the place *Brunandun*, from which it is popularly called 'the great battle' right up to the present: then the barbarian hordes were overcome everywhere and no longer held sway; after them he drove [them] beyond the shores of the ocean; the Scots and likewise the Picts bowed their necks; the fields of Britain were consolidated into one; everywhere peace and abundance of all things; and no fleet has since made a hostile move against these shores of the English except under treaty." Note that a guessed wording ("bellum ingens … quod usque hodie Brunandun vocatur") is **not** what Æthelweard wrote: the phrases are *pugna immanis*, *in loco Brunandune*, and *vulgo usque ad praesens bellum praenominatur magnum*. (The phrase *bellum ingens* belongs to the Annals of Ulster, §9.) **Contribution.** Gives the name with a *-dun* ("hill") second element (*Brunandun*), which matches Symeon's *Weondun(e)* (§3-4) and the Alba chronicle's *Duinbrunde* (§13); reports that the battle was still popularly called "the great battle" (cf. AU's *bellum ingens*, and Welsh *gweith/ryfel Brun*), and that the barbarians were driven "beyond the shores of the ocean". No landing place, no region. --- ## 3. "Symeon of Durham", *Historia Regum*, s.a. 934 and 937 **Date and nature.** The *Historia Regum* is a Durham compilation put together c. 1129 (attributed to Symeon); its section for 888-957 is derived from a lost set of tenth-century northern annals (via a Ramsey/Byrhtferth stage in the view of Lapidge and Hart), so its name-form *Wendune* is potentially an early northern witness, independent of the ASC. A second, later section of the same compilation copies John of Worcester and repeats his account under 937 (see below, "Symeon (c)"). **Text** (Rolls Series 75, *Symeonis monachi opera omnia*, ed. T. Arnold, vol. 2, London 1885, p. 93; OCR at ): s.a. 934: > Anno DCCCCXXXIV. Rex Æthelstanus cum exercitu Scotiam tendens, ad sepulcrum Sancti Cuthberti venit, illius patrocinio se suumque iter commendavit, multa ac diversa dona quae regem decerent ei obtulit et terras … Deinde hostes subegit, Scotiam usque **Dunfoeder** et **Wertermorum** terrestri exercitu vastavit, navali vero usque **Catenes** depopulatus est. "In 934 King Æthelstan, marching with an army to Scotland, came to the tomb of St Cuthbert, commended himself and his journey to his patronage, offered him many and various gifts befitting a king, and lands … Then he subdued his enemies, ravaged Scotland with his land army as far as Dunnottar and Wertermorum (Fortriu?), and laid it waste with his fleet as far as Caithness." s.a. 937: > Anno DCCCCXXXVII. Ethelstanus rex apud **Wendune** pugnavit, regemque Onlafum cum DC. et XV. navibus, Constantinum quoque regem Scottorum, et regem Cumbrorum, cum omni eorum multitudine in fugam vertit. (tr. mine) "In 937 King Æthelstan fought at *Wendune*, and put to flight King Onlaf with 615 ships, and also Constantine king of the Scots and the king of the Cumbrians, with all their multitude." "Symeon (c)", the JW-derived section, s.a. 937 (Arnold, vol. 2, p. 125): "Hiberniensium multarumque insularum rex paganus Anlafus, a socero suo rege Scottorum Constantino incitatus, ostium Humbrae fluminis valida cum classe ingreditur. Cui rex Ethelstanus fraterque suus clito Eadmundus in loco qui dicitur **Brunanburh** cum exercitu occurrerunt…" — verbatim John of Worcester (see §5) and of no independent value. **Contribution.** Independent northern name *Wendune* (cf. *Weondune*, §4); the figure of 615 ships; Onlaf, Constantine and the king of the Cumbrians (Strathclyde) as the coalition. No landing place — the Humber appears in this compilation only in the section copied from John of Worcester. --- ## 4. Symeon of Durham, *Libellus de exordio atque procursu … Dunhelmensis ecclesie* (Historia Dunelmensis Ecclesiae), Book II ch. 18 **Date and nature.** Written at Durham 1104x1109. The Durham house history; its 937 notice is built around St Cuthbert's patronage of Æthelstan and probably draws on the same northern annals as §3, adding the alternative names. **Text** (Rolls Series 75, ed. T. Arnold, vol. 1, London 1882, p. 76; OCR at ; modern edition D. Rollason, *Symeon of Durham, Libellus de exordio*, OMT, Oxford 2000, II.18, pp. 136-9 (page to verify), reading "Et Brunnanwerc uel Brunnanbyrig" per Cavill §2): > Quarto post hec anno, hoc est DCCCCXXXVII. Dominicae nativitatis anno, apud **Weondune**, quod alio nomine **Etbrunnanwerc** vel **Brunnanbyrig** appellatur, pugnavit contra Onlaf, Guthredi quondam regis filium, qui DC. et XV. navibus advenerat, secum habens contra Ethelstanum auxilia regum prefatorum, scilicet Scottorum et Cumbrorum. At ille, sancti Cuthberti patrocinio confisus, prostrata multitudine infinita reges illos de regno suo propulit, suisque gloriosum reportans triumphum, hostibus circumquaque tremendus, suis erat pacificus, et in pace postmodum vitam terminavit, fratri Edmundo imperii monarchiam relinquens. (Arnold's OCR prints *Etbrunnanwere*; his index (vol. 2, s.v. "Etbrunnanwerc, see Brunanburh") and Rollason confirm *-werc*.) (tr. mine) "In the fourth year after this, that is in the year 937 of the Lord's nativity, at *Weondun*, which is called by another name *Et Brunnanwerc* or *Brunnanbyrig*, he fought against Onlaf, son of the former king Guthred [Guthfrith], who had come with 615 ships, having with him against Æthelstan the help of the aforesaid kings, namely of the Scots and of the Cumbrians. But he, trusting in the patronage of St Cuthbert, laid low a countless multitude, drove those kings from his kingdom and, bringing back a glorious triumph to his people, was terrible to enemies on every side and peaceable to his own, and afterwards ended his life in peace, leaving the sovereignty of the empire to his brother Edmund." **Contribution.** Gives the second name *Weondun* ("holy hill"? OE *wēoh* + *dūn*) and the alternative forms with *-weorc* ("fortification") and *-byrig*; Onlaf is Guthfrith's son (correct; William of Malmesbury makes him Sihtric's son); the 615 ships; the allies are Scots and Cumbrians. Again no landing place. --- ## 5. John of Worcester, *Chronicon ex chronicis*, s.a. 937 **Date and nature.** Worcester chronicle compiled c. 1095-1140 (the annal was formerly attributed to "Florence"). Its 937 entry paraphrases the ASC poem (five kings, seven earls) but adds three things found nowhere earlier: Anlaf is king of "the Irish and many islands"; Constantine is his father-in-law (*socer*); and the fleet enters **the mouth of the Humber**. Every later "Humber" statement (Historia Regum (c), Melrose, Wendover, Langtoft, Higden, etc.) descends from this passage. **Text** (B. Thorpe, ed., *Florentii Wigorniensis monachi Chronicon ex chronicis*, vol. 1, London 1848, p. 132; OCR at ; modern edition R. R. Darlington and P. McGurk, *The Chronicle of John of Worcester*, vol. 2, OMT, Oxford 1995, pp. 392-3 — cited thus by Cavill, *Casebook* n. 32 "John of Worcester, Chronicle, 2.393 n. 9"): > Hiberniensium multarumque insularum rex paganus Anlafus, a socero suo rege Scottorum Constantino incitatus, **ostium Humbrae fluminis** valida cum classe ingreditur; cui rex Æthelstanus fraterque suus clito Eadmundus, in loco qui dicitur **Brunanburh**, cum exercitu occurrerunt, et proelio a diei principio in vesperum tracto, quinque regulos, septemque duces, quos adversarii sibi in auxilium conduxerant, interfecerunt; tantumque sanguinis quantum eatenus in Anglia nullo in bello fusum est fuderunt; et reges Anlafum et Constantinum ad naves fugere compellentes, magno reversi sunt tripudio. Illi vero summam infoelicitatem de interitu sui exercitus consecuti, cum paucis redeunt in sua. (tr. mine) "The pagan Anlaf, king of the Irish and of many islands, incited by his father-in-law Constantine king of the Scots, entered the mouth of the river Humber with a strong fleet; King Æthelstan and his brother the ætheling Edmund met him with an army at the place called *Brunanburh*, and, the battle being drawn out from the beginning of the day to evening, they killed five kinglets and seven earls whom the enemy had brought to their aid, and shed as much blood as had never before been shed in any battle in England; and, forcing the kings Anlaf and Constantine to flee to their ships, they returned in great triumph. But those, having met with the utmost misfortune in the destruction of their army, went home with few men." **Contribution.** The sole ultimate source for a **Humber landing**; also the only early source to make Constantine Anlaf's father-in-law and to call Anlaf king "of many islands". Name-form *Brunanburh* (from the ASC). Its Humber may be an inference from the ASC's "Northmen" plus Northumbrian setting, or genuine Worcester tradition — it is unsupported by the ASC, Æthelweard, the Annals of Ulster, Symeon or Malmesbury. --- ## 6. William of Malmesbury, *Gesta Regum Anglorum* II.131 and II.135 **Date and nature.** c. 1125, revised to c. 1135. Malmesbury's house tradition (Æthelstan's burial there; his cousins Ælfwine and Æthelwine killed in the battle and buried there) plus a Latin poem on Æthelstan that William claims to quote from an old book ("versificus, de quo omnia hec excerpsimus"). Contains the Anlaf-as-harper and sword-miracle stories, and the claim (wrong) that Constantine was killed. **Text** (Rolls Series 90, *Willelmi Malmesbiriensis … De gestis regum Anglorum*, ed. W. Stubbs, vol. 1, London 1887, pp. 142-4 (II.131) and 151-2 (II.135); OCR at ; modern edition R. A. B. Mynors, R. M. Thomson and M. Winterbottom, *William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum*, vol. 1, OMT, Oxford 1998, II.131 and II.135 (pages to verify)): II.131 (p. 142): > Postremum illi bellum cum Analafo fuit, Sihtrici filio, qui spe invadendi regni, cum supradicto Constantino iterum rebellante, terminos transierat. Et Ethelstano ex consulto cedente, ut gloriosius jam insultantem vinceret, multum in Angliam processerat juvenis audacissimus et illicita spirans animo, cui tandem magnis artibus ducum, magnis viribus militum, apud **Brunefeld** occursum. Stubbs's apparatus: "Brunefeld] **Bruneford**, Aa. Al. Be. Ao.; **Brenefeld**, Bk.; **Breneveld**, [Ce?]". (tr. mine) "His last war was with Anlaf, son of Sihtric, who, in the hope of invading the kingdom, had crossed the borders together with the above-mentioned Constantine, again in rebellion. And since Æthelstan deliberately gave ground, so that he might defeat him the more gloriously when he was already running riot, the young man — most daring and breathing unlawful ambitions — had advanced far into England, until at last, by the great skill of the commanders and the great strength of the soldiers, he was confronted at *Brunefeld*." The harper story (pp. 143-4): "Ille, qui tantum periculum imminere cerneret, astu exploratoris munus aggressus, depositis regiis insignibus, assumptaque in manibus cythara, ad tentorium regis nostri progreditur…" — "He [Anlaf], seeing so great a danger threatening, cunningly took on the office of a spy: laying aside his royal insignia and taking a harp in his hands, he went to the tent of our king…". Recognised after burying his fee, Anlaf is betrayed to Æthelstan by a former follower who advises the king to move his tent ("ut hinc tentorium amoveas; alioque loco, usque dum partes relictae veniant, manens…"). "Analafus, nocte paratus adveniens, episcopum quendam, qui vespere ad exercitum venerat, nesciensque rerum gestarum, pro viridantis campi aequore ibi tabernaculum tetenderat, cum tota familia occidit." — "Anlaf, arriving prepared by night, killed, with his whole household, a certain bishop who had come to the army in the evening and, ignorant of what had happened, had pitched his tent there because of the level green field." Then the sword miracle (St Aldhelm) and: "Noricum adorsus, tota die usque ad vesperam indefessus fugavit cum exercitu. Cecidit ibi rex Scottorum Constantinus, perfidae animositatis et vivacis senectae homo; aliique reges quinque, comites duodecim, omnisque pene barbarorum congeries" — "attacking the Norseman, all day until evening he unweariedly put him and his army to flight. There fell Constantine king of the Scots, a man of treacherous spirit and vigorous old age, and five other kings, twelve earls, and almost the whole mass of the barbarians." II.135 (p. 151): "nam et ibidem [Malmesbiriae] Elwinum et Ethelwinum filios patrui sui Ethelwerdi, quos in bello contra Analafum amiserat, humari honorifice jussit" — "for there too [at Malmesbury] he ordered Ælfwine and Æthelwine, sons of his uncle Æthelweard, whom he had lost in the war against Anlaf, to be buried with honour." Then the poem (pp. 151-2): > Transierat quinos et tres et quatuor annos / Jure regens cives, subigens virtute tyrannos, / Cum redit illa lues Europae noxia labes. / Jam cubat in terris fera barbaries aquilonis, / Jam jacet in campo, pelago pirata relicto, / Illicitas torvasque minas Analafus anhelans. / Bacchanti foris, Scottorum rege volente, / Commodat assensum **borealis terra** serenum … / Fugit Analafus, de tot modo milibus unus… "Twelve years had passed of his ruling the citizens by law and subduing tyrants by valour, when that plague, the noxious blight of Europe, returned. Now the fierce barbarity of the North lies on the land, now the pirate, leaving the sea behind, lies in the field, Anlaf panting out unlawful and grim threats. To him raging outside, with the king of the Scots willing it, the northern land lends its serene assent … Anlaf fled, one alone out of so many thousands." **Contribution.** Name-forms *Brunefeld* (var. *Bruneford*, *Brenefeld*, *Breneveld*) with *feld* "open land"; the deliberate delay letting Anlaf advance "multum in Angliam"; a "level green field" (*viridantis campi aequore*) for the camp; the poem's statement that "the northern land" (Northumbria) sided with the invaders; Constantine's death (contradicted by the ASC and the Irish and Scottish annals). No river or landing. --- ## 7. Henry of Huntingdon, *Historia Anglorum* V.18-19 **Date and nature.** Composed c. 1129, revised to 1154. Henry's account is a paraphrase of the ASC followed by a free Latin rendering of the poem, which he introduces as being in "quasi carminis modo … extraneis tam verbis quam figuris". He dates the battle wrongly. **Text** (Rolls Series 74, *Henrici archidiaconi Huntendunensis Historia Anglorum*, ed. T. Arnold, London 1879, pp. 159-60; OCR at ; modern edition D. Greenway, *Henry, Archdeacon of Huntingdon: Historia Anglorum*, OMT, Oxford 1996, V.18-19, pp. 310-15 (pages to verify)): V.18 (p. 159): > Adelstan rex anno gratiae DCCCCXLV. [sic; Forester's 1853 translation likewise prints "945" with a corrective note], regni vero sui anno quarto, commisit proelium ad **Bruneburh**, proeliorum maximum, contra Anlaf regem Hiberniae, qui vires suas gente Scottorum et Dacorum in Anglia conversantium adauxerat. "King Athelstan, in the year of grace 945 [sic] and the fourth year of his reign, fought at *Bruneburh* the greatest of battles against Anlaf king of Ireland, who had swelled his forces with the Scots and the Danes living in England." V.19 (p. 160), the opening of his translation of the poem: > Rex Adelstan, decus ducum, nobilibus torquium dator, et frater ejus Edmundus, longa stirpis serie splendentes, percusser[unt] in bello, acie gladii apud **Brunesburh**. Scutorum muros fiderunt, nobiles ceciderunt… Arnold's apparatus at *Brunesburh*: "Brunesburith, A.; Brunebirih, F." (Cavill, following Greenway's MSS, gives Henry's form as *Brunebirih*; Campbell had *Bruneburh, Brunesburh*). Henry's rendering of the retreat has no place-name: "Sanitas ibi nulla his qui cum Anlavo trans maris campos in ligni gremio terram petierunt, Marte morituri … cum paucis vero in maris fluctus rex navi provectus, intrinsecus gemebat" — "no safety there for those who with Anlaf had sought the land across the plains of the sea in the ship's bosom, doomed to die in battle … but the king, carried off in a ship onto the waves of the sea with a few men, groaned inwardly." **Contribution.** Name-forms *Bruneburh / Brunesburh / Brunesburith / Brunebirih* (from the ASC); Anlaf "king of Ireland" helped by "the Danes living in England"; otherwise wholly derivative; suppresses *Dingesmere*. --- ## 8. Geffrei Gaimar, *Estoire des Engleis* **Date and nature.** Anglo-Norman verse history written in Lincolnshire 1136-37 from a copy of the ASC and other (partly northern) sources. His name-form with *-werce* (= OE *weorc*) matches Symeon's *Et Brunnanwerc* and is not derivable from the ASC. **Text** (Rolls Series 91, *Lestorie des Engles solum la translacion Maistre Geffrei Gaimar*, ed. T. D. Hardy and C. T. Martin, vol. 1, London 1888, p. 147, lines 3515-3528; OCR at ; modern edition Ian Short, *Geffrei Gaimar, Estoire des Engleis / History of the English*, Oxford 2009 — Short's lineation differs slightly from Hardy-Martin's; his line number for *Bruneswerce* is **to verify**, c. 3520): > Puis regnat son fiz Adelstan. / Quant out regne treskel quart an, / Bataille tint contre Daneis; / Si descunfist Gudfrid li reis. / Puis asembla mult grant empire, / E en la mer mist grant navire. / Dreit en Escoce s'en ala; / Icel pais forment preia. / Apres un an, ne mains ne plus, / A **Bruneswerce** out le desus / Sur les Escoz, e sur Combreis, / Sur Gawaleis, e sur Picteis. / Iloc en furent tant oscis, / Crei ke parle en ert tut dis. Hardy-Martin apparatus (l. 3524): "Bruneswerce] **Burneweste**, D. L.; **Brunewerthe**, H." (Cavill lists the forms as *Bruneswerce, Brunewerche, Burneweste*.) (tr. mine) "Then his son Athelstan reigned. When he had reigned to the fourth year he fought a battle against the Danes and defeated King Guthfrith. Then he assembled a very great host and put a great fleet on the sea; straight into Scotland he went and ravaged that country severely. A year later, neither more nor less, at *Bruneswerce* he had the upper hand over the Scots and over the Cumbrians, over the *Gawaleis* [Galwegians, or Welsh] and over the Picts. There so many were killed that I believe it will be talked of for ever." **Contribution.** Independent *-werc* form; enemies listed as Scots, Cumbrians, "Gawaleis" and Picts (no Irish/Norse!); the battle "a year" after the Scottish expedition (chronologically wrong: 934 → 937). Nothing on the landing. --- ## 9. Annals of Ulster, 937 and 938 **Date and nature.** The Annals of Ulster preserve the contemporary "Chronicle of Ireland" record; the 937 entry is the only strictly contemporary narrative notice of the battle outside England. In Latin. **Text** (Irish/Latin: CELT G100001A, *Annála Uladh*, ed. S. Mac Airt and G. Mac Niocaill, *The Annals of Ulster (to A.D. 1131)*, Dublin: DIAS, 1983, pp. 384-7; and text508.html; translation: CELT T100001A, and text508.html): > **U937.6** Bellum ingens lacrimabile atque horribile inter Saxones atque Norddmannos crudeliter gestum est, in quo plurima milia Nordmannorum que non numerata sunt, ceciderunt, sed rex cum paucis euassit, .i. Amlaiph. Ex altera autem parte multitudo Saxonum cecidit. Adalstan autem, rex Saxonum, magna uictoria ditatus est. CELT tr.: "A great, lamentable and horrible battle was cruelly fought between the Saxons and the Norsemen, in which several thousands of Norsemen, who are uncounted, fell, but their king, Amlaíb, escaped with a few followers. A large number of Saxons fell on the other side, but Athelstan, king of the Saxons, enjoyed a great victory." > **U938.5** Amhlaiph m. Gothfrith i n-Ath Cliath iterum. "Amlaíb son of Gothfrith in Áth Cliath [Dublin] again." > **U938.6** Cell Cuilind do orcain la Amlaim h. n-Imair, quod non auditum est antiquis temporibus. Slogad la Donnchad h. Mael Sechlainn righ Temrach & la Muirchertach m. Neill righ n-Ailigh do chacht for Gallu Atha Cliath cor indriset o Ath Cliath co Ath Truisten. "Cell Cuilinn was plundered by Amlaíb grandson of Ímar — something unheard of from ancient times. Donnchad grandson of Mael Sechnaill, king of Temair, and Muirchertach son of Niall, king of Ailech, led an army to besiege the foreigners of Áth Cliath, and they ravaged from Áth Cliath to Áth Truisten." There is no AU entry under 937 for Amlaíb's departure from Dublin (that is in the Four Masters and Clonmacnoise, §11 and §10). AU's own year-heading reads "Anno Domini .dcccc. xxxui., alias .dcccc.37" (i.e. the annal is 937). **Contribution.** Fixes the year (937), the combatants "Saxones atque Nordmanni", the scale, Amlaíb's escape "with a few", and his return to Dublin in 938. No place-name. --- ## 10. Annals of Clonmacnoise, s.a. 931 [= 937] **Date and nature.** English translation made in 1627 by Conell Mageoghagan of a lost Irish chronicle; the exemplar shared material with the Chronicle of Ireland but has unique details here (the casualty list and the place-name "othlyn"). Only surviving in 17th-century copies. **Text** (D. Murphy, ed., *The Annals of Clonmacnoise, being Annals of Ireland from the Earliest Period to A.D. 1408, translated into English A.D. 1627 by Conell Mageoghagan*, Dublin 1896, pp. 150-1; OCR at ): > 931. — The Danes of Loghrie, arrived at Dublin. Awley with all the Danes of Dublin and north part of Ireland departed and went over seas. The Danes that departed from Dublin arrived in England, & by the help of the Danes of that kingdom, they gave battle to the Saxons on **the plaines of othlyn**, where there was a great slaughter of Normans and Danes, among which these ensueing captaines were slaine, viz*. Sithfrey and Oisle y^e 2 sones of Sithrick, Galey, Awley ffroit, and Moylemorrey the sonn of Cosse Warce, Moyle Isa, Gebeachan king of the Islands, Ceallagh prince of Scottland with 30000 together with 800 captives about Awley m'Godfrey, and abbot of Arick m'Brith, Iloa Deck, Imar, the king of Denmarks owen son with 4000 souldiers in his guard were all slaine. (Murphy's index, p. 397: "Othlyn, plains of, 151". The spelling in the text is *othlyn* with one *n*; Cavill's table gives "Plaines of othlynn, othlyn", the double-n form presumably from the other MS (BL Add. 4817 vs TCD F.3.19).) **Contribution.** The only source naming the battlefield from the Norse-Irish side: "the plains of othlyn" (unexplained; proposals include Lothian, an Irish *oth-linn*, or a corruption of *Brunanburh*'s environs); says the Dublin army sailed to *England* and fought "by the help of the Danes of that kingdom" (i.e. with the support of the Danes settled in England — cf. Henry of Huntingdon and William's poem); casualty list includes "Gebeachan king of the Islands" (Hebrides) and "Ceallagh prince of Scotland" (Constantine's son: cf. ASC and §13). --- ## 11. Chronicon Scotorum, Annals of the Four Masters, Annals of Inisfallen (and the silent annals) **Chronicon Scotorum** (17th-c. copy of a Clonmacnoise-group chronicle; ed. W. M. Hennessy, *Chronicum Scotorum*, Rolls Series 46, London 1866, pp. 174-5 (page to verify); CELT G100016 , tr. T100016 text102.html). **No notice of the battle.** Relevant entries: > CS937. Kl. Gaill Locha Ribh do dul d'Ath Cliath. — "The foreigners of Loch Ríbh went to Áth Cliath." > CS938. … Ceall Cuilinn d'argain la h-Amhlaibh mac Cothfrith et dech ced do braid do breth eiste. — "Cell Cuilinn was plundered by Amlaíb son of Gothfrith and a thousand captives taken from it." **Annals of the Four Masters** (compiled 1632-36; ed. and tr. J. O'Donovan, *Annala Rioghachta Eireann*, 2nd edn, Dublin 1856, vol. 2, pp. 632-7 (pages to verify); CELT G100005B , tr. T100005B text004.html; AFM's dates are two years behind at this point, so M935 = 937, M936 = 938). **No notice of the battle**, but three entries frame Amlaíb's movements: > M935.16 Amhlaoibh, mac Gofradha, tighearna Gall, do thiachthain im Lughnasadh ó Ath Cliath, co rucc Amhlaoibh Cendcairech do Loch Ribh leis, & na Gaill báttar lais, .i. la Cairech, iar m-briseadh a long. > O'Donovan: "Amhlaeibh, son of Godfrey, lord of the foreigners, came at Lammas [1 August] from Ath-cliath, and carried off as prisoners Amhlaeibh Ceanncairech from Loch Ribh, and the foreigners who were with him (i.e. with Cairech), after breaking their ships." > M935.17 Gaill Atha Cliath do fhágbháil an dúnaidh, & a n-dol co Saxoibh. > O'Donovan: "The foreigners of Athcliath left their fortress, and went to England [lit. 'to the Saxons']." > M936.14 Amhlaibh, mac Gofradha, do theacht co h-Ath Cliath doridhisi, & Ceall Cuilinn do orgain lais, & deich c-céd do bhroid do bhreith eisti. > O'Donovan: "Amhlaibh, son of Godfrey, came to Dublin again, and plundered Cill-Cuilinn, and carried off ten hundred prisoners from thence." **Annals of Inisfallen** (Bodleian Rawl. B.503, s. xi-xii; ed. S. Mac Airt, Dublin 1951; CELT T100004 ): **nothing on the battle** — AI937.1-3 record only "Bissextile. Kl. Death of Ferga son of Conaing, king of Ailech. Death of Conaing, son of Niall, etc. A mighty wind." **Annals of Tigernach**: lacuna for these years (the text jumps from 767 to 973); **Fragmentary Annals**: end at 914. So the Irish record of the battle rests on AU (contemporary) and Clonmacnoise (lost exemplar). **Contribution.** AFM's Lammas (1 Aug) notice, if correctly placed, means Amlaíb Guthfrithson was still campaigning on Lough Ree in early August 937 and that the Dublin army only then "went to the Saxons": a *terminus post quem* of August for the battle and a departure from Dublin (not from the Hebrides or Scotland). Nothing on where they landed. --- ## 12. Annales Cambriae and Brut y Tywysogion **Annales Cambriae.** The entry is in the **A-text only** (BL Harley 3859, c. 1100, copying a St Davids compilation of c. 954x988): annal 494 of the tally (= AD 938 in Phillimore's reckoning): > [494] Annus. **Bellum Brune.** Editions: E. Phillimore, "The Annales Cambriae and Old-Welsh Genealogies from Harleian MS. 3859", *Y Cymmrodor* 9 (1888), 141-83, at p. 168 (page to verify); J. Williams ab Ithel, *Annales Cambriae*, Rolls Series 20, London 1860, p. 17 ("CCCCXCIV. Annus. Bellum Brune", with his footnote 13 "**Not in B. C.**"; OCR at ); H. W. Gough-Cooper, *Annales Cambriae: A, B and C in Parallel, from St Patrick to AD 954*, Welsh Chronicles Research Group, Bangor, 1st edn 2016, online at and , where the parallel columns read "[a500] anus Bellum brune. | [b —] [ ] | [c261] Annus." — i.e. B (PRO E.164/1) has a gap and C (Cotton Domitian A.i) a blank annal. Gough-Cooper's separate *Annales Cambriae: the B text* (2015, ) contains no "Brune" at all. **Correction: "bellum Brune" is an A-text entry; it is not in the B and C texts.** **Brut y Tywysogion** (Welsh translation, c. 1300, of a lost Latin chronicle related to AC B/C). Rolls Series text (Red Book of Hergest version), J. Williams ab Ithel, ed., *Brut y Tywysogion; or, The Chronicle of the Princes*, London 1860, p. 20 (OCR at ): > dccccxxxv. Ac y bu ryfel **Brun**. [footnote: MS D **Brune**; MS E reading garbled in OCR] (tr.) "[935.] And there was the war/battle of Brun." The form "gweith Brun" was **not** found in this text (which has *ryfel*, "war"); it may be the reading of the Peniarth 20 version (ed. T. Jones, *Brut y Tywysogyon, Peniarth MS. 20*, Cardiff 1941; tr. 1952) — **to verify**. Cavill (§2) also lists a later Welsh tradition "Cad Tybrunawc" and "twelfth-century charters: Bruningafeld" and "Scottish traditions: Bruningafeld, Brouningfeld" (Fordun/Wyntoun line) — cited here only from his table. **Contribution.** Independent tenth-century Welsh testimony that the battle-name was simply *Brune/Brun* (a place or river-name in *Brun-*); no location. --- ## 13. Chronicle of the Kings of Alba ("Scottish Chronicle", Poppleton MS) **Date and nature.** Latin regnal chronicle of the kings of Alba, compiled in Scotland with a tenth-century core (the Constantine II entry written in or soon after his reign); sole witness the 14th-century Poppleton MS, Paris, BnF lat. 4126, f. 29v-30r. Hiberno-Latin orthography. **Text** (W. F. Skene, ed., *Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots, and Other Early Memorials of Scottish History*, Edinburgh 1867, p. 9 (printed there as "The Pictish Chronicle"); OCR at ; modern edition B. T. Hudson, "The Scottish Chronicle", *Scottish Historical Review* 77 (1998), 129-61, Latin text and translation (pages to verify); tr. A. O. Anderson, *Early Sources of Scottish History*, vol. 1, Edinburgh 1922, pp. 444-8 (pages to verify)): > Bellum Tinemore factum est in xviii. anno inter Constantinum et Regnall, et Scotti habuerunt victoriam. Et bellum **Duinbrunde** in xxxiiij. ejus anno ubi cecidit filius Constantini. Et post unum annum mortuus est Dubucan filius Indrechtaig, mormair Oengusa. Adalstan filius Advar rig Saxan, et Eochaid filius Alpini, mortui sunt. (tr. mine) "The battle of Tinemore [Corbridge] took place in his 18th year between Constantine and Ragnall, and the Scots had the victory. And the battle of *Dún Brunde* in his 34th year, where Constantine's son fell. And after one year Dubucan son of Indrechtach, mormaer of Angus, died. Athelstan son of Edward, king of the Saxons, and Eochaid son of Alpin, died." (Constantine's 34th year from 900 = 934; the intended year is his 37th = 937.) **Contribution.** Name-form *Duin-brunde* = Gaelic *dún* "fort" + *Brunde* — an independent Gaelic rendering of "the fort of Brun(e)", agreeing with OE *-burh* and Symeon's *-werc*; confirms the death of Constantine's son (ASC l. 42-4; Clonmacnoise's "Ceallagh prince of Scotland"). No location. --- ## 14. Egil's saga Skallagrímssonar, chs. 50-55 (Vínheiðr) **Date and nature.** Icelandic saga written c. 1220-40 (often attributed to Snorri Sturluson), surviving in 14th-c. MSS (Möðruvallabók etc.). Its account of Egill's and Þórólfr's service under "Aðalsteinn" is legendary in detail, conflates Anlaf with the Scottish king ("Óláfr rauði, Skotakonungr"), and its topography is conventional; but the place-names *Vínheiðr / Vínuskógar* and the river *Vína* may preserve a tradition (Cavill §3.9). **Text** (Old Norse from the online text at heimskringla.no, , which prints Guðni Jónsson's normalised text (Íslendingasagnaútgáfan, 1945); the standard edition is Sigurður Nordal, ed., *Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar*, Íslenzk fornrit 2, Reykjavík 1933, chs. 50-55, pp. c. 127-46 (pages to verify); Casebook translation pp. 68-91): ch. 51 (identification of the enemy): > Óláfr rauði hét konungr á Skotlandi. Hann var skozkr at föðurkyni, en danskr at móðurkyni ok kominn af ætt Ragnars loðbrókar. Hann var ríkr maðr. Skotland var kallat þriðjungr ríkis við England. Norðimbraland er kallat fimmtungr Englands, ok er þat norðast, næst Skotlandi fyrir austan. Þat höfðu haft at fornu Danakonungar. Jórvík er þar höfuðstaðr. Þat ríki átti Aðalsteinn ok hafði sett yfir jarla tvá. Hét annarr Álfgeirr, en annarr Goðrekr. (tr. mine) "Óláfr the Red was the name of a king in Scotland. He was Scottish on his father's side but Danish on his mother's, and descended from the line of Ragnarr loðbrók. He was a powerful man. Scotland was reckoned a third of the realm compared with England. Northumbria is reckoned a fifth of England, and it is the northernmost part, next to Scotland on the east. The kings of the Danes had held it of old. York is the chief town there. Aðalsteinn held that realm and had set two earls over it: one was called Álfgeirr and the other Goðrekr." ch. 52: > Óláfr Skotakonungr dró saman her mikinn ok fór síðan suðr á England, en er hann kom á Norðimbraland, fór hann allt herskildi. … Lagði Óláfr konungr þá allt Norðimbraland undir sik. "Óláfr king of the Scots gathered a great army and then went south into England, and when he came into Northumbria he harried everywhere … King Óláfr then subjected all Northumbria to himself." > Síðan gera þeir sendimann til Óláfs konungs ok finna þat til erenda, at Aðalsteinn konungr vill hasla honum völl ok bjóða orrostustað á **Vínheiði við Vínuskóga** ok hann vill, at þeir heri eigi á land hans, en sá þeira ráði ríki á Englandi, er sigr fær í orrostu… "Then they send a messenger to King Óláfr with this errand: that King Aðalsteinn wishes to hazel him a field and offer battle at *Vínheiðr* by *Vínuskógar*, and that he wishes them not to harry his land, and that whichever of them wins the battle shall rule the kingdom in England…" > Þá flutti hann her sinn til Vínheiðar. **Borg ein stóð fyrir norðan heiðina.** Settist Óláfr konungr þar í borgina ok hafði þar mestan hlut liðs síns, því at þar var út í frá heruð stór, ok þótti honum þar betra til atflutninga um föng þau, er herrinn þurfti at hafa. … Þurfti þann stað at vanda, at hann væri sléttr, er miklum her skyldi fylkja. Var þar ok svá, er orrostustaðrinn skyldi vera, at **þar var heiðr slétt, en annan veg frá fell á ein, en á annan veg frá var skógr mikill.** En þar er skemmst var milli skógarins ok árinnar, ok var þat mjök löng leið, þar höfðu tjaldat menn Aðalsteins konungs. … Óláfs konungs menn tjölduðu fyrir norðan höslurnar, ok var þangat allt nökkut afhallt. Aðalsteins menn sögðu ok annan dag frá öðrum, at konungr þeira myndi þá koma eða vera kominn í **borg þá, er var sunnan undir heiðinni.** "Then he moved his army to Vínheiðr. A *borg* [fortified town] stood to the north of the heath. King Óláfr settled in the borg and kept the greater part of his force there, because beyond it lay large districts and it seemed to him better for bringing in the supplies the army needed. … The place had to be chosen with care, so that it was level, where a great army was to be drawn up. And so it was where the battlefield was to be: there was a level heath, and on one side of it a river ran, and on the other side there was a great wood. And where the distance between the wood and the river was shortest — though that was a very long way — King Aðalsteinn's men had pitched their tents … King Óláfr's men pitched their tents north of the hazel-poles, and the ground sloped somewhat down towards them. Aðalsteinn's men said day after day that their king would be coming, or had come, to the borg that lay south below the heath." ch. 54: "Aðalsteinn konungr hafði verit áðr ina næstu nótt í borg þeiri, er fyrr var frá sagt, ok þar spurði hann, at bardagi hafði verit á heiðinni, bjóst þá þegar ok allr herrinn ok sótti norðr á heiðina" — "King Aðalsteinn had spent the previous night in the borg spoken of before, and there he learned that there had been fighting on the heath; he and the whole army made ready at once and went north up onto the heath." ch. 55 (Egill's verse over Þórólfr's grave on the field): > Gekk, sás óðisk ekki, / jarlmanns bani snarla, / þreklundaðr fell, Þundar, / Þórólfr, í gný stórum. / Jörð grær, en vér verðum, / **Vínu nær** of mínum, / helnauð es þat, hylja / harm, ágætum barma. "He who feared nothing, the earl's slayer, went boldly forward; strong-hearted Þórólfr fell in Óðinn's great din. The earth grows green near the *Vína* over my brother; that is a deadly grief, but I must hide my sorrow for my excellent kinsman." **Contribution.** Battle-site named *Vínheiðr* ("Vín-heath") beside *Vínuskógar* ("the woods of the Vína") and a river *Vína*; a level heath between a river and a great wood; a *borg* north of the heath held by the invaders (with populous districts beyond it) and another *borg* south of the heath where Æthelstan lodged; the enemy king had first conquered Northumbria from York's two earls; the Scots' king demanded "all Northumbria" as the price of peace. The saga therefore sets the battle in or on the borders of Northumbria, north of Æthelstan's base, but supplies no identifiable geography. --- ## 15. Later derivative chronicles (name-forms only) * **Chronicle of Melrose** (BL Cotton Faustina B.ix, s. xiii; ed. J. Stevenson, *Chronica de Mailros*, Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh 1835, p. 28; OCR at ). Conflates Symeon (615 ships) with John of Worcester (Humber): "Anno Dcccc.xxxvij. Anlafus rex Hyberniae ostium Humbre fluminis cum Dc. et xv. navibus ingreditur, cui rex Æthelstanus et frater ejus Edmundus occurrit apud **Brunanburch**, et commisso proelio regulos v. et vij. duces occidunt et cum triumpho reversi sunt." Also s.a. 934 (p. 28): "rex Æthelstanus vastavit Scotiam usque Dunfoeder et Wertermore terrestri exercitu; navali vero usque Catenes; eo quod Constantinus pactum foederis dirupit" (adds the reason: Constantine broke the treaty). * **Roger of Wendover**, *Flores Historiarum* (c. 1230; ed. H. O. Coxe, *Rogeri de Wendover Chronica sive Flores historiarum*, vol. 1, London 1841, p. 392; OCR at ): follows JW, "ostium Humbri fluminis valida cum classe ingreditur; cui rex Anglorum Ethelstanus et frater ejus Eadmundus cum exercitu occurrentes, in loco, qui **Bruneberih** nuncupatur…" (marginal heading "Brunenburg"). * **Pierre de Langtoft**, *Chronicle* (c. 1300, Anglo-Norman verse; ed. T. Wright, Rolls Series 47, vol. 1, London 1866, p. 330; OCR at ): "D. cc. et xv. nefs le ray Anlaphe avayt. / Ly bon ray Adelstan, ke draytiure amayt, / Of Edmoun sun frère, dount ben s'afiyait, / A **Bruneburge sur Humbre** les feluns encountrait. / Del matyn jekes al vespre la bataylle durait." — "King Anlaf had 615 ships. The good king Athelstan, who loved right, with Edmund his brother in whom he well trusted, met the felons at *Bruneburge on the Humber*. From morning until evening the battle lasted." Apparatus: "**Brunesburgh**, B.; **Bronneburgh**, C." Langtoft then sends Anlaf home to Denmark and brings him back at Easter to Sandwich with the giant Colbrand (the Guy of Warwick romance). The explicit "sur Humbre" is Langtoft's synthesis of JW. * **Robert Mannyng of Brunne**, *Chronicle* Part II (1338), translating Langtoft: form **not verified** — the archive.org OCR copies of Furnivall's edition (Rolls Series 87, 1887) that I could reach contain only Part I; check vol. 2 for "Brunesburgh"/"Brunneburgh" **(wording to verify)**. * **Pseudo-Ingulf**, *Historia Croylandensis* (a late-14th/15th-century Crowland forgery): ed. W. Fulman, *Rerum Anglicarum Scriptorum Veterum*, tom. 1, Oxford 1684, p. c. 36-7 (page to verify; OCR at ); tr. H. T. Riley, *Ingulph's Chronicle of the Abbey of Croyland*, London 1854 (). Text as read from the 1684 OCR (blackletter place-name partly illegible; marginal heading "Bellum ad Brunford"): "Contra quem cum Analaphus filius Sitrici, quondam Regis Northanhumbrorum, insurgeret, & bellum ferocissimum multorum viribus moliretur, conspirantibusque cum dicto Analapho Constantino Rege Scotorum, & Eugenio Rege Cumbrorum, ac aliorum Regum Comitumque barbarie infinita, omnes cum subjectis nationibus **ad Brunford in Northanhumbria** contra Athelstanum Regem convenissent…" **[wording to verify]**, and later "duos cognatos suos … Elwinum & Ethelstanum caesos a Danis in praelio **Brunefordensi**" (Riley: "at the battle of Bruneford"). Contribution: explicitly "in Northumbria" and names Owain (*Eugenius*) as king of the Cumbrians; worthless as evidence but influential. * Cavill's fuller list of derivative forms (*Casebook* §2): Richard of Cirencester *Brunkerih*; *Eulogium historiarum* *Brunanburge*; Bartholomew Cotton and John of Oxnead *Brunesberich*; Annals of Waverley *Bruneberi*; Ranulf Higden *Brumford, Brunfort*; Book of Hyde *Brunfort*. --- ## 16. Contextual sources ### 16a. Armes Prydein Vawr ("The Great Prophecy of Britain") **Date and nature.** Middle Welsh prophetic poem of 199 lines in the Book of Taliesin (Aberystwyth, NLW Peniarth 2, c. 1350), composed — on Ifor Williams's dating — c. 930, in the run-up to 937, when Æthelstan's *mechteyrn* ("great king") was exacting tribute from the Welsh; it calls for a grand alliance of Welsh, Dublin Norse, Irish, Scots, Strathclyde Britons, Cornish and Bretons to expel the English. (Some prefer a date in the 940s.) **Text** (Welsh text after W. F. Skene, *The Four Ancient Books of Wales*, Edinburgh 1868, vol. 2, pp. 123-9 (poem VI of Llyfr Taliesin), as reproduced with modern orthography at — line numbers coincide with Ifor Williams's 199-line edition; standard edition Ifor Williams, ed., *Armes Prydein o Lyfr Taliesin*, Cardiff 1955; English version by Rachel Bromwich, *Armes Prydein: The Prophecy of Britain*, Dublin: DIAS, 1972; Casebook pp. 30-9, tr. Bollard): > 7 Gwaethyl gwyr hyt **Gaer Weir** gwasgarawt allmyn. > 9 A chymot Kymry a gwyr **Dulyn**. > 10 Gwydyl Iwerdon Mon a **Phrydyn**. > 11 Cornyw a **Chludwys** eu kynnwys genhyn. > 15 Gwyr **Gogled** yg kynted yn eu kylchyn. > 18 yn **Aber Perydon** meiryon **mechteyrn**. > 129 A lluman glan Dewi a drychafant. > 130 y tywyssau Gwydyl trwy lieingant. > 131 A gynhon **Dulyn** genhyn y safant. > 171-4 Dysgogan derwydon meint a deruyd. / Vynaw hyt Lydaw yn eu llaw yt vyd. / Dyuet hyt Danet wy bieiuyd. / Wawl hyt Weryt hyt eu hebyr. (tr. mine, after Bromwich) "7 Warriors will scatter the foreigners as far as *Caer Weir* [Durham, on the Wear]. … 9 And there will be reconciliation between the Welsh and the men of Dublin, 10 the Irish of Ireland, Anglesey and *Prydyn* [Pictland/Scotland], 11 Cornwall and the men of the Clyde [Strathclyde] — their welcome will be with us. … 15 The men of the North in the place of honour around them. … 18 at Aber Peryddon the stewards of the great king [collect tribute]. … 129 And they will raise the holy banner of Dewi 130 to lead the Irish by means of the linen-clad host(?), 131 and the heathens of Dublin will stand with us. … 171 The druids foretell all that will happen: 172 from Manaw to Brittany will be in their hands, 173 from Dyfed to Thanet will be theirs, 174 from the Wall to the Forth, as far as their estuaries." **Contribution.** Contemporary Welsh evidence that a Dublin-Irish-Scottish-Strathclyde coalition against Æthelstan was being canvassed in the 930s (the Welsh, in the event, did not join); "Caer Weir" and "the Forth" indicate the northern theatre in the poet's mind; nothing on the battle itself. ### 16b. Vita S. Cathroe (Life of St Cathróe of Metz) **Date and nature.** Latin Life written at Metz c. 980 by a monk (Reimann/"Ousmann") who knew the saint; Cathróe (d. 971) left Scotland c. 940-1 and travelled south through Strathclyde/Cumbria and Northumbria to England and the Continent. The itinerary is a contemporary witness to the political geography of the north in the years just after Brunanburh. **Text** (Skene, *Chronicles of the Picts and Scots*, 1867, p. 116, from Colgan, *Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae*, 1645, and *AASS* Martii I (1668), pp. 473-80; OCR at ; tr. Anderson, *Early Sources*, vol. 1, pp. 431-43 (pages to verify)): > Douenaldus Rex illi praeerat plebi, et quia erat propinquus viri, cum omni gaudio occurrit, et secum aliquamdiu retinens, conduxit usque **Loidam Civitatem** quae est **confinium Normannorum atque Cumbrorum**, ibique excipitur a quodam viro nobili Gunderico, a quo perducitur ad Regem Erichium in **Euroacum Urbem**, qui scilicet Rex habebat conjugem ipsius Divini Cathroe propinquam; unde egressus Lugdinam Civitatem expetiit… (tr. mine) "King Dyfnwal ruled that people [the Cumbrians], and because he was a kinsman of the man he met him with all joy, and keeping him with him for a while escorted him to the city of *Loida* [Leeds], which is the boundary of the Northmen and the Cumbrians; and there he was received by a certain nobleman Gunderic, by whom he was brought to King Eric in the city of York — which king had a wife who was a kinswoman of the holy Cathróe; departing thence he sought the city of London…" **Contribution.** Places the frontier between the Norse kingdom of York and the kingdom of the Cumbrians (Strathclyde) at Leeds in the 940s — showing how far south Strathclyde's sphere reached across the Pennine fringe and that Cumbria-York was a land route; relevant to the coalition's likely approach but silent on 937. (The mention of "King Eric" — Eiríkr blóðøx, at York 947-8 and 952-4 — is a well-known chronological difficulty: Dumville, "St Cathróe of Metz and the Hagiography of Exoticism", in *Studies in Irish Hagiography*, Dublin 2001.) ### 16c. Æthelstan's charters dated 937 (Electronic Sawyer, ) | Sawyer | Date / place | Content | Authenticity (eSawyer summary) | |---|---|---|---| | S 432 | 937 | to Athelney, 1 hide at (East) Lyng, Som. | (18th-c. copy) | | S 433 | "670 (? for 937) or 937" | to the minster of Exeter, 1 hide at Topsham, Devon; one MS dated 937 | doubtful dating | | S 434 | 937, **Dorchester (Dorset), 21 Dec.** | to the *familia* of Malmesbury, 60 hides at Bremhill, Wilts. | Keynes 1980: spurious, probably based on an authentic 935 diploma; O'Donovan 1972: secular witnesses suit 931x934, ecclesiastical witnesses suit 937; Wormald: possibly authentic witness list | | S 435 | 937, Dorchester, 21 Dec. | Malmesbury, 10 hides at Wootton, Wilts. | same verdict | | S 436 | 937, Dorchester, 21 Dec. | Malmesbury, Wootton, Bremhill, Somerford, Norton, Ewen | spurious composite "apparently prepared and interpolated by William of Malmesbury" (Stevenson 1904); printed by Stubbs, *GR* i. 153 | | S 437 | 937 | to Sigulf, 5 hides at Water Newton, Hunts. | Hart: authentic | | S 438 | 937 | to St Mary, Wilton, 6 hides at Burcombe, Wilts. | — | | S 439 | 937 | Chilcomb hidation confirmation | spurious | Only the three Dorchester diplomas carry a place and day, and they are suspect; the Malmesbury tradition (GR II.135, above) links these grants to the burial at Malmesbury of Æthelstan's cousins killed "in bello contra Analafum", which is what a 21 December 937 date would fit. No charter places the king anywhere during the campaigning season of 937. ### 16d. The 934 Scottish expedition (for contrast, and for the Beverley tradition) * **ASC s.a. 934** (MSS B, C, D, E; Jebson): "Her for Æþelstan cyning on Scotland, ægþer ge mid landhere ge mid sciphere, 7 his micel oferhergode." — "Here King Æthelstan went into Scotland both with a land-army and with a fleet, and ravaged much of it." (A has under 934 only the West Saxon episcopal notice "Her feng Ælfeah bisceop to bisceopdome".) * **Charters of 934** (eSawyer): S 425, Winchester, 28 May 934 (Welsh subreguli attest); S 407 (dated 930 in the text, "for 934"), **Nottingham, 7 June 934**, grant of Amounderness (Lancs.) to St Peter's, York; S 428 (London?, 7 June, dubious); S 426, **Buckingham, 13 Sept. 934**, to Æthelhelm (this is the charter usually cited for Constantine's attestation as *subregulus* after his submission — **check the witness list on eSawyer**); S 427, Frome, 16 Dec. 934. The itinerary Winchester → Nottingham (early June) → the north → Buckingham (mid-September) is the documented shape of the **934** campaign. * **Symeon, HR s.a. 934 and Libellus II.18** (quoted in §3-4): visit to St Cuthbert's tomb (Chester-le-Street), ravaging to Dunnottar and by sea to Caithness; Libellus adds "Fugato deinde Owino rege Cumbrorum, et Constantino rege Scottorum, terrestri et navali exercitu Scotiam sibi subjugando perdomuit" — "Then, having put to flight Owain king of the Cumbrians and Constantine king of the Scots, he subdued Scotland with a land and sea army." * **The Beverley tradition** is attached to this Scottish war, **not** to Brunanburh. Its earliest form is the *Alia Miracula S. Johannis Beverlacensis* (12th c.), ed. J. Raine, *The Historians of the Church of York and its Archbishops*, vol. 1, Rolls Series 71, London 1879, pp. 294-7 (OCR at ; a shorter 14th-c. version at pp. 539-40): "Regnante inclyto rege Adelstano … Scotorum rex cum suis transito fluvio, quod dividit Anglorum regnum a Scotia, coepit depopulari villas … in septentrionali parte Angliae. … Cumque in provinciam Lincolniensem devenisset … transmisitque suum exercitum per occidentalem regionem versus Eboracum … Ipse vero transito flumine Humbre venit Beverlacum; … extrahens cultellum suum de vagina, posuit super altare, dicens: 'Ecce! vadium meum coram te pono, quod te auxiliante vita comite rediens recipiam; ita tamen quod ecclesiam tuam honorificabo, et redditibus augebo…' … fecit quoddam vexillum sibi de eadem ecclesia praeferri … Cumque Scoti audissent Anglorum exercitum adventare … transfretaverunt flumen, quod dicitur **Scotorum Vadum**…" followed by St John's vision ("Adelstane rex, fac tuos in crastino praeparari, ut transeant flumen istud ad bellandum contra Scotos"), the victory, three years' stay in Scotland, and the sword-stroke on the rock near Dunbar. The author admits "quia nusquam illud scriptum reperi" — he found it written nowhere and had it from oral report. (tr.: "In the reign of the famous King Athelstan … the king of the Scots with his men, having crossed the river that divides the kingdom of the English from Scotland, began to lay waste the towns … in the northern part of England. … When he [Athelstan] had reached the province of Lincoln … he sent his army by the western region towards York … he himself crossed the river Humber and came to Beverley; … drawing his knife from its sheath he laid it on the altar, saying 'Behold, I lay my pledge before you, which, with your help, I shall take back if I return alive; on condition that I shall honour your church and increase its revenues' … he had a banner from the same church carried before him … and when the Scots heard the English army was coming … they crossed the river called the Scots' Ford [the Forth]…".) **Confirmed: the Beverley vow story concerns the 934 Scottish campaign (enemy = the king of the Scots, crossing into Scotland beyond the Forth); it contains no Anlaf, no Norse and no Brunanburh.** --- ## 17. Summary table | Source | Date | Name form(s) for the battle site | Locational content | |---|---|---|---| | ASC poem s.a. 937 (A, B, C, D) | c. 937-955 (A) | A *Brunnanburh* (nn by correction), B *Brunnanb⟨ur⟩h*, C *Brunnanburh*, D *Brunanburh*; E *Brunanbyrig*, F *Brunanbyri*, O *Brunanburh*; retreat "on *Dinges mere* / *Dyngesmere* / *Dingesmere* / *dynigesmere* (D; Jebson: Dyngesmere) / *dinnesmere* (O)" | Norse came and left by sea; left "on Dingesmere over deep water" for Dublin/Ireland; Constantine fled "north" home; his son killed | | Æthelweard, Chron. IV.5 | c. 978x988 | *Brunandune* | "popularly called the great battle"; enemies driven "beyond the shores of the ocean" | | Symeon, *Historia Regum* s.a. 937 | 10th-c. northern annals in 12th-c. compilation | *Wendune* | Onlaf with 615 ships; Scots and Cumbrians; no place | | Symeon, *Libellus* II.18 | 1104x1109 | *Weondune* "quod alio nomine *Et Brunnanwerc* vel *Brunnanbyrig* appellatur" | 615 ships; Onlaf Guthfrithson; allies Scots and Cumbrians | | John of Worcester s.a. 937 | c. 1095-1140 | *Brunanburh* | **Anlaf's fleet enters the mouth of the Humber**; Constantine his father-in-law; kings flee to their ships | | William of Malmesbury GR II.131, 135 | c. 1125 | *Brunefeld* (vv.ll. *Bruneford, Brenefeld, Breneveld*) | Æthelstan's deliberate withdrawal lets Anlaf advance "far into England"; camp on a level green field; "the northern land" (Northumbria) consents to the invasion; harper story; (wrongly) Constantine killed | | Henry of Huntingdon V.18-19 | c. 1129-54 | *Bruneburh, Brunesburh* (vv.ll. *Brunesburith, Brunebirih*) | Anlaf "king of Ireland" with Scots and "Danes living in England"; retreat by ship; no Dingesmere | | Gaimar, Estoire ll. 3523-8 | 1136-37 | *Bruneswerce* (vv.ll. *Burneweste, Brunewerthe/Brunewerche*) | victory over Scots, Cumbrians, "Gawaleis" and Picts, a year after the Scottish expedition | | Annals of Ulster 937.6, 938.5 | contemporary | — | Saxons v. Norsemen; Amlaíb escaped with few; back in Dublin 938 | | Annals of Clonmacnoise s.a. 931 | lost Irish exemplar; tr. 1627 | "the plaines of othlyn" | Dublin army "went over seas … arrived in England" and fought "by the help of the Danes of that kingdom"; casualty list incl. king of the Isles and Constantine's son | | Chronicon Scotorum / AFM / AI | 17th-c. copies of medieval annals | — (no battle entry) | AFM: Amlaíb at Lough Ree at Lammas 937; Dublin Norse "went to the Saxons"; back 938 | | Annales Cambriae (A-text) [938]; Brut y Tywysogion | 950s-980s compilation; Brut c. 1300 | *Bellum Brune*; *ryfel Brun* (var. *Brune*) | none | | Chronicle of the Kings of Alba | 10th-c. core | *Duinbrunde* | Constantine's son fell there | | Egil's saga chs. 51-55 | c. 1220-40 | *Vínheiðr*, *Vínuskógar*, river *Vína* | level heath between a river and a great wood; a *borg* north of the heath (invaders) and one south (Æthelstan); enemy had first taken Northumbria from York | | Chronicle of Melrose s.a. 937 | 13th c. | *Brunanburch* | Humber + 615 ships (Symeon + JW) | | Roger of Wendover s.a. 937 | c. 1230 | *Bruneberih* (rubric *Brunenburg*) | Humber (from JW) | | Langtoft | c. 1300 | *Bruneburge* (vv.ll. *Brunesburgh, Bronneburgh*) | "sur Humbre"; 615 ships; Anlaf flees to Denmark | | Pseudo-Ingulf | late 14th/15th c. | *Brunford*, *praelium Brunefordense* [wording to verify] | "in Northanhumbria"; Owain (Eugenius) king of the Cumbrians | | Armes Prydein | 930s/940s | — | Welsh-Dublin-Irish-Scots-Strathclyde coalition envisaged; "as far as Caer Weir" and "the Forth" | | Vita S. Cathroe | c. 980 | — | Leeds "the boundary of the Northmen and the Cumbrians" c. 940s | | Charters of 937 (S 432-9) | 937 | — | only S 434-6 (Dorchester, 21 Dec.) placed and dated, and suspect | | 934 sources (ASC, S 407/425/426/427, Symeon, Beverley *Alia Miracula*) | 934 (Beverley story 12th c.) | — | Winchester (28 May) → Nottingham (7 June) → Chester-le-Street → Dunnottar/Caithness → Buckingham (13 Sept.); Beverley vow belongs to this war | --- ## 18. What I could not verify (flags for the historians) 1. **ASC D's Dingesmere**: Cavill (Casebook §3.10) and Wikipedia give *dynigesmere*; Jebson's online transcription of D gives *Dyngesmere*. Check Cubbin's edition or BL Cotton Tiberius B.iv. 2. **ASC B's Brunanburh**: Campbell 1938 and Jebson read *Brunnanburh* (Jebson with an expanded abbreviation *Brunnanb⟨ur⟩h*); Cavill's 2010 table gives *Brunanburh* and flags the disagreement (n. 6). Paul Cavill, "Spellings of Brunanburh Revisited", *Northern History* 59.2 (2022), 162-76 (Crossref metadata confirmed; text paywalled, not read) presumably resolves this. 3. **Page numbers** in the OMT editions (Rollason; Darlington-McGurk; Mynors-Thomson-Winterbottom; Greenway), in Campbell's Æthelweard (p. 54), Hudson's Scottish Chronicle, Anderson's *Early Sources*, Phillimore's *Annales Cambriae*, Hennessy's CS, O'Donovan's AFM and *Íslenzk fornrit* 2 are given from memory or inference and marked "to verify"; Rolls Series and other 19th-century page numbers were read from the page headers of the archive.org scans and are reliable. 4. **Ian Short's line number** for *Bruneswerce* (Hardy-Martin l. 3524). 5. **Brut y Tywysogion "gweith Brun"**: not in the Rolls Series (Red Book) text, which has *ryfel Brun*; Peniarth 20 unchecked. 6. **Pseudo-Ingulf**: the 1684 blackletter OCR is poor; *Brunford* rests on the marginal heading and *Brunefordensi* on the second passage; Riley's translation has "Bruneford". 7. **Robert Mannyng**: not found (only Part I of Furnivall's edition available in the OCRs used). 8. **Henry of Huntingdon's date "DCCCCXLV"**: read from Arnold's OCR and confirmed by Forester's 1853 translation ("945*"); Greenway's text not checked. 9. **Constantine's attestation of S 426** (Buckingham, 13 Sept. 934): stated from memory; verify on eSawyer. 10. The **Annales Cambriae B/C** point: "bellum Brune" had been assumed to be in B and C; the 1860 apparatus ("Not in B. C.") and Gough-Cooper's 2016 parallel edition show it is an **A-text** entry. Raw downloaded texts used for this dossier (ASC MSS A-F, CELT pages, archive.org OCR files, eSawyer pages, Casebook PDF text) are kept, where included in this folder, in `texts/raw_sources/` and `texts/editions_ocr/`.