Battle of Brunanburh, a battle between the Anglo-Saxon forces led by King Ethelstan and his brother Edmund against the combined army of the Scandinavians and Celts under the Norwegian expedition.
After the victory of Etelstan in 927 over the Vikings near York, he had a territorial dispute with the Scottish king Constantine, associated with the rights to Wessex and the Scottish kingdom of Alba. After the marriage of the daughter of Constantine II with the Scandinavian king of Dublin Olaf III Gutfritson, an anti-Saxon alliance began to take shape, which was also joined by King Strathclyde Owen and the Northumbrian Earls.
The exact location of the battlefield has not yet been established. It is accepted only that it occurred in northern England or in the south of Scotland. In the Scandinavian saga of Egil, built in the second half of the 10th century, but recorded around 1220, the place of the battle was called the Vinheid Plain near Vinuskog Forest, to the north of which a certain “fortress” was located.
The battle was bloody, it was attended by many mercenaries of Irish and British origin. During the battle, 5 Scottish “kings” and 7 Scandinavian yarls were killed. The outcome of the battle was decided by the use of cavalry detachments by the Saxons against the mainly foot troops of the Norwegians, Irish and Scots. The battle ended with a complete victory for the British.
A number of medieval annals report about the Battle of Brunanburh. The main material on this topic can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles , as well as in the Irish Annals of Tigernach and the Annals of Ulster. The battle of Brunanburh is also mentioned in the Icelandic sagas, in particular, in the above-mentioned Egil’s Saga, where, when describing it, the legendary mythological element prevails. Later it was mentioned more than once in the work of Jorge Luis Borges.
Sources:
Harbotl T. Battle of World History
