Unfortunately for posterity, Asser (or his editors) did not record the king’s reply!Īlthough Alfred’s army fought valiantly, and the ships of his navy were swifter than the Viking longboats, he did not succeed entirely in driving the Danes away. She ran in hastily and moved the cakes, abusing the king and saying, “Ah, you man! When you saw the cakes burning, why were you too lazy to turn them? For you are glad enough to eat them when they are all hot!” Presently the cowherd’s wife smelt burning. Alfred chose a place by the hearth to rest his legs while he cleaned his bow, and by the same fire the good wife had put some cakes to cook before going into another room. The story goes that the king had sought temporary refuge in a cowherd’s cottage and was not recognized by that man’s wife when she let him in. It was near here that Asser contends that the cake-burning incident took place. On one occasion, Alfred and his army were forced to retreat to the safety of the marshlands around Athelney in Somerset. He was then 22 years old and from that moment he was engaged in a struggle to drive the Viking invaders from Britain’s shores. Some of these fierce Norsemen decided to stay in England, and as Alfred grew to manhood his services were soon needed in the Saxon army that fought these unwelcome settlers.Īlfred’s elder brother Ethelred succeeded their father and when Ethelred died, Alfred became King. When Alfred was born in the palace of his father, King Ethelwulf, at Wantage, the Vikings had been terrorizing the English coastline regularly from spring to autumn every year. Asser’s book was certainly added to after his death, so that it can no longer be relied upon as wholly accurate. Such was the case with Alfred’s biographer, a monk named Asser, who taught the king and wrote a book entitled, Life of King Alfred. They are frequently biased, sometimes misinterpreted by later writers, and often subsequently re-written. When we want to find out something about a man who lived as long ago as the ninth century – Alfred was born in the year AD 849 – we cannot always rely on the written authorities. The inscription tells us that Alfred in his lifetime did a great deal more than that. This great King of Wessex, who ruled an area which comprised a large portion of southern England, is known to most people today as a man who built the British navy and, perhaps, burnt cakes. Alfred’s name will live as long as mankind shall respect the past.

The land ravaged by a fearful enemy from which he delivered it.

The laws powerless and he gave them force. On the statue of Alfred the Great at Wantage in Berkshire is this inscription:Īlfred found learning dead and he restored it. King Alfred famously burned the cakes – or did he? Picture by Peter Jackson

Asser king alfred