Ethelred the Pious

Ethelred the Pious
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Category - False Dmitri -

One morning in Berkshire...

The urgent hoofbeats broke the chilly mid-morning quiet of the little village. As they poked their heads out into the frosty air, housewives and shopkeepers saw the backs of three great war-horses. Riding in the middle had to be the prince-- brother of their king, who had ridden into town just after dawn. The prince rode with a desperate speed as the warriors on his left and right struggled to keep up.

The prince reared to a halt in front of the little church. Without waiting for his companions, he jumped to the ground, his steps muffled in the snow, his mail and his spurs jingling as he lightly ran to the door and, letting out a shout, threw it open.

"Ethelred!"

The priest was standing at the front of the church. Suddenly interrupted in mid-incantation, his face showed a mixture of surprise and confusion. But the kneeling royal figure at the clergyman's feet looked over his shoulder and gave his brother a look of pure irritation.

"Alfred! What are you doing here? How dare you disturb us during the Sacrament?"

"Ethelred-- brother-- my lord..." though beside himself with impatience, Alfred took a moment to catch his breath. "The Danes have been moving into position all morning. They seized the high downs while we stood watching. We cannot let them also seize the initiative. If we wait any longer we will have to withdraw. We'll lose the whole shire."

"Alfred, why in God's name do you think I am here? Do you really expect to hold the field without God's blessing? Get back to the men and keep them in order until I arrive."

Alfred strode across the nave, his youth and adrenaline causing him not to notice his own impertinence. "But the men also see that the battle must soon be joined. And they need their king to lead them. Already the Danes are firing their arrows to provoke us."

Ethelred now stood, his own impatience rising to the level of his brother's. "God comes first," he declared. "When I meet the heathens in combat, I shall face them with a clean conscience. Now you are disrupting us in this sacred place. Either get yourself to the men, or else join me in confession. I daresay you could stand to be shriven as well as I, Alfred."

* * *

"At last Alfred, seeing the heathen had come quickly on to the field and were ready for battle... could bear the attacks of the enemy no longer, and he had to choose between withdrawing altogether or beginning battle wihtout waiting for his brother." -- Hodgkin, quoted in Churchill, 105

The Battle of Ashdown

In real life, Alfred made the fateful decision to lead the troops of Wessex into battle himself, even though he was only 21 and untested in war, and his brother the king remained at his devotions. His bold action halted the Viking advance and gave Wessex time to regroup. Alfred spent his life fighting the Danes and is remembered as a hero of the English people. And Ashdown in 871 was where his extraordinary career began.

But what if Alfred had listened to timid common sense? Suppose he had not made the rash decision to lead an army without its king, having never fought a battle in his life. In Churchill's words, "If the West Saxons had been beaten all England would have sunk into heathen anarchy. Since they were victorious the hope still burned for a civilized Christian existence in this Island... Alfred had made the Saxons feel confidence in themselves again. They could hold their own in open fight. The story of this conflict at Ashdown was for generations a treasured memory of the Saxon writers."

In this timeline, Alfred waited for his pious elder brother. While he waited, the Danes moved the entirety of their army to a more advantagious position. When Ethelred arrived to take command of his men, the attack was already underway. The Saxons were routed, and the main body of the fyrd scattered. It did not take long for the Danes to drive Ethelred's forces out of Wessex entirely.

Ethelred the Pious-- remembered as the last Saxon king of England-- scored some surprising victories over the next few months and years, but could not stop the inevitable Danish advance. He died valiantly in 873 at the Battle of Headcorn in Kent, regarded as the last stand of the Saxon kingdoms.

Alfred went underground, leading small bands of insurrectionists for a number of years, until he too was captured and executed by Britain's new Viking rulers in 881.

Ripple effect

The Englebrog is the flag of England today.

The Danes and Norwegians flooded England over the following years, cultivating a new Scandinavian country in the Anglo-Saxon soil. They brought their worship of Odin and Thor, their independent, landowning peasant class, and their Norse languages. A new national language emerged, Englesk.

Over the years, the impact of a pagan England made itself felt as Norway, Iceland, and the rest of Scandinavia only sluggishly adopted the Christian faith. They continued their plundering lifestyle for a very long time, establishing new Viking states in France, Spain, and, later, Vinland.

Eventually, French knights crusaded against England. The rulers converted; many fled to the north and west, to the fertile pagan lands in Vinland. Vinland and its surroundings became a new sphere for Scandinavian trade and settlement.

A great cultural exchange ensued between the Norse and the peoples of northeastern America. The introduction of European livestock and shipbuilding transformed the Mississippian civilizations of medieval North America, while American squash, beans, and corn spread in Europe and the Mediterranean. By 1400 or so, the Indians of the northeast were quite Scandinavian, and the Scandinavians of the region quite Indian.

This timeline is and remains a work in progress. My goal is to have it flow from the single POD; all other changes are a result of "butterflies" in a way that is, I hope, both plausible and entertaining. If you are curious about it, don't hesitate to ask. Discussion of this timeline is also taking place at AH.com.

Skol! --Ben.