The reign of Athelstan (924-939), ‘King of All Britain’ and grandson of Alfred the Great, secured West Saxon hegemony over Northumbria, Alba (Scotland), Strathclyde, Wales, and Cornwall. Like his grandfather, Athelstan had problems with the Vikings. Olaf Guthfrithsson and his Dublin Norse army helped fuel the greatest crisis to face the Anglo-Saxon realm since the ‘Great Heathen Armies’ wreaked havoc upon Britain and established the Danelaw over the northern English in the previous century. Even though Athelstan expelled the

Dublin Norse royal house from York with relative ease early in his reign, they returned as allies of the rebellious Scottish King Causantín mac Aed in 937 and jointly sought to destroy the power of Wessex. Their campaign ended at Brunanburh, in the epic battle of the Age. We possess few undisputedly factual details of the massive confl ict, except that the combined might of Dublin, Alba, and possibly Strathclyde fell in bloody defeat at the day’s end. Although Northumbria later regained some measure of independence with the help of willing

Scandinavian factions, it would not last. The Dublin Norse nevermore threatened Wessex as they had at Brunanburh; in fact, Brunanburh and seesawing Northumbria proved much more destructive to Dublin’s ruling houses, setting the Norse scions to war against each other at their weakest moments.

This article reviews the changing world order of 10th Century Britain and Ireland and how the dynastic struggles of Wessex, Alba, and Dublin turned into the desperate Battle of Brunanburh. Afterwards we take a look at the battle from a gaming perspective. The mighty clash between the Anglo-Saxons and the northern kingdoms at Brunanburh offers wargamers exciting reasons to bring it to the tabletop. Even while many details of the battle elude us – even its true location – its protagonists offer us a mix of late Dark Age warriors for building a truly interesting scenario encounter.

THE BATTLE OF BRUNANBURH, 937 AD

WARFARE IN THE AGE OF THE IRISH VIKINGS By Paul Leach

Never was there more slaughter on this island, never yet as many people killed before this with sword’s edge: never according to those who tell us from books, old wisemen, since from the east Angles and Saxons came up over the broad sea.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, AD 937

Below: Supported by their Caledonian allies, the Norsemen create a formidable shieldwall.

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THE AGE OF ATHELSTAN

The Norse-Scots alliance that threatened Athelstan in 937 had its roots in reactionary opportunism rather than enduring bonds of trust and friendship. When the dominant Scots and Anglo-Saxon dynasties increasingly assimilated regional kingdoms under their sway throughout the fi rst half of the 10th Century, the Dublin Norse realized they might actually have to take sides if they wished to bring Northumbria under their control. Local Saxon and Danish interests in York made things tricky from time to time, but they paled in comparison to the ambitions of the Wessex dynasty when it marshaled its military and political might.

In fact, the Vikings of Ireland and the northern kingdoms of Britain shared quite a long history of deadly antagonism. The Norse ruthlessly battered Strathclyde and Alba in the 860s/870s, even toppling Strathclyde’s capital, Dumbarton, in one of the greatest sieges of the Dark Ages. Long-lived Causantín defeated Viking inroads against Alba in 904, primarily the work of Norse exiles gathering strength in northern Britain and the Hebrides in the wake of their expulsion from Dublin in 902. He later battled Ragnall, a scion of the Dublin Norse dynasty, at Corbridge in 918. Causantín’s martial efforts, perhaps executed in accordance with a Northumbrian alliance, failed to prevent Ragnall’s ascension over York in a year’s time. Regardless of the Scots’ motives, surely a united Dublin-York sea-kingdom caused some alarm for Alba.

A strong Northumbria did not fi t into Athelstan’s plans by any means. He decisively brought the kingdom under Wessex hegemony upon the death of Ragnall’s successor, Sitriuc, in 927; he ably rebuffed Sitriuc’s kinsman Guthfrith when he arrived from Dublin in short order to assume to the York throne. Athelstan then brought Alba and Strathclyde under his rule, along with Wales and Cornwall. The sparse records for his reign indicate that he achieved the status of Britain’s overking in less than a

year of campaigning. Indeed, Athelstan and the West Saxons overshadowed the threats that the Dublin Norse and Alba presented to one another.

The loss of York reverberated in Dublin. When Guthfrith returned to Dublin he faced a nasty feud with Sitriuc’s sons over control of the capital Norse town of Ireland; an ongoing war with Viking Limerick further complicated matters. Guthfrith died in 934, unable to witness Dublin’s victory over Limerick and, more importantly, the recapture of York. His son, Olaf, would achieve these things and carry the sea-kingdom to its greatest, if ephemeral, height of power.

Irish annals offer accounts of his early exploits, but even then we still have only a handful of notes for his whole career. He probably led the Waterford Vikings in an attack against Kildare in 928 and he certainly receives credit for plundering Armagh and burial chambers in Meath in the early 930s. Olaf Guthfrithsson ended the war with Limerick with one recorded stroke in 937; he captured its king, Olaf ‘Scabbyhead’ and destroyed his ships on Lough Ree in western Ireland. The

aftermath of this victory eased tensions somewhat between the houses of Guthfrith and Sitriuc, giving Sitriuc’s sons dominion over Limerick and Guthfrith’s Dublin. The great victory translated into political capital and provided Olaf with an inertial boost to his overseas ambitions. He wasted no time gathering a large fl eet destined for Britain, where the clouds of war had brewed since his father died three years earlier.

OLAF GUTHFRITHSSON IN IRELAND

Above: A Saxon command group from the army of Athelstan.

WIRRAL

• York

• Manchester

• Bromborough

STRATHCLYDE

CUMBRIA

DA

RK

AG

ES4

10 -

10

66

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BRUNANBURH

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, Olaf, 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.

~Annals of Ulster, AD 937

Olaf and Causantín might have conceived their alliance as late as 937, but it may have very well started no later than Athelstan’s punitive campaign against Alba in 934. The Wessex king brought land and sea force to bear upon the resistant Scots that year, but did little more than that. Cowed or not, the Scots sought retribution in 937. Olaf brought his army to Causantín’s side late in the year, upon the successful conclusion of Dublin’s war with the Limerick Vikings; together they planned to break Athelstan’s grip on Britain.

For all the proportion and import the legendary Battle of Brunanburh claims, we actually possess few details of the event or the campaign leading up to it. Furthermore, few interpretations of those details remain unchallenged. A lengthy poem, the sole entry for 937 AD in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, serves as our primary source for the battle. The Annals of Ulster agree with the Chronicle’s ultimate summation: Athelstan and the Saxons won victory over Olaf and the Norse at a great cost in lives; the Norse suffered worse, but Olaf escaped to Dublin. We should now take a look at

what the Chronicle’s battle poem can possibly advise us regarding the battle on its own.

The poem praises Athelstan and his half-brother Edmund for defending ‘their land in battle’, which could imply that the battle took place on undisputed Saxon territory, as opposed to Northumbrian or Scottish. The Chronicle congratulates the Mercians for bravely fi ghting the Norse, which suggests they formed up opposite the Dublin expedition while the West Saxons deployed against the Scots. It advises us that the battle lasted all day, but in the end the Norse and Scots routed and suffered at the hands of West Saxon troops (generally interpreted as cavalry formations). The Chronicle states that ‘fi ve young kings’ and ‘seven of Anlaf’s [Olaf’s] earls’ died in the fi ghting, right along with ‘countless’ others who fed

the carrion beasts after the battle’s end. The Norse departed by ship from a place called Dinges Mere for Dublin while Causantín and the Scots presumably retreated by land.

If we believe any of the battle details noted in the medieval Scandinavian Egil’s Saga, then we can add woods and a river to the armies’ fl anks and burgs, fortifi ed hill settlements, on either end. The gap between forest and river narrowed at the Saxons’ hill. Of course, Viking characters play major roles in both armies, with Egil pretty much winning the day for Athelstan. Well, we certainly cannot rule out Viking mercenaries in the Saxon armies, regardless of whatever else we make of this tale. Outside of giving us the kind of details we crave, we have no way of knowing if Egil’s Saga contains any truth.

Below: A Caledonian leader stands between the two battle lines, taunting Egil and his men.

Above: Athelstan (mounted) leads his Saxons to drive out the Guthfrithsson’s army

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Bromborough and the Wirral region of western England have recently climbed to the top of most likely locales for the battle. No conclusive proof has surfaced yet, though, and southern Scotland, Northumbria, the Midlands, and even Devon have their believers. Besides the similarity in names, Bromborough offers good reason for us to consider it. The Dublin Norse had affi liations in and around Cheshire, and a friendly landing could not have hurt. It would have been a good meeting place for the northern armies – the Scots would not need to divide forage and plunder with the Norsemen on their march south; the combined forces would join dangerously close to the Mercian heartland; and Athelstan’s Welsh foes could join the Scots and Norse with little hindrance. If Athelstan wanted to take the battle to his foes before events got away from him, a battle in Wirral would have been ideal.

AFTERMATH

Athelstan’s victory at Brunanburh did not prevent Olaf Guthfrithsson’s return to York. The defeated Dublin dynast regained control of Northumbria shortly after Athelstan’s death in 939 and expanded the kingdom’s boundaries southward to Watling Street. York passed to his cousin, Olaf ‘Cuaran’ Sitriucsson, upon his death in 941, but Dublin Norse rule lacked long-term stability and eventually dissipated all together in the next decade. A resurgent Wessex royal house and factional politics fatally undermined Cuaran’s power in Northumbria. His rule could not withstand the (sometimes bloody) intrigues of Guthfrithsson’s brothers, the strong Danish leader Eric Bloodaxe, and York’s archbishop Wulfstan - a keen political player always ready to leverage as much independence for Northumbria as possible. When Northumbria submitted to the English kings in 955, the Norse kings of Dublin returned no more.

Did the Battle of Brunanburh make a signifi cant impact on England’s political landscape in light of Olaf Guthfrithsson’s return after Athelstan’s death? If nothing else, we might speculate what the lost manpower might have afforded the Norse dynasts; an upper hand in military strength could have squelched their internal squabbles and left them in better position to deal with Wulfstan and Eric Bloodaxe in Northumbria and rival Irish kingdoms at home. If Wessex had lost severely at Brunanburh, who knows what Olaf Guthfrithsson and his successors might have achieved? As it turned out, the Dublin dynasty’s lack of unifi ed power after Brunanburh increasingly diminished its chances to maintain its sovereignty in Ireland, let alone England.

SOURCES

Peter Marren, Battles of the Dark Ages, Pen & Sword Military 2006

David Smurthwaite, The Complete Guide to the Battlefi elds of Britain, Penguin 1984

Michael Wood, In Search of the Dark Ages, Facts on File Publications 1987

Clare Downham, Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to AD 1014, Dunedin Academic Press 2007

Above: Egil’s men advance, backed by Saxon Ceorls.

Above: The Mercian Saxons formed Athelstan’s left fl ank.

Left: It is believed that the men of Causantín’s Scottish army would have been armed something like this.

Thanks must go to Gripping Beast for the use of their great collection of miniatures!

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WARGAMING BRUNANBURHWe lack trustworthy details for the greatest battle in Dark Age Britain, but that does not mean we cannot explore the heart of the confl ict and bring it to the gaming table: the mighty armies themselves. No matter what kind of decisions we make in regards to terrain selection, the composition and disposition of the armed hosts already give us interesting ground for building and fi elding them in miniature. The most important consideration involves dividing each army into two commands or actually deploying two separate armies for each side. The scenario itself should reward aggressive behavior and play the maximum number of turns allowed. Army and Scenario Guidelines have been provided for fi ve different rulesets

Right: Perhaps the pivotal warrior on the battlefi eld, Egil is touted as having carried the day for Athelstan.

ARMATI

Armati offers the benefi t of playing the game as small or as large as desired. Aggressive playing increases an army’s overall durability for the long slugfest.

ARMY GUIDELINES

Players use the Viking list for the Northern Kingdoms army. Divide each army into two relatively equal halves, both in quality and numbers, and assign a General to each command.

• Do not brigade units from different commands at any time.

• Generals only add bonuses to units in their own commands.

SCENARIO GUIDELINES

The fi rst army to destroy three enemy units increases its Break Point by two. The game lasts 15 turns.

DE BELLIS ANTIQUITATUS

DBA’s “pushback” rules allow us the chance to reward aggressive play in an immediate tactical sense without stretching the game’s simplicity out of balance and to literally fi eld four armies without too much expense or effort.

ARMY GUIDELINES

Players fi eld Viking and Pre-Feudal Scots armies against two Anglo-Saxon armies. You may treat the armies as combined or not in regards to losses.

SCENARIO GUIDELINES

A stand may ignore pushback results (but not destruction) on a turn it moves/charges into contact with the enemy.

FIELD OF GLORY

Field of Glory allows players to truly fi eld the Northern Kingdom army as an alliance. Like Armati, FOG’s mechanics allow us to reward an army’s overall durability for taking the offensive.

ARMY GUIDELINES

Players may create the Northern Kingdom army as either a Viking army with Scots allies, or a Scots army with Viking allies. The allied contingent should cost a signifi cant portion of points and form a sizeable command.

SCENARIO GUIDELINES

The fi rst army to destroy, break, or rout three enemy battle groups off the table may ignore two attrition points.

units increases its Break Point by two. The game lasts 15 turns. Below: The joint Hiberno-Norse command survey the unfolding battle from their hilltop.

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THE BATTLEFIELDPlayers may use the game system’s recommended tabletop size if splitting normal-sized armies into multiple commands. Otherwise, they should increase the table area as needed, such as 3' x 2' for DBA and 8' x 4' for WAB. As you can see below, our 6' x 4' table is quite crowded for a 28mm game). If players fi nd merit in the battlefi eld described in Egil’s Saga, then place woods along one fl anking table edge and a river on the other; if ruling the river impassable, then simply make the assumption it fl ows just off-table or place some marshy terrain in its place. Place an encamped or fortifi ed hill within each army’s deployment area if so desired.

Deploy the Mercians across from the Norse, and the West Saxons across from the Scots. If playing rulesets which allow light infantry in the Mercians and Hiberno-Norse armies, consider deploying the matched pair near the wooded table edge.

WARHAMMER ANCIENT BATTLES

WAB’s Shieldwall supplement offers all the army lists anyone needs to play the scenario, and even the Wessex and Mercian armies have different fl avors.

ARMY GUIDELINES

Wessex and Mercian armies battle the Caledonian Scots and Hiberno-Norse. The Saxons armies may not include Huscarls; no army may purchase Stipendarii (Dogs of War). Both alliances have armies with light infantry (Mercian and Hiberno-Norse) and mounted (Wessex and Scots) capabilities.

Except for Panic checks for seeing allies routed or destroyed, treat all armies as separate entities.

SCENARIO GUIDELINES

A unit receives a –1 bonus when making Leadership checks on any turn it successfully charges.

WARMASTER ANCIENTS

Warmaster Ancients makes a good choice for Brunanburh because the game’s scale of confl ict resonates with the size of the great battle. It also allows each player to fi eld two armies apiece, but for the price of one. A quick review of the near-universal troop types won’t leave the Northern Kingdom players feeling cheated for relying on the Norse list alone, yet each army command has a special unit to differentiate it from its ally and foes.

ARMY GUIDELINES

Deploy two opposing armies, Norse and Anglo-Saxon, for the Northern Kingdoms Alliance and the Wessex/Mercian

armies, respectively. Create two separate commands (see sample Orders of Battle below) for each army. Use the following rules to force them to behave separately.

• Do not brigade units from different commands at any time.

• Secondary leaders may only issue orders to units in their own commands.

• Generals may still issue orders to any unit in the army.

SCENARIO GUIDELINES

The fi rst army to destroy four enemy units increases the Command scores of its leaders by one.

The scenario lasts eight turns.

. net

This month’s bonus web material contains a copy of the Poem of

Brunanburh as well as Orders of Battle for both Warhammer Ancient Battles

and Warmaster Ancients.

Above: Typical Saxons from the Wessex army.

WEST SAXONS

SAXONCOMMAND

MERCIANS

SCOTS

DUBLIN/HIBERNO-NORSE

NORSE COMMAND

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