How Alfred the Great saved the Anglo-Saxons from the Vikings

Welcome to the History Extra podcast. It's the third part today of our Sunday series in which Dr. Eleanor Barraclough and James Osborne discuss the Viking Great Heathen Army, and we rejoined the story today as things look bleak for Alfred, but his fortunes were soon to experience a dramatic reversal. In this episode, you'll hear James and Eleanor make mention of the Norns.

Now the Norns are three female figures from Norse mythology who were believed to shape the destinies of men and gods alike, and they were usually depicted as weaving the threads of fate across past, present and future. So with that in our minds, it's on with today's episode. As the Viking great heathen army stormed past the borders of Wessex, its conquest of Anglo-Saxon England looked nearly complete. But Alfred had other ideas. I'm James Osborne, and in this third episode of our four-part series on the Viking invasion of Anglo-Saxon England in the later half of the 9th century, I'm joined by Dr.

Eleanor Baraclough to discuss Alfred the Great's ascent to victory at the Battle of Eddington. Eleanor, we ended the previous episode by talking about Guthrum's surprise attack against Alfred at Chippenham in the year 870. eight and Alfred's flight. Why is this such an important moment? This is the point, I think, and again, not wishing to be sort of too hyperbolic about it, but if Anglo Saxon England were going to collapse, I think this is the point where you'd almost expect that to be the narrative.

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