At one time the Danes drove King Alfred from his kingdom, and he had to lie hidden for a long time on a little island in a river.One day, all who were on the island, except the king and the queen and one servant, went out to fish.  It was a very lonely place, and noe one could get to it except by boat.  About noon a ragged beggar came to the king's door, and asked for food.The king called the servant, and asked, "How much food have we in the house?""My lord," said the servant, "we have only...

Many years ago there lived in England a wise and good king whose name was Alfred.  No other man ever did so much for his country as he; and people now, all over the world, speak of him as Alfred the Great.In those days a king did not have a very easy life.  There was war almost all the time, and no one else could lead his army into battle so well as he.  And so, between ruling and fighting, he had a busy time of it indeed.A fierce, rude people, called the Danes, had come from over the sea,...

No other ruler in England's long and varied history has been honoured with the title the Great. Alfred once declared it his intention "To live worthily as long as I live and after my life to leave to them that should come after, my memory in good works." Few of our monarchs have succeeded as spectacularly in their aims as he did.Early LifeAlfred (Old English-Aelfred) was the fifth and youngest son of Ethelwulf of Wessex and his Jutish first wife, Osburh. He was born at Wantage between 847 and...

ALFRED 'THE GREAT' (r. 871-899)Born at Wantage, Berkshire, in 849, Alfred was the fifth son of Aethelwulf, king of the West Saxons. At their father's behest and by mutual agreement, Alfred's elder brothers succeeded to the kingship in turn, rather than endanger the kingdom by passing it to under-age children at a time when the country was threatened by worsening Viking raids from Denmark.Since the 790s, the Vikings had been using fast mobile armies, numbering thousands of men embarked in...

HISTORIC ROYAL SPEECHES AND WRITINGSThe British Monarchy web site [http://www.royal.gov.uk]ALFRED ‘THE GREAT’ (r. 871-899)At the age of 38, Alfred learnt to read and write in Latin as well asEnglish. This passage is prompted by his translation in the 890s of 'DeConsolatione Philosophiae' (Consolations of Philosophy) by the Romanphilosopher Boethius. (Bracketed passages are Boethius' words, therest are Alfred's own.)"[You know that I never greatly delighted in covetousness and the possessionof...