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Alderman Æthelwulf was killed, and the Danes remained masters of the field. And about four days from that time King Æthered and his brother Alfred fought with all the army at Æces-dun,[1] and the Danes were overcome; they had two heathen Kings Bagsac and Healfden, and many Earls, and they were in two divisions, the Kings Bagsæc and Healfden commanded the one, and the Earls headed the other. King Æthered fought with the division under the Kings and Bagsæc was slain, and his brother Alfred with that of the Earls, and Earl Sidroc[2] the elder, and Earl Sidroc the younger, and Earl Osbearn, and Earl Fræna, and Earl Hareld were killed; and then both divisions fled, and many thousands were slain, and they continued fighting until night. And in about a fortnight King Æthered and his brother Alfred fought with the army at Basing, and there the Danes gained the victory. And about two months afterwards King Æthered and his brother Alfred fought at Mere-tun,[3] with
- ↑ Supposed to be Aston Tyrrell, Berkshire; or Ashendon, Buckinghamshire.
- ↑ Omitted in the Cotton MS. the elder Sidrac having been killed before.
- ↑ Turner supposes this to be Morton, Berkshire, "because the Chronicle of Mailros, p. 144, places the battle at Reading, and according to the map Morton Hundred joins Reading, and contains both North Morton and South Morton."—Hist. Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. p. 240.
