Uhtred heard of this rapid advance, he turned back from Mercia to repeat the submission which he had formerly made to Svein. Knut, however, instigated by Eadric, connived at his murder by some private enemies, and appointed his own brother-in-law Eric, who had been ruler of part of Norway, to be jarl of Yorkshire in his place. By April the position of affairs was almost the same as it had been before Svein's death. Thanks to Eadric's treachery, all England save East Anglia and the districts immediately round London were in the hands of the invaders. It would seem also that Thorkil had gone over to his countrymen, and so Edmund and Ulfkytel were the only important leaders with whom Knut had still to reckon. It was at this critical juncture that Aethelred died, and Englishmen had to decide whether they would abandon the struggle or choose Edmund as their king in the hope that he might prove a second Alfred and retrieve the national fortunes even at the eleventh hour.
The Londoners to their credit decided for Edmund; and soon the courage of many parts of England began to revive, for Edmund at once shewed his countrymen that he meant to take the offensive. For this purpose he realised that he could not do better than begin where Alfred had set the example. He therefore hurried down to Somerset, leaving London to stand a siege at the hands of the fleet which Knut had brought round from Southampton to Greenwich. His appearance in the west soon brought men to his standard, and in a week or two he was strong enough to advance eastwards to Sherston, near Malmesbury, and attack Thorkil and Eadric, who had been detached by Knut to intercept him. The fight proved indecisive, but Edmund must have had the advantage, as the Danes retreated on London, and left him free to march into the Chiltern country and raise larger forces. With these he relieved London and, after forcing a passage over the Thames at Brentford, had the satisfaction of seeing the Danish fleet retire to the Orwell in search of supplies. Their land-forces meanwhile went into Kent; but again Edmund followed, and having defeated them at Otford drove them into Sheppey and thence into Essex. This series of successes seemed to shew that the luck was turning and led Eadric to pretend at any rate that he wished to change sides. Unluckily Edmund believed him, and allowed him to join his army with a body of men from Herefordshire. The two then moved together into Essex and threw their forces on the Danes at Ashington, near Shoebury. By this time Edmund had far the larger and more confident army, and should have won again; but in the middle of the fight Eadric played the traitor once more and gave Knut a hard-won victory, the list of the slain including the gallant old Ulfkytel of East Anglia and many of the leading men of Eastern Mercia. So costly a defeat forced Edmund once more to fall back westwards. He was, however, by no means beaten, and Knut was by this time convinced that he had better come to terms with him. A meeting was accordingly proposed between the two young kings. This took place under Eadric's auspices at Olney in Gloucestershire, and there it was
