The ‘Battle of Brunanburh’ of 937 is also known as the ‘Battle of the five armies’

This epic event marks the ‘Coming of the English’ or ‘Adventus Saxonum. The battle lead to the formation of England, a battle so mighty that it inspired Tolkeins Lord of The Rings. Indeed the Chronicles describe Æthelstan as the ‘ring-giver’.

A Western alliance of Norse Irish and Welsh under Olaf Guthfrithson , (the king of Dublin who’s father Guthfrith had lost Northumbria a decade before) teamed up with Brytons, Picts, Strathclyders (under Owen) and Scots (under Constantine, whose territory had been ravaged by Æthelstan in 934)

The choice of Bromborugh for the battle is not surprising. An exercise amassing such forces would have required planning on both sides.

For the Anglo Saxons, this was an area which had been subject to consolidation and fortification since the restoration of Chester 20 years prior. Chester had been under increasing pressure from the burgeoning Norse population of the Wirral. This was the northern extent of the English Anglo-Saxon heartland. While Northumbria was ‘taken’, but not secured, (as its rapid reversion to Olaf two years later demonstrates).  Forces were gathered from far and wide; for example the town of Malmesbury in Wiltshire (200 miles south) was well rewarded for its contribution to Æthelstan’s victory.

For the Norse-Celtic alliance, the Wirral offered a natural bridgehead, surrounded by water, with safe anchorage in the Dee estuary and a safe area settled by Norse refugees from Dublin some 35 years before. Furthermore this was the only point where direct penetration into the English heartland could be achieved with a navel force, and Brunanburh is within a days march from the anchorage on the Dee.

The link between the placename Bromborough (and its older spellings) with Brunanburh is obvious (thought to mean Bruna’s burh or ‘fort’, though ‘Bruna’ is the old spelling for ‘brown’, it may relate to a description of the heathland which existed there at the time). Persuasive evidence for Bromborough being the site of the battle is provided by Professor Stephen Harding of Nottingham University. He considers the other placename mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon chronicles ‘Dinges mere’, and shows that ‘Ding’ and ‘Thing’ were alternative pronunciations of Norse for ‘place where the assembly meets’. The word ‘mere’ is widely used where there are lakes, pools or estuaries - local examples include Tran mere and Raby mere (‘Lake on the border’). The elision of Thingwall and mere into ‘Dinges mere’ by the Anglo-Saxon writer to describe the stretch of the Dee estuary, on the Wirral side by Thingwall is a convincing derivation.

Other locations have been suggested, however the geography and topology of the Bromborough area at the time best match the environment recorded at the time. Furthermore the notion that an estimated 60,000 in 600 boats sailed from locations like Dublin around the North of Scotland to a peripheral location on the East of England a long distance from the Anglo-Saxon heartland would seem incredible.

The Irish-Norse Gal Gaedil of the Wirral may have been seen as a ‘neutral’ area by all parties, having fought for Æthelflæd in Chester, but having closer blood ties to the Norse.

On one side is an alliance of Norse-Irish, Dane, Brytonic and Northumbrian forces with interests directly in the area; led by a disinherited Northumbrian king with a base in Dublin, and Scottish Kings under siege.

On the other is the recently restored strategic stronghold of Chester defended by the new union of England’s two most powerful kingdoms – Saxon Wessex and Anglican Mercia, with foreign help from Egil Skallagrimsson, one of Iceland most notorious Vikings.

The stage is set, the players ready and a Wirral whirlwind casts a crucible through which a country is forged.

Æthelstan and his brother Edmund win a victory at Brunanburh against Constantine of Scotland and Olaf. They slay five young kings and seven of Olaf's earls, and a numberless host of seamen and Scots. Olaf is driven back to Dublin, and Constantine also flees to back to Scotland.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicles:

‘The field flowed with the blood of warriors,
From dawn, as glorious sun glided over earth,
Lamp of the Lord everlasting
Till that noble creation drew to dusk’ ..

‘Never was there more slaughter on this island,
Never hitherto so many slain by the sword,
Never, say the sages of our history books,
since those glorious warriors Angles and Saxons
came from the East, seeking Britain over broad seas
conquering the Welsh, and seizing this land’.

The Annals of Ulster reports:

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, Amlaíb (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.

Eriks sagas

The Icelandic chronicles written later offer a little background into Brunanburh,though much of which is not corroborated and Olaf of Dublin is ascribed to Scotland
Egil and his brother cut short a Viking expedition to join forces with Æthelstan as mercenaries. King Olaf ‘of Scotland’ had just managed to wrestle Northumbria from Æthelstan’s two appointed earls. Olaf’s success impressed the Welsh /(Briton) kings who had lost their domains to Æthelstan’s grandfather Alfred the Great, so they join forces with him. Æthelstan fearing the threat posed by Olaf and his allies headed south to engage his brother Edmund and to muster forces to defend north Mercia, meanwhile he appointed Erik and his brother’s mercenaries to help ‘hold the fort’ for him.
There followed a period of stalling tactics and subterfuge which bought just enough time for Æthelstan to return with his reinforcements. A little more detail is here on p71.

Although details of the battle are recorded in fragmentary English and Irish chronicles, it is seen by many as the most significant spark igniting a new nation which was subsequently to preserve its own language and culture through further centuries of Norse onslaught and occupation from 1066.

The Battle is believed to have taken place on Brackenwood Golf course. I found be-byrigan / be-byrian is Old English for ‘burial of the dead’, or ‘to cover with a mound’. This derivation might seem to suggest the battle occurred in neighbouring Bebbington or Spital (along Dibbensdale brook) rather than on the golf course, though may well be coincidental as utility groundworks in any built up area should have uncovered archaeological evidence.

Following the Battle, new law codes strengthen Æthelstan’s control over his large kingdom. The weight of silver in currency is regulated to prevent fraudsters. Trading is largely confined to the burhs, encouraging town life. Areas of the Danelaw (North East of Wattling St) were consolidated into shires.

Overseas, Æthelstan builds alliances by marrying off four of his half-sisters to various rulers in western Europe. His Royal Court is well respected and often visited by European kings.

At home, Æthelstan was a collector of artworks and religious relics, which he gave away to many of his followers, and to churches in order to gain the support of the clergy.