The British nation a history / by George MWrong . Danish, or Vikino, J5oat. practice was to seize the available horses, so as to be ableto move rapidly and to retire quickly. At first they weremere robbers and destroyers, who burned towns and vil-lages and desolated large areas; but they were shrewdenough to see that England was a better country thantheir own, and in time they resolved to conquer and tohold it. The English were quarrelling among , King of Mercia, who died in 706, tried to reach afinal division of England into three kingdoms—Xorthum-bria in the north, Mercia in t
The British nation a history / by George MWrong . Danish, or Vikino, J5oat. practice was to seize the available horses, so as to be ableto move rapidly and to retire quickly. At first they weremere robbers and destroyers, who burned towns and vil-lages and desolated large areas; but they were shrewdenough to see that England was a better country thantheir own, and in time they resolved to conquer and tohold it. The English were quarrelling among , King of Mercia, who died in 706, tried to reach afinal division of England into three kingdoms—Xorthum-bria in the north, Mercia in the midlands, and AVessex inthe south and west. For a time it seemed as if thisarrangement would endure, but Xorthumbria was alreadyweak, and Wessex, proving stronger tlian the others, wasable under Egbert to humble Mercia in 829, and to takethe first place. Her remoteness made her less subject tc. FROM THE ENGLISH TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST 41 Al&eds charac-ter and work inresisting theDanes, 871-901. Danish attacks, and she was also strong in an able line ofkings, the greatest of whom is Alfred. The political history of England before Alfreds timeis bewildering in changes of little moment to later ages;with Alfred come simpler but graver prob-lems. He disputed the Danes supremacyupon the sea by building boats to attackthem, and his land forces he also reorganizedso as to check attack more effectively. Thelaw was that all freemen must, at the kings call, serve inthe national host (the fyrd), and aid, as required, in makingfortifications, roads, and bridges. But such levies weresure to be raw and unskilful, and Alfred adopted the planof calling out only half of the fightingmen at a time, but of keeping them longenough for thorough training, while theother half remained at home to sow andreap. He placed in the menaced dis-tricts garrisons, protected by stockadesand even by stone w
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