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 which he introduced. But it stands to his credit that he appreciated the value of offensive defence, and was one of the first Englishmen to employ it.

Under Edward the Elder (901-925), the son and successor of Alfred, but two notable naval events took place, although during most of the reign the Danes were troublesome, both on the coasts and inland. In 904, Ethelwald, a son of Ethelred, having put forward his claim to the crown, obtained Danish assistance from Northumbria, and, with as many ships as he was able to collect, effected a descent in Essex, subdued it and persuaded the East Anglian Danes to invade Mercia; but he was killed in a skirmish in the course of the following year. In 915 or, according to others, in 918, a large piratical fleet from Brittany fell upon the coasts of Wales and carried off the Bishop of Llandaff, who was subsequently ransomed by Edward for forty pounds.

Athelstan (925-941), Edward's son, took more interest than most of his predecessors in foreign politics, and had a share in the restoration of Louis d'Outremer, son of Charles the Simple, to the throne of France. In 933 he invaded Scotland, both by sea and land; but his great exploit was the crushing, in 937, of the formidable alliance arrayed against him by Constantine, King of Scots, Olaf (or Anlaff) son of Guthfrith, Danish king of Northumbria, Olaf (or Anlaff), Cuaran, the Danish king of Dublin, and several British princes, including Owen of Cumberland. This combination was arranged in retaliation for Athelstan's action against Scotland, and especially for the manner in which his fleet had ravaged the coasts of Caithness. The campaign, which seems to have been to a considerable extent a naval one, was decided by the victory of Brunanburh, where Athelstan routed all his opponents. A translation of the Saxon war song, composed in honour of the event, will be found in Freeman's 'Old-English History.'

The site of Brunanburh is undetermined. Some place it in the Lothians, some in Northumberland, some in Yorkshire and others at Brumby, in Lincolnshire. Simeon of Durham makes Olaf Guthfrithsson's fleet, without the fleets of his allies, to have consisted, on the occasion of this descent, of no fewer than 615 vessels; so that Athelstan's power must have been, indeed, enormous.