A Dream of England (or The Chronicles of Britannia)

A dream of England, beauteous fair, of all those who lived and died there

Part the Ninth:

The revenge of the Danes and the courage of Edmund Ironside

The truth of Gunhilda’s words soon came to be

as the might of all Denmark set sail out to sea.

Over the blue waves came these fierce sea-kings
in ships carved and painted with wondrous things:
with birds, beasts and dragons and serpents regaled,
glittering golden prows and purple sails,
no storm stayed their way; as they grew ever near
the people’s hearts all to a man filled with fear.
And not without reason for soon the blood flowed
and, in their, wake, death and destruction followed.
Ethelred, coward and weak to the core,
fled with his family to France’s shore
where the Duke of Normandy reigned there as king
and to his wife, Emma, was father and kin.
In Norman courts Ethelred took delight
and he soon forgot his country’s dread plight.
Now Sweyn, king of Denmark, had conquered England
but never as England’s king was he to stand
for he died suddenly and Canute, his son,
got all of the spoil that his father had won.
But the people harked back to Alfred’s throne,
for Englishmen all want a king of their own;
so messages to Ethelred were sent through
saying, ‘rule us better and we’ll fight for you’.
Ethelred returned but he had not changed,
the people were willing but all was in vain;
the soldiers soon lost heart, all hope now seemed gone,
but help was to come through Ethelred’s brave son.
Edmund for his courage was named “Ironside”,
he inherited none of his father’s weak side,
and soon around him the armies rallied round
but the nobles, foolishly, Canute they had crowned
saying, ‘against the Danes there’s no way we can win’
but the armies of England refused to give in:
Edmund they crowned king when Ethelred died,
now England had two kings and one great divide.
The new English king was a brave and wise one
and five battles under him were fought and won.
With Ethelred gone, now under Edmund’s reign,
the English grew strong and their courage regained.
Battle after battle was now being won
but Edmund’s heart was becoming a sad one:
he loved his country and his people dear
but the horror of war was lasting many years;
although a warrior, deep down inside,
he longed for peace so no more people died.
He saw the sun shine on dead fields and burned homes
whilst in his tent on the battlefield alone,
it was then that a thought came into his head
and he sent a message to king Canute which read:
“I, Edmund Ironside, king of England,
to single combat I challenge you and
the winner will rightly then rule everything,
the loser be buried as befits a king.”
Canute, when he heard this, he thought for a while
but then he agreed to this one-on-one trial.
Arrayed in their amour with sword, shield and spear,
the two kings marched out, their armies watched in fear.
The battle was joined, first with spear and with horse,
then down on the ground with their shields and their swords;
both kings were strong but king Edmund was taller
and Canute felt himself beginning to falter;
in a loud voice he cried, “Why should this be?
Two kings should be brothers and not enemies,
let us agree that this fighting shall cease
and divide the kingdom and live then in peace.”
Edmund dropped his sword and held out his hand,
"As kings and brothers we two shall rule this land.”
And so it was England divided again.
the south to the English, the north to the Dane;
there was peace in the land but not for so long
for in just seven months king Edmund was gone.
He died as he lived as a brave and wise king,
but his death meant England united again
for, when the kings fought, a deal they agreed
that, whoever lived longest, the one king would be.

TO BE CONTINUED…

NEXT ON “A DREAM OF ENGLAND”:

The reign of Canute and the last Danish kings