Alfred defeats Guthrum at Edington and the Danelaw takes shape
A surprise Christmas attack, a fugitive king, and a treaty that splits England
Quick facts
- Battle
- Edington, May 878
- Defeated leader
- Guthrum
- Condition of peace
- Guthrum's baptism, Alfred as godfather
- Result
- Boundary later known as the Danelaw
What happened
In early January 878 the Viking leader Guthrum launched a surprise attack on Chippenham during the Christmas season, catching King Alfred of Wessex unprepared and forcing him into hiding in the marshes around Athelney. Alfred built a fort at Athelney, rallied a new force, and defeated Guthrum decisively at the Battle of Edington in May 878. Under the peace that followed, Guthrum and thirty of his chief men accepted baptism, with Alfred standing as Guthrum's godfather, and the Vikings withdrew from Wessex. A subsequent treaty between Alfred and Guthrum fixed a boundary between Wessex and the Viking-ruled territory to its north and east, a region later called the Danelaw.
Why it matters
Edington kept Wessex, the last independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom, from falling to the Great Heathen Army, and the treaty that followed created a lasting internal border inside England between Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian law and settlement. That division shaped English place names, law, and politics for generations after the Vikings themselves stopped ruling there.
How we know
Asser's contemporary biography of Alfred and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle both describe the Chippenham attack and Edington; the text of the Alfred-Guthrum treaty itself survives and defines the Danelaw boundary in its own words.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Alfred the Great · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Alfred the Great · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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