Editing Alfred the Great (section)

=== Early struggles ===
In April 871, King Æthelred died and Alfred acceded to the throne of Wessex and the burden of its defence, even though Æthelred left two under-age sons, [[Æthelhelm]] and [[Æthelwold of Wessex|Æthelwold]]. This was in accordance with the agreement that Æthelred and Alfred had made earlier that year in an assembly at an unidentified place called Swinbeorg. The brothers had agreed that whichever of them outlived the other would inherit the personal property that King Æthelwulf had left jointly to his sons in his will. The deceased's sons would receive only whatever property and riches their father had settled upon them and whatever additional lands their uncle had acquired. The unstated premise was that the surviving brother would be king. Given the Danish invasion and the youth of his nephews, Alfred's accession probably went uncontested.{{Sfn|Abels|1998|p=135}}

While he was busy with the burial ceremonies for his brother, the Danes defeated the Saxon army in his absence at an unnamed spot and then again in his presence at [[Wilton, Wiltshire|Wilton]] in May.{{Sfn|Plummer|1911|pp=582–584}} The defeat at Wilton smashed any remaining hope that Alfred could drive the invaders from his kingdom. Alfred was forced instead to make peace with them. Although the terms of the peace are not recorded, Bishop Asser wrote that the pagans agreed to vacate the realm and made good their promise.{{Sfn|Abels|1998|pp=140–141}}

The Viking army withdrew from Reading in the autumn of 871 to take up winter quarters in Mercian London. Although not mentioned by Asser or by the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', Alfred probably paid the Vikings silver to leave, much as the Mercians were to do in the following year.{{Sfn|Abels|1998|pp=140–141}} [[Hoard]]s dating to the Viking occupation of London in 871/872 have been excavated at [[Croydon]], [[Gravesend]] and [[Waterloo Bridge]]. These finds hint at the cost involved in making peace with the Vikings. For the next five years, the Danes occupied other parts of England.{{Sfn|Brooks|Graham-Campbell|1986|pp=91–110}}

In 876, under Guthrum, Oscetel and Anwend, the Danes slipped past the Saxon army and attacked and occupied [[Wareham, Dorset|Wareham]] in Dorset. Alfred blockaded them but was unable to take Wareham by assault. He negotiated a peace that involved an exchange of hostages and oaths, which the Danes swore on a "holy ring" associated with the worship of [[Thor]]. The Danes broke their word, and after killing all the hostages, slipped away under cover of night to [[Exeter]] in Devon.{{Sfn|Abels|1998|pp=148–50}}

Alfred blockaded the Viking ships in Devon, and with a relief fleet having been scattered by a storm, the Danes were forced to submit. The Danes withdrew to Mercia. In January 878, the Danes made a sudden attack on [[Battle of Chippenham|Chippenham]], a royal stronghold in which Alfred had been staying over Christmas "and most of the people they killed, except the King Alfred, and he with a little band made his way by wood and swamp, and after [[Easter]] he made a fort at [[Athelney]] in the marshes of [[Somerset]], and from that fort kept fighting against the foe".{{Sfn|Giles|Ingram|1996|loc=Year 878}} Considering the fate of the Mercians' kingdom under similar Viking pressure and an analysis of charter signatories either side of the raid it has been suggested{{Sfn|Pollard|2006|p=157-169}} that Alfred may have fallen prey to a Witan coup at Chippenham rather than simply being surprised by a Viking attack. From his fort at Athelney, an island in the marshes near [[North Petherton]], Alfred was able to mount a resistance campaign, rallying the local militias from Somerset, [[Wiltshire]] and [[Hampshire]].{{Sfn|Plummer|1911|pp=582–584}} 878 was the nadir of the history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. With all the other kingdoms having fallen to the Vikings, Wessex alone was resisting.{{Sfn|Savage|1988|p=101}}