1 8 Histoiy of the 



north countrv. He had no muse to exult in tlie rommunion of 

 swords. 



" Here was his kindred band of friends o'erthrown on the folk- 

 stead, in battle slain : and his son he left on the slaughter-place, 

 mangled with wounds, young in the fight. He, the grizly-haired 

 baron, the old deceiver, had no cause to boast of the bill-clashing ; 

 nor had Anlaf any more with the remnant of their armies. 



" They had no cause to exult that they in war's works, the better 

 men were in the battle-stead, at the conflict of banners, the meeting 

 of spears, the concourse of men, the trafific of weapons — that they 

 on the slaughter-field with Edward's offspring played. 



" The Northmen departed in their nailed barks ; bloody relic of 

 darts, o'er the deep water, Dublin to seek — again to seek Ireland, 

 shamed in mind. 



"So too the brothers, both together, King and Etheling, (i,') 

 their country sought, the West-Saxons' land, in war exulting. 



" They left behind them, the corse to devour, the sallow kite, 

 and the swart raven with horned beak, and the dusky vulture, and 

 the white-tailed heron ; the corse to enjoy came the greedy war- 

 hawk, and the gray beast, the wolf of the wood. 



" Carnage greater has not been in this island ever yet, never 

 before this, of people slain by edges of swords." 



Anlaf, with the scattered remnant of his forces, escaped from 

 the field, and fled again to Ireland, as the ode relates ; while Athel- 

 stan, the Saxon, was raised to the proud position of king of Eng- 

 land, and peace was secured to the country during the remaining 

 years of his life and reign. 



I am not aware that any considerable relics have been found 

 within the Forest, which would connect the district more imme- 

 diately with the military presence of the Saxons or Danes ; but 

 this may have arisen for want of the frequent use of the plough in 

 our fields. So strong, however, are the probabilities in favour of 

 the conjecture that the Dyke constituted a portion of the line of 



[g) Etheling or Atheling, in Saxon times, was the name or title given to 

 the heir to the crown. 



