402 
BRUNANBURII. BY REV. E. M. COLE, M.A., F.G.S. 
{Read July \Uh, 1898.) 
If there is any one subject more than another which, for 
hundreds of years, has exercised the ingenuity of antiquaries, 
it is perhaps the lost site of the battle of Brunanburh, in a.d. 937, 
by which Athelstan consolidated his kingdom. In speaking to 
my friend, the late Canon Raine, on the subject, he said that 
it was a hard nut to crack, and probably hopeless. The name 
of the place is utterly lost, and no two authorities agree as to 
its orthography. Without presuming to say where it w^as fought, 
I have a very strong oj^inion as to where it was not fought. I 
venture to say, notwithstanding various arguments which of late 
years have been brought forward, that it was not fought in the 
East Riding. 
Let us consider the situation of affairs, and we cannot do 
better than take Egil's KSaga for our guide, because it is 
unprejudiced, as written by a Ncjrseman, and compiled from facts 
handed down from one who had taken part in the battle, and 
been, in fact, one of tlie princijml commanders. I would first 
remark that the writer says Olaf instead of Constantino, an easy 
mistake for a foreigner, when we remember that Anlaf was 
Constantino's son-in-law. 
In the Ptev. W. C. Green's translation of Egil's Saga, 
■Chapter LII. begins as follows : — 
" Olaf, King of Scots, drew together a mighty host, and 
marched upon England. When he came to Northumberland he 
advanced with shield of war. On learning this, the earls who 
ruled there mustered their force and went against the King. 
And when they met there was a great battle, whereof the issue 
was that King Olaf won the victoiy ; but Earl Gudrek fell, and 
Alfgeir fled away, as did the greater part of the force that had 
