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	The Battle of Maldon
		A great deal of critical discussion of the poem in the past fifty years or so has been devoted to arguing whether the poem views Byrhtnoth as blameworthy for his action.
		Tolkien argued that this meant that Byrhtnoth should have yielded no land at all to the Vikings.
		Probably Byrhtnoth's chief residence; possibly Maldon itself (Gordon).
	faculty.uca.edu /~jona/texts/maldon.htm (1586 words)

	Battle of Maldon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		A source from the 12th century, Liber Eliensis, written by the monks at Ely, suggests that Byrhtnoth had only a few men to command: "he was neither shaken by the small number of his men, nor fearful of the multitude of the enemy".
		Another argument is that the poem is an elegy on a terrible loss and that the monastic author pinpoints the cause of the defeat in the commander's sin of pride.
		The death of Byrhtnoth, an ealdorman of Essex, was recorded in four versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Battle_of_Maldon (1057 words)

	§13. "The Battle of Maldon" or "Byrhtnoth’s Death". VII. From Alfred to the Conquest. Vol. 1. From the ...
		The poem, the beginning and end of which are lost, opens with the directions of Byrhtnoth to his men, and tells how, after marshalling his troops, he exhorted them to stand firm, taking his place among the band of his immediate followers.
		But Byrhtnoth scornfully rejected the offer, saying that he would give tribute, indeed, but it should be the tribute of the sharp spear and the ancient sword, and their only booty would be battle.
		Then Byrhtnoth, overweeningly daring, trusting too much in his own strength, allowed the enemy to cross by the bridge (probably one of stepping-stones which would be covered at high tide), and the fight became fierce.
	www.bartleby.com /211/0713.html (872 words)

	Byrhtnoth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Byrhtnoth (Byrhtnoþ, also spelled Byrhtnoð, Byrihtnoð, Brihtnoþ, Beorhtnoþ, Beorhtnoð, Baeorhtnoð) was an Anglo-Saxon name, composed of beorht "bright" and noth "courage".
		He was said to stand well over six foot in height, and was around the age of sixty at the Battle Of Maldon.
		Although it is believed that he fell early in the battle, some say that it took three men to successfuly kill him, one of them almost severing Byrhtnoth's arm fully in the process.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Byrhtnoth (181 words)

	Battle of Maldon - Maeldune (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Byrhtnoth, confident that he could deal the Vikings such a blow that they would flee the land, cleared the causeway for them to cross.
		Byrhtnoth was clearly the object of the Viking's fury and after suffering several wounds, his sword fell from his hand and he sank into the arms of two warriors.
		Byrhtnoth was a seasoned soldier and presumably not likely to lose his military head in an unnecessary gesture of heroism.
	www.maldonsx.freeserve.co.uk /Maeldune/battle_of_maldon.htm (3300 words)

	But was Byrhtnoth really so dumb?
		Byrhtnoth was a close political ally of Aethelstan, Ealdorman of East Anglia, who had the nickname "Half-King" during the minority of the boy king Edgar.
		Byrhtnoth had a choice - let them run away to fight another day, perhaps on less favourable terms and ground, or let them cross and beat them here and now once and for all while he had the troops and on ground of his choosing.
		Byrhtnoth was no fool and I do not think we should assume we know more about the make up and quality of his army simply because he (like Harold) lost his gamble.
	www.ancientworlds.net /aw/Post/252958 (1023 words)

	Battlefields Trust - London & South East (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Byrhtnoth assembled a local force on the mainland side of the causeway and obtained traditional oaths of allegiance from his men.
		Byrhtnothâs headless body was taken for burial by the monks of Ely Abbey, now the Cathedral, with a wax ball replacing his head.
		Byrhtnoth was the most formidable military and political figure in England and his defeat and death at Maldon resulted in the collapse of English resistance.
	www.btlse.co.uk /maldon.html (1400 words)

	Wikinfo \| Battle of Maldon
		The Battle of Maldon took place near Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Ethelred the Unready.
		Byrhtnoth, in a moment of "ofermode," allowed the full complement of Norse onto shore for the battle.
		Therefore, had Byrhtnoth's forces kept the Vikings off by guarding the bridge, it is likely that Olaf would have sailed farther up the river or along the coast, and taken another target.
	www.wikinfo.org /wiki.php?title=Battle_of_Maldon (672 words)

	991 AD - The Battle of MALDON
		Before the Vikings had left their camp on the island, Byrhtnoth, with his retainers and a hastily assembled force of local militia, had taken possession of the landward end of the causeway.
		But three of Byrhtnoth's retainers, tough and hardened fighting men, held it against them, and at last they asked to be allowed to cross unhindered and fight on equal terms on the mainland.
		What gives enduring interest to the battle is the superb courage with which a group of Byrhtnoth's thegns (his personal military entourage), knowing that the fight was lost, deliberately gave themselves to death in order that they might avenge their lord.
	www.airflow.net /maldon/maldon02.htm (431 words)

	The Company of the Fray (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Byrhtnoth arrived on the mainland shore with his retainers and some local levies.
		Byrhtnoth held the bank and was doing very well holding the Vikings at bay.
		Byrhtnoth’s troops fought well, but no longer had the huge advantage that they had so recently enjoyed.
	fray.i8.com /library/maldon.html (790 words)

	Christian Heroism and the West Saxon Achievement: The Old English Poetic Evidence
		The earl [Byrhtnoth] was all the happier; he laughed then, a man of spirit, and said thanks to the Ordainer for the day’s work that the Lord had granted him.
		The characterization of Byrhtnoth as saint and martyr is the subject of long-standing debate, but one contemporary view, promoted by the monks of Ely whom he had long supported, was that Byrhtnoth had sacrificed his life heroicly defending a Christian society against pagan attack (Bradley 518-19; Hare, "Christian Heroism" 186-89, 269-70).
		Byrhtnoth acted according to the dictates of his station in society both as leader of the English and as retainer of his own lord the king (Maldon 50-54, 202-04; see Clark, "Hero" 281); loyalty and duty are the great virtues celebrated by the poem (Robinson 76-98).
	www.sfsu.edu /~medieval/Volume4/Hare.html (8408 words)

	The Battle of Maldon (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		When news was brought to the local lord (an experienced warrior by the name of Byrhtnoth) he raised his fyrd and marched to meet the raiders where the Vikings offered him peace in return for gold rings.
		Once they had asked for a parley Byrhtnoth told the Vikings to leave as there was nothing for them there.
		Byrhtnoth was then struck down in the fight and most of his army flee the field.
	www.manaraefan.ndo.co.uk /timeline/Raven_Maldon.htm (390 words)

	[No title]
		On the other side, Byrhtnoth, ealdorman of Essex, and a levy of English defenders (fyrd), having dismounted their horses and proceeded to the shore, waited for the waters to recede.
		Byrhtnoth soon was hacked to death together with those at his side.
		Byrhtnoth's decision to allow the Vikings to cross the ford is condemned, just as are the Vikings for their perfidy in asking to do so (their cunning, "lytegian," is the only use of the word found in Old English).
	www.stavacademy.co.uk /mimir/maldon1.htm (1169 words)

	Battle of Maldon (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Byrhtnoth replies that he will not give up without a fight, and orders his men to take up positions along the river-bank.
		Byrhtnoth may have believed that bringing them to battle at this time was his best chance of victory.
		A late-12th century history of Ely (Byrhtnoth was a patron of Ely), the 'Liber Eliensis', which weaves a somewhat unlikely yarn around the battle of Maldon, says that the Vikings carried off Byrhtnoth's head as a trophy.
	www.stephen.j.murray.btinternet.co.uk /maldon.htm (787 words)

	Vikings & Anglo-Saxons: The Battle of Maldon (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		They were outnumbered, Byrhtnoth allowed the Vikings to cross the causeway, and many of the English forces fled when Byrhtnoth was killed.
		Had Byrhtnoth not invited the enemy onto the battle ground and waited until the tide had gone out to before starting the battle, reinforcements may have had time to arrive, helping to balance the forces.
		D.G. Scragg agrees with this view, and says in his book on the subject: "The fighting was inconclusive until Byrhtnoth was struck down and a large portion of the English forces fled, destroying the cohesion of the battle-line and guaranteeing defeat" (Scragg, 1991, p 147).
	www.dicksonc.act.edu.au /Showcase/ClioContents/legends/maldon.html (1478 words)

	The Battle of Maldon (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		Then Byrhtnoth marshalled his soldiers, riding and instructing, directing his warriors how they should stand and the positions they should keep, 20 and ordering that their shields properly stand firm with steady hands and be not afraid.
		Wounded was Wulfmaer, meeting death on the battlefield, Byrhtnoth's kinsman: he with sword was, 115 his sister's son, cruelly hewn down.
		There were the Vikings given requital: I hear that Eadweard smote one fiercely with his sword, withholding not in his blow, so that at his feet fell a doomed warrior; 120 for this he of his people gave thanks for, this chamber-thane, when the opportunity arose.
	www.georgetown.edu /faculty/ballc/oe/maldon-trans.html (2325 words)

	Literary Encyclopedia: Battle of Maldon
		The battle of Maldon was fought in August 991 between English forces commanded by Byrhtnoth, Ealdorman of Essex, and Vikings raiding around the east and south of England.
		Byrhtnoth replies, noting the response of his men, and turning on their head the words of the messenger.
		The poem tries hard to make something positive out of what was a significant defeat for the English: it gives Byrhtnoth's death a saintly tinge by having him pray on the battlefield in the manner typical of Christian martyrs; and it makes much of the heroic commitment of the loyal retainers of Byrhtnoth.
	www.litencyc.com /php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1248 (654 words)

	Battle of Maldon - Cunnan
		The battle was fought on the 10th or 11th of August, 991 A.D. between forces lead by Earl Byrhtnoth and a party of Vikings.
		In what was later described as an act of pride Byrhtnoth allowed the Vikings to cross over to the mainland before battle was begun.
		Suffering from the desertion of some of his forces, Byrhtnoth's forces were destroyed, and Byrhtnoth himself died.
	cunnan.sca.org.au /wiki/Battle_of_Maldon (167 words)

	Battle of Maldon -- Aug. 10, 991 AD
		Byrhtnoth, ealdorman of Essex (the local Earl to King Aethelred the Unready) led his retainers and the hastily raised fyrd (militia) down to the estuary where they lined the banks opposite the island at high-tide.
		The famous poem recounts that Byrhtnoth's thegns, despite his demise and the scattering of the fyrd, stood their ground and fought to the death to avenge his loss.
		At this point Byrhtnoth rallies his men and bades them to "go forward and bear them well" Byrhtnoth is then attacked by several Vikings intent on stealing his armor rings and jewels, he tries to defend himself but is wounded in the arm dropping his sword.
	www.fanaticus.org /DBA/battles/maldon.html (1391 words)

	991 AD - The Battle of MALDON
		eorl was used of the aristocratic followers of king or chief, or Ælfwine and most of the followers of Byrhtnoth mentioned by name in this poem.
		Byrhtnoth (or Birhtnoth) (line 17) - son of Byrhthelm and Earl of Essex.
		ofermode is a heavily discussed topic as to wondering whether or not Byrhtnoth acted accordingly to the heroic code.
	filebox.vt.edu /a/away/maldon/maldon_gloss2.htm (743 words)

	Essays on the battle of maldon, chaucer's the wife of bath and shakespeare's sonnet 20
		Some people think he was, and the poet seems to be one of them, for he gives Byrhtnoth the quality of ‘ofermode’.
		The latter act was not only made in the interest of fair play: if Byrhtnoth had not allowed the Danes to cross, they might have sailed away and ravaged another part of Essex as it is very unlikely that the Vikings would have held the battle on the causeway in such a vulnerable position.
		The poet had to abide by to the expectations of his time and thus portray Byrhtnoth as one who fights bravely, is killed by the heathen Danes and avenged by his retainers who die beside their lord.
	www.angelfire.com /nd/EssaysOnEnglishLit/EssaysOnEnglishLiterature.htm (7081 words)

	Maeldune - The Battle of Maldon Site (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		It is not difficult to imagine Byrhtnoth and his men marching south along the old Roman road from Colchester to Maldon and looking across to the river to see the assembled Viking ships, swearing to rid Maldon of these Vikings once and for all.
		If Byrhtnoth was trying to protect these two areas he may have seen the Vikings make camp and decided to blockade then on the island.
		We know Byrhtnoth's wife Aelfflead owned lands at Lawling and it would be only a short ride across country for the Saxon Thane and his men if they had been staying there, using the South House Farm area as their rallying point.
	www.maldonsx.freeserve.co.uk /Maeldune/battle_of_maldon_site.htm (2644 words)

	Exam ONE: PART TWO ESSAY On "Battle of Maldon" (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		The earl is Byrhtnoth and he is a fierce warrior.
		As many warriors fell, Byrhtnoth encouraged his men to continue the battle, even though they were, perhaps, overwhelmed and outnumbered by the Danes.
		When Byrhtnoth dies, the writer once again records the not only the heroic names, but also portrays the cowardice of the sons of Odda, Godwine, and Godwige among others.
	www.hpcnet.org /peru/schoolartsandsciences/language/clemente/fall2005/hel/maldon (927 words)

	In Defence of Byrhtnoth (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-17)
		The occasion is the recently-commemorated millennium of the battle of Maldon, an appropriate time to review not only the events of August 991 but also the critical responses to them, including those of the millennial year.
		The cause is the all-too-prevalent scholarly opinion, expressed as often in the last decade as in previous ones, that Byrhtnoth cannot escape censure for the English defeat, whether that censure be gentle or virulent.
		The relative frequency of such attacks makes it abundantly clear that for some literary scholars Byrhtnoth's reputation at the beginning of 1991 was still shaky.
	www.uwo.ca /english/florilegium/volumes/vol11/kirby.html (207 words)

	Gospel Mission Winter 2004: Old English
		Byrhtnoth to secgan to hilde hwile folc maeg ongan wiste thaes thaet onfunde tha.
		Waepnum feohtan staethe hilde thaet feng thaere aetforan thaer het hyra to baed to, raedde to tha tham thaer we is, forth dom saemen frith hu.
		To haefde feng Byrhtnoth thu forhtedon he hwaene Eadric thaet beagas.
	www.seabury.edu /mt/gm2003/archives/001045.html (525 words)

	Bibliografia per la 'Battaglia di Maldon'
		Bolton, W.F. 'Byrhtnoth in the Wilderness', MLR, vol.
		Goedhals, J.B. 'Byrhtnoth and The Battle of Maldon', Unisa English Studies 11 (1973), pp.
		Koike, K. 'On the Vocabulary for Byrhtnoth in The Battle of Maldon', OSEL 24 (1984), pp.
	bilbo.di.unipi.it /bifrost/biblio/maldon.html (2439 words)

	Son of the Vikings
		At the start of the poem, Byrhtnoth orders his troops to send their horses away, signalling their intention to stand and fight.
		The 'Liber Eliensis' records that Byrhtnoth was 'neither shaken by the small number of his men, nor fearful of the multitudes of the enemy' so the Hordes classification allows the Vikings greater numbers and gives the English someone to heroically chop down.
		Some have seen this description of his courage as overconfidence and think that the poet is blaming Byrhtnoth for losing the battle through stupidity, while others see it more as the sign of a true hero, along the lines of Beowulf's "wlenco".
	www.btinternet.com /~alan.catherine/wargames/maldon.htm (1094 words)

	The Battle of Maldon
		Then Byrhtnoth set to sort his battle-groups: he rode round, showed the recruits how to be placed and hold position, and their round-shields hold right, firm in the hand; not to feel fear.
		Then as leader, Byrhtnoth, to hold the bridge picked a tried warrior, Wulfstan his name,courageous like all his kin - he was Ceola's son - he brought down the leading man with a lance who first boldly ventured on the bridgeway.
		There set against them, geared, stood Byrhtnoth and his men; with their board-shields he had them make a war-wall, told his warriors stand fast with the foe.
	medieval.ucdavis.edu /130/BATTLE_OF_MALDON.HTML (2274 words)

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