praying to God to tell him what was the right course of action.
‘As Grimbald describes it, this is an astonishing moment. It’s one of the first glimpses of the inner life of an individual since the end of Roman civilization. And of course it’s a classic dilemma: the ties of love in opposition to those of duty. By the way, I wonder if you’ve spotted the evidence for that hypothesis of mine?’
Austin made no response. ‘Grimbald goes on:
The king asked the priest for his advice and the young man, deeply moved by this mark of the king’s respect for him, and alarmed by what he suspected of Beorghtnoth’s treachery urged him to hand over the gold. After that he could attack the Danes as soon as his fresh levies arrived. The king objected that that would require him to break his solemn undertaking which would be a grievous offence to God. The young priest replied that no promise made to a heathen could be considered binding in the sight of God.
‘You know, that is very shrewd advice. It makes sense both militarily and politically. And theologically the chaplain was right, too. But Alfred was obviously bound by the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons’ code of morality for the text goes on:
Alfred, however, insisted that his sense of honour would not permit him to behave thus. And so, after three hours of prayer and discussion, the king emerged to announce to the witan that he had decided that it was his duty to negotiate in person with the enemy and, if necessary, to offer himself as a hostage in place of the bishop. The thegns were furious and now it was the most loyal among them who shouted loudest that they would not allow him to do such a thing. Beorghtnoth spoke up and offered to go to Olaf in order to try to find a solution to the crisis and Alfred trustingly agreed to this. And so Beorghtnoth went to Olaf not in order to help, but to betray, his uncle. He told the Danish leader that since Alfred had his gold with him and was waiting for reinforcements, Olaf should force the king to settle the matter quickly. Now Wulflac was brought in with his two chaplains and Beorghtnoth, conducting himself with hateful duplicity, commiserated with him. The learned bishop, however, himself had a secret design – though one that was wholly honourable and benign – and this was to convey to Alfred a message which only he would understand. So the bishop said to Beorghtnoth
: Tell your uncle to be comforted and to think this very night of what the learned Pliny wrote:
A man who is truly wise will find even in a moment of darkness a light that obscures the sun; while the foolish man will be dazzled by nothing more than the mere dawn.
It is a passage that he will remember well.
He made the unlettered nephew repeat this message until he had it perfectly. This was the scholar’s secret design: because of his profound knowledge of the heavens and the movements of the stars therein, Wulflac knew that there was to be an eclipse of the sun at dawn on the very next day. And because he and the king had recently been reading together the works of Pliny in which those phenomena are described, he was sure that Alfred would understand. Unfortunately, however, Beorghtnoth guessed that he was trying to convey some hidden meaning and decided that he would say nothing to his uncle of the bishop’s message. So when he returned to the camp of the English he told Alfred and the witan merely that he had been unsuccessful in his attempt to negotiate with the Danes.
Meanwhile, acting on Beorghtnoth’s advice, Olaf gave orders that Wulflac be suspended from the West Gate of the city-walls in the sight of the besieging army. When Alfred saw this, he was filled with anger and grief and announced that he was determined to give himself up in return for the bishop. The thegns – joined by the hypocritical Beorghtnoth and his fellow-conspirators – pleaded with him in tears not to do so, arguing that it was certain that the Danes would kill him if
‘As Grimbald describes it, this is an astonishing moment. It’s one of the first glimpses of the inner life of an individual since the end of Roman civilization. And of course it’s a classic dilemma: the ties of love in opposition to those of duty. By the way, I wonder if you’ve spotted the evidence for that hypothesis of mine?’
Austin made no response. ‘Grimbald goes on:
The king asked the priest for his advice and the young man, deeply moved by this mark of the king’s respect for him, and alarmed by what he suspected of Beorghtnoth’s treachery urged him to hand over the gold. After that he could attack the Danes as soon as his fresh levies arrived. The king objected that that would require him to break his solemn undertaking which would be a grievous offence to God. The young priest replied that no promise made to a heathen could be considered binding in the sight of God.
‘You know, that is very shrewd advice. It makes sense both militarily and politically. And theologically the chaplain was right, too. But Alfred was obviously bound by the pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons’ code of morality for the text goes on:
Alfred, however, insisted that his sense of honour would not permit him to behave thus. And so, after three hours of prayer and discussion, the king emerged to announce to the witan that he had decided that it was his duty to negotiate in person with the enemy and, if necessary, to offer himself as a hostage in place of the bishop. The thegns were furious and now it was the most loyal among them who shouted loudest that they would not allow him to do such a thing. Beorghtnoth spoke up and offered to go to Olaf in order to try to find a solution to the crisis and Alfred trustingly agreed to this. And so Beorghtnoth went to Olaf not in order to help, but to betray, his uncle. He told the Danish leader that since Alfred had his gold with him and was waiting for reinforcements, Olaf should force the king to settle the matter quickly. Now Wulflac was brought in with his two chaplains and Beorghtnoth, conducting himself with hateful duplicity, commiserated with him. The learned bishop, however, himself had a secret design – though one that was wholly honourable and benign – and this was to convey to Alfred a message which only he would understand. So the bishop said to Beorghtnoth
: Tell your uncle to be comforted and to think this very night of what the learned Pliny wrote:
A man who is truly wise will find even in a moment of darkness a light that obscures the sun; while the foolish man will be dazzled by nothing more than the mere dawn.
It is a passage that he will remember well.
He made the unlettered nephew repeat this message until he had it perfectly. This was the scholar’s secret design: because of his profound knowledge of the heavens and the movements of the stars therein, Wulflac knew that there was to be an eclipse of the sun at dawn on the very next day. And because he and the king had recently been reading together the works of Pliny in which those phenomena are described, he was sure that Alfred would understand. Unfortunately, however, Beorghtnoth guessed that he was trying to convey some hidden meaning and decided that he would say nothing to his uncle of the bishop’s message. So when he returned to the camp of the English he told Alfred and the witan merely that he had been unsuccessful in his attempt to negotiate with the Danes.
Meanwhile, acting on Beorghtnoth’s advice, Olaf gave orders that Wulflac be suspended from the West Gate of the city-walls in the sight of the besieging army. When Alfred saw this, he was filled with anger and grief and announced that he was determined to give himself up in return for the bishop. The thegns – joined by the hypocritical Beorghtnoth and his fellow-conspirators – pleaded with him in tears not to do so, arguing that it was certain that the Danes would kill him if
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