I cannot relate the tale of the battle, yet I think about it often and never without tears. Of course, I have fought in many battles, and the telling is no problem, but this is different. Thanks to my stubborn refusal to withdraw that night, many comrades and friends breathed their last. Owing to the same decision, without exaggeration, the entire future of our folk changed.
If I and others of my men survived, it is also because Aethelflaed harried the Danes to the north of our battlefield. At the time, I wondered why the foe did not attack at once with their superior might. Later, I learnt the fear of the Lady of the Miercians at their backs was the reason. Their delay allowed Edward time to decide to gallop to our aid, but not until completely surrounded, and, hard-pressed, we lost so m
