Unfortunately, we cannot choose when or where we are born. My misfortune was to come to the light in the darkest days of our kingdom. The Northumbrians had violently expelled the rightful king from the land, Osbert by name, and placed on the throne a tyrant, Aella. When the pagan Vikings descended upon the land, the dissension was allayed by Church counsellors with the aid of the nobles. King Osbert and Aella, having united their forces and formed an army, came to the city of York.
When the savage shipmen joined in a wall before us, battering their weapons on their gaudily-painted round shields, I ordered my men to secure the horses at our rear so that we could engage on foot. The enemy fought as ferociously as half-starved wolves; nonetheless, we broke their shield-wall and drove them ba
