The North-men departed in their nailed barks-- bloody relic of darts-- on roaring ocean, o'er the deep water, Dublin to seek; again Ireland shamed in mind.
So, too, the brothers, both together, king and etheling, their country sought, West-Saxons' land, in the war exulting. They left behind them, the corse to devour, the sallowy kite and the swarthy raven with horned nib, and the dusky 'pada,' erne white-tailed, the corse to enjoy,-- greedy war-hawk, and the grey beast, wolf of the wood.
Carnage greater has not been in this island ever yet of people slain, before this, by edges of swords, as the books say-- old writers-- since from the east hither Angles and Saxons came to land,-- o'er the broad seas Britain sought,-- mighty war-smiths the Welsh o'ercame; earls most bold this earth obtained.
Some of the MSS. of the Chronicle have the following additional reference to the battle:--
"A. 937. This year King Athelstan and Edmund his brother led a force to Brunanburh, and there fought against Anlaf; and Christ helping, had the victory; and they there slew five kings and seven earls."
Simeon, of Durham, says one of these five monarchs was "Eligenius, an under-king of Deira," or the eastern portion of the then kingdom of Northumbria.
Athelstan died in 940, and, in the following year, the Chronicle says his successor "Edmund received king Anlaf at baptism." In 942, it says--"This year King Anlaf died." There were, however, two other chieftains of the same name, who flourished somewhat later.
Historians are scarcely, even at the present day, unanimous in their views as to what monarch ought to be regarded as the first "king of England." Some say Egbert; but his authority rarely if ever extended over the whole of the country now so named, and a very large proportion of it was merely a kind of nominal "over lordship," which carried with it very little governing influence, and, such as it was, it was held on a very precarious tenure. Others contend that the distinction belongs to Alfred the Great. Yet Alfred, though beloved by all the English-speaking people in the land, was compelled to share the territory with his Danish rival, Gothrun. Sharon-Turner says--"The truth seems to be that Alfred was the first monarch of the _Anglo-Saxons_, but Athelstan was the first monarch of _England_." He adds--"After the battle of Brunanburh, Athelstan had no competitor; he was the _immediate Sovereign of all England_. He was even _nominal_ lord of Wales and Scotland." This seems to be the true solution of the query.