The Author’s Use of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Abstract

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was used by the author of the Life of King Alfred to provide the basic framework for his entire narrative. Having decided on AD 849 as the year of Alfred’s birth, the author took the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and used every entry covering the period from 849 to 887 to fill in the many gaps in his knowledge of that period of the king’s life. Although the author suggests that he has written his account in 893,¹ he provides no specific historical information either of his own creation, or borrowed from the Chronicle, or from annals other than the Chronicle text, on Alfred or his times, for the interval from 887 to 893 (the supposed time of writing). Yet that was the very time when he claims to have been a contemporary witness residing at the court of the king. We may never know why the author ceased to follow the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle text after 887, but having decided to do so, he also ceased offering his readers any specific historical information, which is amenable to verification from other sources. He also failed to provide information drawn from other chronicles or annals, suggesting that his dependence on the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as an historical source was well-nigh total, and that his account of King Alfred’s life was essentially retrospective and antiquarian. The Life of King Alfred provides us in effect with a Latin translation of yet another version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle covering the period 849 to 887.