England: Danelaw

What is the best thing in life?

As the Danes of this ATL would say: "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you and to hear the lamentation of their women".

King Alfred the Great doesn't pull it off in this TL. He dies in battle leaving the Danes to ravage Wessex, the last Anglo-Saxon kingdom.

Any ideas?

Danish England...

The record of "Danish rulers" in England suggests they'd have gone native sooner or later. Had Guthrum triumped in 878 and the Wessex kingdom been crushed, I find it hard to believe it would have been a long-term change.

The various Danish rulers of England would, as often happened, have fallen out within a few years allowing the Saxons to re-emerge.

Even when Sven and Cnut conquered England in 1016, there wasn't a long-term change as Cnut became virtually English and his two sons then fought their own private civil war across northern Europe leaving a Saxon prince brought up as a Norman to inherit the throne in 1042.

The only other thought is that had the royal line of Wessex ended in 878, the process of English unification might have been led by Mercia.

I agree that judged from OTL the character of the Danish conquests wasn't traditional empire building.

But perhaps the significant part isn't the "loose" Empire, but the unclear dynastical relations after Knud (Cnut). Had it been settled earlier "who shall take over after Dad" I guess it had been much more likely that the same King ruled on both sides of the North Sea for longer time. The consolidation of Christianity in Denmark around this time will also improve chances of the dynasty/Empire stabilising. Not so much because of direct religious questions, but because Christianity also meant new and more clear traditions for who should inherit. This was a major contributor for Christianity becomming a success in Scandinavia.

I can't say for how long the "Empire" will have to exist to make a difference, but sooner or later it will have to have very significant results. I'm sure the main part of the Empire would still be England (as already under Knud), but in the comming struggles over the Scandinavian peninsula, North Germany and the Baltic the English-Danish/Scandinavian combination really seems like a steamroler and what is needed to have clear power relations in Scandinavia (which in itself will make a tremendous difference compared to OTL).

It will from the start be difficult to say whether it is a Scandinavian Empire incl. England or a English Empire incl. Scandinavia, but I guess time will work for the English option. Anyway around year 1000 both culture and language in England and Denmark were so close to each other (esp. after Christianity had been the official religion in Denmark from mid 10th century), that "going native" more was a question of slightly changing some habits in order to live in a more funny place than a change of culture. I guess you could call 11th century England a place for true cosmopolits compared to Denmark mainly being countryboys/REDnecks in mudhuts...

Regards

Steffen Redbeard (and no, I live in a city in a house made of genuine RED bricks, but who says you need to change mentality for that?)

I'd agree with the notion that the Danes in England, even had they defeated and killed Alfred, would've just become more and more a part of the country and the local ppl, assimilating their settlements, culture, language, etc, just as occurred OTL in the Danelaw of eastern and northern England. Perhaps there'd be a greater Viking influence on such things as placenames (eg- by, thorp, thwait, toft, scale), the English language and religion than OTL.