Alfred loses at Edington

[De la Tour]

Hi, after some extensive lurking I finally decided to join.
Basically, the scenario is this: Alfred decides to meet the Danish army in a do-or-die clash to drive them from Wessex. After the shields clash, Guthrum's Danes hit Alfred's vulnerable flank (OTL Guthrum held his positions while the rest of his army was beaten). Most of the Saxon fyrdsmen flee, and in the ensuing encirclement Alfred is killed.
What is the impact of having the four kingdoms under Danish rule?

[Anaxagoras]

Very interesting. Unfortunately this is one of those PODs which would have such massive consequences for the TL in a period of history about which we have little information, making it difficult to imagine the scenario that would have unfolded. Needless to say, England would be a very, very different place and this would eventually lead to a completely unrecognizable world.

[De la Tour]

Yeah. We probably wouldn't see a united England (as in, one English king) until either a Scandinavian union (difficult, as OTL Harald Bluetooth may well be butterflied) or the Danish yoke is thrown off. Depending on said butterflies, paganism may do better or worse than in OTL. I'm leaning towards worse, as religious unrest may cause a need to convert in England, at least.

[veni, vidi vici]

Does He survive and Keep Wessex

[Arachnid]

Well Alfred is explicitly said to have died on the field and as his heir Edward the Elder is between 1 and 4 years old and all Alfred's brothers are dead Wessex is immediately thrown into a succession crisis. Depending on who else dies on the field with the King and considering the very scanty sources we have for the era we can be sure that the Anglo-Saxon leadership is going to be weak and divided.
Once again depending on the scale of the victory the Great Heathan Army can further expand the Danelaw, in all certainty East Anglia, Essex and Middlesex are lost and the South-East might be taken as well.
Sooner or later the Great Heathen Army is going to have to disband and retreat from Wessex as the territory they have already taken in eastern England has yet to be subdued and settled.
Even if the Anglo-Saxons recover and go on the offensive the Scandinavians are going to be much more securely settled making roll back much harder. If the Anglo-Saxons don't recover and remain divided and weak then you might very see a repeat of what the Anglo-Saxons did to the Welsh. i.e. gradually driving them back into the three "peninsulars" of Scotland, Wales and Cornwall.

[Lysandros Aikiedes]

Wessex would be doomed, as the Danes would have different native candidates to act as their puppet-king of Wessex. England, in the immediate future of the West Saxon defeat at Ethendun/Edington, will be divided among different Danish dynasties. Whether any of their descendants arising to unify England after that, or they're brought to heel by a future Scandinavian king, is anyone's guess.

Norse Polytheism might just survive for longer under such conditions. But never underestimate the appeal that the Christian Church in England has as experienced bureaucrats, whom would work hard to ingratiate themselves as collaborators with the Danish forces, as well as acting as their middlemen to the Christian Frankish kings on the continent. Meaning that as long as they serve any individual Anglo-Danish monarch well enough, they could restore Christianity as the legal religion in the local kingdom within a couple of decades.

[veni, vidi vici]

Sorry didn't see that, anyway how big is the "great army"

[Arachnid]

Originally Posted by veni, vidi vici

Sorry didn't see that, anyway how big is the "great army"

We have absolutely no idea. Great Heathen Army.