The Wyvern Lives

Eadgar the Peaceable, from what knowledge we have of him, was a very strong king. By the time of his brother Eadwig’s death in 959, he already was king north of the Thames at the age of sixteen. Little did he know his coronation would be the last uncontested succession to the English throne until the coronation of Henry II in 1154.
At that coronation, he was given homage by six lesser kings, including the King of Scots and the King of Strathclyde, and recalled Saint Dunstan from the exile enforced by Eadwig.
In his reign, the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of England was at its height. The Benedictine rule was restored to the English monasteries. The combination of Anglo-Saxon and Romano-Briton culture was budding, and would soon mature.
But before that flowering could take place, it was cut short by an invader’s axe. A cutting that could largely be traced back to Eadgar’s death aged 32 in 975 without an adult heir.
With the King dead in his prime, a civil war, draining England’s resources for the coming war against the Vikings, was almost inevitable. His reforms had dispossessed many of the monks and nobility. A war now raged between the King’s elder son, Saint Eadweard the Martyr, and his younger son, Aethelred Unraed. Eadweard won for the time being, but soon lay dead at his stepmother’s hand.
Aethelred’s weakness led to a return of Viking rule, and, combined with his alliance with the Normans, ultimately to the Norman Conquest.
All this is history, where the last strong Anglo-Saxon monarch to reign more than a few months died in his prime in 975.
But in a certain alternate history, things were very different…..
 
No Scandinavian invasion will be met with open arms. We slaughtered them without Welsh aid at Maldon and Hallam - we can do it again now!
-Harold Haroldsson, on Scandinavian invasion of Mercia in 1943​

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From Britain: A History, by Edwi Haroldsson, 1995, the 12th year of the glorious reign of Edwerd X.
Among Edgar’s most notable achievements was the restoration of the Benedictine rule to the English monasteries. While highly unpopular at the time, royal leadership ensured the undisciplined monasteries were soon forced to return to the proper rules, and this had little lasting effect on the disputes between the lords and bishops (though the mass grants of lands to the reformed monasteries was another matter).
As we have seen, Edgar and his uncle Edred had in the 950s successfully defeated the attempted Nordic secession under Eric Bloodaxe from the unified kingdom created by Aethelstan the Great some years earlier.
However, in the 980s Viking raids returned to the shores, with one major event being a battle where English troops slaughtered a Nordic army in Dunmonia. But a much more immediate effect was the strain in relations with the Erldom of Normandy on the Continent, who were accused of providing shelter to their Scandinavian cousins. Pope Jon XV attempted to broach a reconciliation between the two realms[1], but Edgar summarily ignored him, and in 990, led an expedition to Normandy. This began with several English victories in minor battles and culminated in the draw at Rouen, where Richard lost most of his army, but managed to hold onto the city, while King Edgar lay dead on the battle field.
The army might have continued to raid and pillage the countryside in the hope of forcing Richard out, but news of a fresh Scandinavian invasion of Essex and Kent led to the decision of Edwerd Aetheling[2] to return home swiftly. The decision proved a good one. Edwerd’s soon met with the already present forces of Eldorman Brythtnoth and overwhelmingly defeated the Scandinavians at Maldon.
Next came the issue of succession to the throne. Edwerd’s illegitimacy was clear, and Aethelred’s elder brother Edmund had been clearly acknowledged as heir before his death. But questions had been raised by the bishops about Aethelred’s own legitimacy, and it ultimately came down to a decision between the battle-tested Edwerd, fresh from a resounding victory over the Scandinavians and who had brought home his father’s body, and a weakling who had stayed safe in Tamworth throughout the wars with Normandy and Scandinavia. The Estates-General[3] had, therefore, no hesitation in proclaiming Edwerd King of the English.
In 996 fresh raids were launched, conquering parts of the north, led by the Prince of Norway[4], Olaf Tryggvason. With some minor aid from the Welsh princes, and ignoring the advice of the cowards in his court calling for the Danegeld to be restored, including the perpetually weak Aethelred, the King marched north, and met the Scandinavians in battle at Hallam, winning victory and slaying the pagan Prince, but at the cost of his own life.
With Edwerd’s only son just nine years old, there was no alternative to Aethelred, and so the Estates-General reluctantly confirmed the weak coward whose first notable act had been to relieve himself in the font at his christening[5], and Britain began to slide towards fresh division.
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The History of the Brythonaid, by Rhodri ap Iago, 2008
Among the more notable events relating to the 996 Cambro-Saxon alliance which was likely largely responsible for the narrow victory at Hallam (one must recall the earlier narrow victory at Maldon against a smaller Viking force with less knowledge of the area in question) was the meeting between Cynan ap Hywyl, soon to be King of Gwynedd, Ceredigion, Deheubarth, and Powys, and Owain the Bald, who became Prince of Strathclyde after the death of his brother Malcolm at the battle, and the resulting marriage between Owain’s son and Hywyl’s daughter and the effects on the march to British unity.
[1] OTL this led to an alliance between the two realms – helping the way to the Norman Conquest.
[2] Aetheling meaning a person who is a candidate for the throne, similar to Spanish Infante
[3] There are reasons that the Witanegamot is known by that name TTL – namely the fact that it’s not a term that had much use OTL, and it becomes known as that by analogy with other countries.
[4] Scandinavia is seen as one realm TTL, so rulers of smaller areas are known variously as dukes or princes.
[5] Invented much later OTL, but he’s not seen much better TTL, since though he doesn’t fall as low, he has a lot further to fall from. And I just couldn't resist a legend like that.
 
Very interesting... Must admit I think you will have a lot of work on your hands, there are so many questions in this period that we do not have answers to...

But I do like the idea of a uniting of Wales and Strathclyde. Will the prophecy of Britain be mentioned at all?

Keep up the good work. :)

EDIT: Sorry, didn't see the date of the thread... :eek:
 
Just saw this.
I have thought about redoing it at some point, yes.
I know a fair bit more about the period now than I did then, (two years ago now, tempus fugit), which should help, but the main problem was that I had no real plan and just wrote as I thought of it.
One of the things I was planning to do after my last exam next Wednesday was to (along with two British politics TLIADS I've been thinking of for a while) try and discuss with people what sort of things might plausibly happen as a result of this POD in the first few decades. If I do so, do you think it would be best to start a new thread or discuss it in this one?
Also, what's the prophecy of Britain? Merlin and the dragons by any chance?
 
I would use what you've written as a draft. Read it does it say what you want.
If you want to have more Welsh as the people of the Dragons go for it. It will make things more interesting.
 
If you have the time, go for it I'll read it.
Well, just finished cooking the beer and now of to work.
I'll be watching for the TL.
 
No, the Prophecy (a traditional type of Celtic poetry) is about how the rest of Britain will unite and kick out the Anglo-Saxons... Here's a translation, I don't know how good it is, though I imagine that they can vary, due to the lack of consistent sources for Welsh poetry.

I have a bit of knowledge on this period, so if you have any questions feel free to ask. :)

EDIT: Here's the link for the translation: http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/t06.html
 
Thank you. Do you have any advice on what might happen, or who else here I might contact about it?
 
How about having the King of Strathclyde die without a male heir. Have his sister who is married to the King of Gwynedd become the heir merging the two kingdoms in a personal union. Have king Brian in Ireland due worse there by encouraging the Norse living in northwestern England get involved allowing for Strathclyde to spread south, or the Welsh to spread north. The goal being a continuous British kingdom in the west.

Cymraeg might be a good source
 
Hmm, interesting. That was my basic plan for Wales and Strathclyde, (though somewhat more complicated - it seemed unlikely for it to be plain sailing, and I intended that while there would be several unions over the next few decades, none of them would outlast the king in question until the 1040s or so).
I hadn't really considered how that would involve Ireland.
 
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