The Nature of Late Anglo-Saxon Warfare

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the evidence available which explains the war tactics and strategy of the Anglo-Saxons. It shows the Anglo-Saxons to have had a well-trained warrior elite, but nevertheless insufficient to resist being conquered in the end.

From the Paper:

"The poem of the Battle of Maldon is our main source for study about the nature of late Anglo-Saxon warfare. This heroic poem, glorifying the Ealdorman who dies for his king and country, displays many important facets of the way the Anglo-Saxon peoples conducted warfare. The main threat was the Nordic marauders that would regularly raid the settlements of the Anglo-Saxons. It was against these raiders that the majority of Anglo-Saxon tactics and strategy were prepared. The buhrs of the Anglo-Saxons were the main defense against these raiders, but once these buhrs fell into disrepair it was mostly the forces of the sheriffs, thanes, and ealdormen left to defend their territories. The forces of the kingdom were composed of levies, an elite core of warriors, and then the auxiliary naval forces."

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