![]() ![]() The proverbial White Horse values held by the forces of progress in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are now often the “conservative values” of our modern era, and are seen as irrelevant or bigoted by the forces of progress today. They may hold to a principle or two, and quite vehemently, but over the generations it will have no holding power. Just as the Vikings abandoned the works of pagan predecessors, so too we see the liberal let rot the values once deemed progressive by their forerunners. As pointed by Alfred, the great pagan work of the White Horse vale is preserved by the Christian Anglo-Saxons, while allowed to disappear into oblivion by the pagan Vikings. The goal posts of the nihilistic mind are always changing. That though we scatter and though we fly,Īlfred also notes the overgrown pagan carving of the White Horse vale, as the Christians have no longer been able to maintain it:Īnd the owls moaned from the mighty trees, ![]() Each of the Viking lords take a turn at the harp, which presently returns to Alfred: Christianity has apparently made us weak, and somehow Christ cannot compare to a particular political philosophy, scientific discovery, or in some cases even a pre-Christian deity, whose memory in fact has only been preserved by Christianity. These few verses sung by Harold sum up a mind-numbingly common refrain that is heard in the Alt-Right/New Right, at least in American circles. Harold is the youngest and first Viking to take the harp and respond: Alfred is brought before the Danish leaders, including King Guthrum and his nephew Harold, where he is bade to sing and tells Anglo-Saxon war tales while playing his harp. He observes that it has grown over in the years since the Danish occupation, thick with weeds. In Book III, Alfred is making his way across the White Horse Vale, the magnificent pre-Anglo-Saxon carving of a horse cut into the white chalk hill. Chesterton, a prominent English writer during the twentieth century, penned the epic poem Ballad of the White Horse to commemorate the life and deeds of Alfred, and to serve as an allegory of the conflict between Christianity and nihilism that had grown in the West, and is with us today. One of the stories that emerged around Alfred at this time was that he dressed himself as a bard and made his way to the Danish camp to observe their forces and meet their leaders, for whom he played his harp and sang. From this marshy island fortress Alfred planned and organized his resistance, gathering faithful Christian men of the surrounding shires to his banner. This last kingdom was now a small ember burning on the island of Athelney. One by one, each of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had fallen, until Wessex stood alone as the only English-speaking and Christian kingdom left. In 878, these Danish Vikings made a surprise assault on Chipenham, with Alfred and a small group of his associates escaping to the forest and marshlands of Somerset. By 876, under Guthrum, a new group of Vikings invaded Wessex. Alfred sued for peace and paid the Vikings to leave Wessex, which they did for a time, simply moving on to other Christian Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. ![]() Athelred died in April of 871 after another defeat at the Battle of Merton in March, making Alfred king at the age of 22 and leader of the resistance against the Vikings. Wessex was Alfred’s kingdom found in the south of England, where the West Saxons settled. The very same year a joint invasion force of Vikings led by Ivar the Boneless, called the “Great Heathen Army”, invaded England.Įngland at this time was not in fact England, but a collection of minor kingdoms whose fortunes waxed and waned through the centuries. Alfred was now suddenly second in line to the throne at the young age of 16. Alfred’s two eldest brothers died after brief reigns, and in 865 his third eldest brother, Athelred, ascended the throne at the age of 18. Despite this assortment of personal setbacks, England very well may have ceased to be England without his toil, tenacity, and sacrifice. Beyond even these hurdles Alfred was sickly and struggled with some sort of gastrointestinal disease that caused him severe discomfort throughout his life. Alfred, fourth and last son of his father King Athelwulf by his wife Osburh, was never supposed to be king and in fact may have originally been intended for the clergy. ![]()
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