Battle of Brunanburh The Battle of Brunanburh was an English victory in 937 by the army of Æthelstan , King of England , and his brother Edmund over the combined armies of Olaf III Guthfrithson , the Norse – Gael King of Dublin ; Constantine II , King of Alba ; and Owen I , King of Strathclyde . Though relatively little known today , it was called " the greatest single battle in Anglo - Saxon history before the Battle of Hastings . " Michael Livingston claimed that Brunanburh marks " the moment when Englishness came of age . " The site of the battle is not known , though modern scholarship suggests that somewhere in the Wirral Peninsula is likely . Mention of the battle is made in dozens of sources , in Old English , Latin , Irish , Welsh , Icelandic , and Middle English , and there are many later accounts or responses to the battle , including those by Alfred , Lord Tennyson and Jorge Luis Borges . A contemporary record of the battle is found in the Old English poem " Battle of Brunanburh " , preserved in the " Anglo - Saxon Chronicle " . Sources . Livingston identified at least fifty - three medieval sources containing references to the battle , including important accounts from the " Anglo - Saxon Chronicle " , the writings of Anglo - Norman historian William of Malmesbury , the " Annals of Clonmacnoise " , and Snorri Sturluson ' s " Egils saga " , whose antihero , mercenary berserker and skald Egill Skallagrimsson , served as a trusted warrior for Æthelstan . Background . Following Æthelstan ' s defeat of the Vikings at York in 927 , at Eamont , near Penrith , King Constantine of Scotland , King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth , Ealdred of Bamburgh , and King Owain of Strathclyde ( or Morgan ap Owain of Gwent ) accepted Æthelstan ' s overlordship . He was proclaimed King of the English , and a period of relative peace followed . Æthelstan ' s successful invasion of Scotland in 934 , was suggested by John of Worcester to be the result of King Constantine ' s breaking of this treaty . Though they had all been enemies in living memory , the threat of Æthelstan was enough to bring together an alliance between the king of Dublin , Olaf Guthfrithsson ; the Scottish King Constantine II ; and Owen of Strathclyde . Livingston points out that to come together " they had agreed to set aside whatever political , cultural , historical , and even religious differences they might have had in order to achieve one common purpose : to destroy Æthelstan . " After defeating a rival Norse king whose name is recorded in Old Irish documents as Amlaíb Cenncairech at Limerick in August 937 , Olaf Guthfrithsson crossed the Irish Sea with his army to join the forces of Constantine and Owen , suggesting that the Battle of Brunanburh probably occurred in early October of that year . Livingston theorizes that the invading allied armies entered England in two waves : Constantine and Owen came from the north , possibly engaging in some early skirmishes with forces loyal to Æthelstan as they followed the Roman road across the Lancashire Plains between Carlisle and Manchester , with Olaf ' s forces joining with him en route . It is possible , Livingston speculates , that the eventual battlesite at Brunanburh was then chosen in an agreement with Æthelstan : " there would be one fight , and to the victor went England . " Battle . The medieval records of the battle are too elusive to trace the course of the battle with any surety , but the sources consistently describe it as a massive and bloody engagement even within the context of warfare in the Middle Ages . The famous poem about the battle in the " Anglo - Saxon Chronicle " records the deaths of five kings and seven earls among Æthelstan ' s enemies , along with ( or among them ) Constantine ' s son : Æthelweard ' s " Chronicle " notes that the battle was still called " the great war " by people in his day . Henry of Huntingdon describes the aftermath of carrion : The " Annals of Ulster " describes the battle similarly : The largest list of those killed at the battle comes from the " Annals of Clonmacnoise " and names several kings and princes . Battle site . The location of the battle appears in various forms in the sources : " Brunanburh " ( in the " Anglo - Saxon Chronicle " or the chronicle of John of Worcester , or in accounts derived from them ) , " Brunandune " ( Aethelweard ) , " Brunnanwerc " or " Bruneford " or " Weondune " ( Symeon of Durham and accounts derived from him ) , " Brunefeld " or " Bruneford " ( William of Malmesbury and accounts derived from him ) , " Duinbrunde " ( Scottish traditions ) , " Brun " ( Welsh traditions ) , " plaines of othlynn " ( " Annals of Clonmacnoise " ) , and " Vinheithr " ( " Egil ' s Saga " ) , among others . The name of Bromborough , a settlement in the Wirral , may be derived from Old English " Brunanburh " ( meaning ' Brun ' s fort ' ) . While the location will likely never be known with certainty , additional evidence has been claimed associating Brunanburh with Bromborough , taken from evidence of history , folklore studies , and literature . According to Michael Livingston , the case for a location in the Wirral has strong support among current historians . Additional onomastic arguments have been used to connect " Dingesmere " ( a location associated with the battle in the " Anglo - Saxon Chronicle " ) with Thingwall in Wirral , in order to strengthen the Brunanburh - Bromborough link . Because the earliest sources in the " Anglo - Saxon Chronicle " locate the battle as taking place " ymbe Brunanburh " ( " around Brunanburh " ) , numerous locations on the Wirral near Bromborough have been put forward as the site of the battle , including the Brackenwood Golf Course in Bebington , Wirral . Though many scholars today appear to have accepted a " near Bromborough " location , dozens of sites for the battle have been suggested in the past . Paul Hill has identified over thirty possibilities , some of which are still defended by local interest groups ( see discussion of Shelfield Hill , below ) or minority critics . These alternatives include : In addition , Brunanburh is also named ‘ Wendune ’ by Symeon of Durham , the Wen - element remaining in the village of Winwall , next to the battlefield ( near Colne ) & the name ‘ Vinheath ’ given by Egil ’ s Saga . Both ‘ heath ’ & ‘ dune ’ relate to the wide , raised land that the field lies on , as the word dun being , ‘ consistenly used for a low hill with a fairly extensive summit which provided a good settlement - site in open country ( Margaret Gelling ) . One final named for the battle , on ‘ The Plains of Othlynn ( Annals of Clonmacnoise ) connects to the Domesday Book ’ s Othlei , for Otley , whose lands stretched at least as far as Ilkley , a few short miles from the field . These are not the only sites suggested , but they are those most commonly put forth . Aftermath . Æthelstan ' s defeat of the combined Norse - Celtic force facing him confirmed England as a fully unified kingdom . However , he was militarily weakened and the battle effectively forced all constituent parts of the British Isles to consolidate in the positions they occupy today . The Battle of Brunanburh still has a great deal of influence in Malmesbury , Wiltshire , south of any probable site . The townsfolk of Malmesbury fought for King Æthelstan , and he granted them five hides ( ) of land and gave them all freemen status . This status and the organisation formed then exists today , as the Warden and Freemen of Malmesbury , and Athelstan is remembered in their ceremonies . When Æthelstan died , his body was transported from Gloucester to Malmesbury for burial .