Title: The battle of Brunanburgh and its period elucidated by place-names
Description: I have a copy of this book signed by the Author from 1931. It uses place names in the Yorkshire area to show the battle was fought near Rotherham where I live. Place name history is only one part in a jigsaw to me and John Henry stretches the reader's imagination a little in my view. However, what has stood the test of time, is his maps of the Saxon fortifications of north Mercia and Northumbria. These have been rightly used by other authors. I think he was correct in his location of the general area of the Battle of Brunanburgh but for the wrong reasons. Current thinking indicates three potential sites in southern Yorkshire but if Michael Woods assessment of the numbers of combatants is accurate, the battle could have stretched to all three. The theory is based on Brunanburgh being the Roman Fort of Morbium at Templeborough near Rotherham. ( I personally am the author of a historical novel, Brunanburgh). My assessment of the real history can be found on Rotherham Archaeology Society's web site  www.rasociety.org   John Henry Cockburn did his best here with the information available at the time. The Roman fort had only recently been completely excavated by Thomas May and the indormation published in 1921. May's local assiatant Dorothy Green may have assisted Cockburn with the book She was very active in local history and archaeology until her death in the 1960s and she published much information in her own right. In conclusion when looking for the site of Brunanburgh, don't lose sight of the objective, Analf wanted to be king in York and most likely went there. Athelstan attacke him from the English midlands from behnd his border forts. The reat as they say, is history.
Subjects: Brunanburh, Battle of, 937, Geographical Names, Vikings, Brunanburgh
Places: England, Mercia, Northumbria, Rotherham, Brinsworth, Templeborough
People: Athelstan, Anlaf, Constantine, Owein, Tennyson, Borges
Time periods: 937