born in 849 to Æthelwulf (King of Wessex) and Osburh (the first wife of Æthelwulf). He became King of Wessex on April 23rd, 871 shortly after his brother Æthelred died. As king, Alfred the Great defended his kingdom from the Vikings that attempted to take over Wessex and by the time of his death, he was the dominant ruler of England. Alfred is one of the only two English monarchs who were given the epithet “the Great” (which was given by writers in the sixteenth century) and he was the first to style himself as “King of the Anglo-Saxons.”
Alfred is said to have been a devout Christian and a pious leader. He promoted English rather than Latin so that the translations he had commissioned would be viewed as untainted by late Roman Catholics with influences from the Normans. Alfred was described as a learned and merciful man with a gracious and level-headed nature. He also encouraged education in his kingdom, as well as improving the legal system, military structure and the quality of his people’s lives.
While his biographer was Bishop Asser (who Alfred commissioned) did emphasize the more positive aspects and didn’t dwell on any of the ruthlessness that any King during that time would have, later historians also reinforced his favorable image. In 1441, Henry VI attempted to have Alfred the Great canonized as a saint. The attempt failed but some Catholics do regard him as a saint, the Anglican Communion regards him as a Christian hero (with a feast day on October 26th). And he his often found depicted in the stained glasses in Church of England parish churches.
Throughout his life, Alfred the Great suffered through a painful illness. And while his death, which occurred on October 26th, 899 was due to unknown causes, his illness may very well have been the cause. Due to the detailed account in Bishop Asser’s biography of the late King, many modern doctors have given possible diagnoses. It’s mostly believed that he suffered from Crohn’s disease (a type of inflammatory bowel disease) or haemorrhoidal disease (Hemorrhoids).
Alfred the Great was originally (but temporarily) buried in the Old Minster in Winchester. Four years after his death, he moved to the New Minster (which may have been built for him). When the New Minster moved to Hyde in 1100, the monks and Alfred’s body (and those presumably of his wife and children) were transferred to Hyde Abbey. During Henry VIII’s reign, in 1539 the church was demolished (but the graves were left intact). In 1788, while a prison was being constructed by convicts, the graves were probably rediscovered. Coffins were stripped of lead and the bones were scattered and/or lost. The prison was then demolished between 1846 and 1850. And excavations in 1866 and 1897 were inconclusive. In 1866, an amateur antiquarian named John Mellor recovered somes from the site and claimed they were King Alfred’s. They then went to a vicar of the nearby St. Bartholomew’s Church and were buried in an unmarked grave. In 1999, an archaeological excavation uncovered a second pit in front of where the high alter would have been. The dig uncovered foundations of the abbey buildings and some bones (which at the time suggested they were Alfred but were later proved to belong to an elderly woman).
In 2013, the Diocese of Winchester exhumed the bones from the unmarked grave at St. Bartholomew’s and put them in a secure storage. They were radiocarbon dated which told them that the bones were from the 1300′s, meaning they aren’t Alfred’s. However, in January 2014, a fragment of a pelvis bone from the 1999 dig was also radiocarbon dated and has been suggested that it either belongs to Alfred or his son Edward the Elder. But it still remains unproven.
Old English Psalms Edited and translated by Patrick P. O’Neill Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 42 The Latin psalms figured prominently in the lives of the Anglo-Saxons, whether sung in the Divine Office by clerics, studied as a textbook for language learning by students, or recited in private devotion by lay people. They were also translated into Old English, first in prose and later in verse.…
Summary:Words can hurt a person. Alfred is really on that fact to get you on his side and tell him what he wants to know. If he has to use the fact that you are adopted by Ubbe, then so be it.
Warnings:dark!alfred, basically verbal abuse, strong language, mentions of death, reader is an orphan, mentions of adoption, dark content, angst, manipulation
You stare out the window, watching the sun slowly starting to set, darkening the sky. It only marks another day of your absence at the camp where you should be with your kin. You thought they would have found you by now but as the days fade away, so do your hopes.
Perhaps you aren’t as important to Ubbe as you were led to believe.
Hearing the cell door grind open, you turn your head away from the window to see the King that had imprisoned you here walk in. Alfred the Great. You can’t understand what’s so great about the Saxon King if he had to kidnap and place you in a cell to find out the plans for your Heathen people.
Alfred glances over his shoulder to the guards, telling them to leave with a silent nod and a wave of his hand. He then looks back at you, his tongue running over his lips as he takes a gentle, graceful step forward. “Are you going to behave today? Or shall I call the guards back?” he questions, tilting his head to the side as he folds his hands in front of him, showing off the shiny rings on his fingers.
“They’re going to start looking for me, if they haven’t already. And when they find me, my father’s going to make you cry out for your God and you’re going to wish you hadn’t taken me,” you spit out at him.
It makes him chuckle, his eyes reverting down to his feet as he takes another step forward. “They would have found you by now if they were looking for you. I don’t think your father, Ubbe Ragnarsson, cares much about the orphan child he burdened himself with,” Alfred says, his eyes lifting back to you making you slink back against the cold, stone wall behind you.
His words are cold and malicious, cutting into your heart as he tries again to break you down. You know this is his plan to get you to talk and you thought you would be strong enough to not let his words get to you. But in the dark of the night, they come back to your mind, floating around no matter how hard you try to swat them away. They linger, making you think if somehow they are true.
Ubbe didn’t need to take you in as his child. He didn’t need to claim you as his child even though there is no blood relation between you. You were found in the woods, swaddled in your dead mother’s arms beside your dead father. Ubbe could have left you for the wolves instead of burdening himself, his wife, and his other legitimate child with bringing you up.
So why did he save you?
“In time, he’s going to find a way to use what he did against you, make you do something for him. That’s the only reason why he saved your life,” Alfred speaks, making you think that he has read your mind now. “It is harsh times we live in, (Y/n). Why else would he give his family another mouth to feed if he saw something he could use you for?”
“Stop it. You’re lying,” you whisper, pushing yourself off the wall to walk past him, trying to get as much space between you and him as the cell will allow.
“If he really cared about you as much as you think he does, none of this would have happened. People would have been keeping an eye on you, they would have prevented my men from capturing you. Ubbe’s children are treated like royalty in your homeland, as far as I know. Well, his real children. No one cares about the adopted orphan,” Alfred continues, following you around the cell.
“Stop.”
“I’ve watched them since you’ve come here. After they discovered you’ve gone missing, they haven’t made a move.”
“Stop it!”
“They’re still there. In their settlements. Making no plan to come and rescue you.”
“Stop it!”
“They’ll leave you here to rot as you should have when you were a baby!”
“Enough!” you shout, turning around to yell in his face, showing him how the tears are now streaming down your cheeks. You’re shaking, your arms coming up to wrap themselves around your body to try and calm yourself down. “I can’t take words like that anymore. Please don’t say things like that anymore,” you beg, sinking to your knees as you let out a small sob. “Please stop.”
Alfred smiles to himself, thinking that he has done it. He has broken you. He has made you doubt the security you have in Ubbe’s family and he has made you doubt yourself.
Now he only has to plant the seed that he is the only person you can trust now.
He steps forward, places his hand gently on top of your head, making you jump as you look up at him. “My dear (Y/n). I say these things so that they do not hurt you when you realize it too late. Do you think your father would still love you if he knew how weak you are now?”
Those words make you cast your eyes to the ground in shame. It is a shame to be weak, to be seen as weak. And if people know you as Ubbe’s child, adopted or not, it would bring shame to him to be known as seen as weak.
“Do you think your father would still love you if he knew how you kneel in mercy before me, his enemy?”
That makes you close your eyes, causing more tears to roll down your cheek as Alfred moves his hand to cup your face. “You cannot go back now, can you, (Y/n)?”
You shake your head. People would know. They’d know that you didn’t fight your way out of your imprisonment. They would know that you had been set free out of pity or mercy. Ubbe wouldn’t welcome you with open arms or a loving embrace. You don’t mean that much to him anyway.
“I am all you have now. I am the only one who cares.”
You lift your gaze up to him as he wipes a tear away with his thumb. He holds out his hand for you, helping you off the ground and to your feet as he pushes the loose hair out of your face.
“Now, help me understand why they are here again and I will help you.”
You bite your bottom lip, tense up at the thought of betraying your clan, and let out a shaky breath. “I don’t-”
“I’ll let you think about it. After you’ve eaten something, rested on a bed, and had a hot bath,” Alfred gently says, coming to stand beside you so he can start leading you out of the cell.
You can’t deny that all those things sound amazing now after spending days in that cell. You’re not sure if this is Alfred’s plan to get you to talk, but when you look at him and his eyes, they seem softer and caring. Unlike how they were when he walked in.
You keep telling yourself that you shouldn’t feel guilty about accepting his offer. Perhaps he just wants to make peace now. Maybe this is his apology for treating you like shit these past few days.
You doubt you’d get the same treatment if you were to return to the Heathen Settlement…
Alfred leans against the wall, keeping his eyes on you to make sure you don’t wake. If you do, it will ruin everything he planned. He’s just glad the Viking agreed to all of this, not that he doubted he would turn it down.
He told the son of Ragnar not to knock on the door when he gets here, as to not wake you. The door opens, quietly, just as Alfred asked, and in walks Ubbe Ragnarsson.
Ubbe glances at the bed where you lay fast asleep as he closes the door behind him. Then, he looks over at your husband, the King, as he comes to stand beside him. “You are sure about this?”
“I would have had guards at the door waiting to kill you if I changed my mind,” Alfred responds, turning his head to look at Ubbe, unfolding his arms from over his chest, and moving over to the door to lock it. He doesn’t want anyone walking in on what’s about to happen. He would lose his crown if that happens.
The Viking looks back at the bed, shifts on his feet before walking over to you. His eyes skim over your body, his tongue licking over his lip at the sight of you wearing a sheer nightgown because of the hot night. The only source of light in the room is the single candle lit in the window, casting a beautiful shadow over your face. It reminds Ubbe of his attraction towards you. It’s what made agreeing to this easy. He just hopes this is not some kind of wicked test by Alfred.
Alfred settles in the chair in the corner of the room, watching the scene play out in front of him intently, resting his chin on the back of his fingers. He smiles to himself. You don’t know what’s about to happen to you in your sleeping state. It makes a dark jolt of excitement wash over his body.
Slowly, Ubbe Ragnarsson pulls the light blanket away from your body and off the bed, dropping it to the floor as he kneels on the bed. It makes it better that you’re laying on your stomach, allowing Ubbe to run his eyes over the curves of your hips that lead into your legs.
He runs his fingers up your leg, hooking them under the hem of the nightgown, lifting it as he raises his hand up your leg. You let out a soft mewl, shifting onto your side before falling onto your back with a deep sigh. It gives Ubbe a chance to glance over more of your body, especially now that it’s not covered with layers and layers of modest clothing.
The hem of your nightgown falls over your hips, allowing Ubbe to settle between your legs, pushing them apart as he runs his hands up your thighs.
Now, he doesn’t care if you wake up or not.
He kisses up the inside of your thigh, his hands grabbing your hips gently as his face moves closer and closer to your core.
Alfred shifts in his seat as he watches the Viking’s head disappear between your legs. He didn’t think it would arouse something in him, but it does, making a strain grow in his pants.
Your eyes flutter open at the feeling of lips fluttering against the inside of your legs and a small moan leaves your lips when a tongue licks through your folds. Your mind goes to thinking that it’s your husband between your legs, but when you feel the pricking of a beard against the skin of your thighs, you know right away that this is not your husband.
You don’t have enough time to register this and you can’t because of the pleasure filling you from the mouth on your pussy. Even if this is not your husband, this person does know what they’re doing. Their tongue moves with precision, knowing where to lick and where to suck. They know who to give a woman pleasure with their tongue.
You arch your back off the bed, grinding down on the man’s mouth as you let out another, louder moan.
The pleasure grows in your body, your stomach feeling like it’s turning into knots as you throw your head back against the pillow. But something catches your eye, making you turn your head to the side where you see Alfred sitting in a chair in the corner of the room.
His dark eyes lock with yours as your climax hits you, shame filling you as you let out a loud moan while looking at your husband, the man who’s not giving you this pleasure.
“What…” you whisper out, turning your head down to the man between your legs, your heart skipping a beat when you notice that it’s Ubbe. You can’t deny that you’ve struggled to take your eyes off of him when you first saw him, but you didn’t think that Alfred suspected anything.
The Viking has a smug grin on his face after he wipes his hand over his mouth. He crawls up your body, caging you in to prevent you from trying to escape. You place your hands on his chest, your eyes growing wide as they flicker between Alfred and Ubbe. “What are you doing?” you whisper, shifting under him as he presses his body against yours.
Ubbe turns your gaze back to him, his thumb stroking your bottom lip. “Don’t mind your husband. He called me here,” he says.
You dig your nails into Ubbe’s shoulders as you feel him lining his cock up with your entrance. “Why? I don’t understand,” you breathe out, turning your head back to your husband in the corner of the room.
Alfred shifts in his chair again, adjusting the strain in his pants at the sight of another man about to fuck his wife. And if what he’s heard about how the Vikings fuck their women, you’re in for a time tonight.
“Because I’ve seen the way you’ve looked at him. How you look at his other men,” Alfred starts, waving his hand to gesture at the man hovering above you, slipping his cock into you. “After tonight, I hope that my message sticks in your head that you will not fuck another man. Unless I say so, that is,” he says, smirking at you when your mouth falls in a moan as Ubbe starts to grind his hips against yours. “If you’re going to act like a Heathen and have impure thoughts like one, you might as well be fucked by one.”
“And I will happily oblige to do so,” Ubbe whispers in your ear, grabbing your hips roughly after earning an approving nod from Alfred to go ahead.
With the look in Alfred’s eyes, the hard bump in his pants showing how aroused this scene is for him, and the smile on his face as he watches you moaning under another man and your body convulsing in pleasure, it’s definite that this is going to happen again in the future.
Alfred the Great: buys just enough canned food and duct tape to the point where you’re not overly concerned but you are pretty sure he’s a doomsday prepper
Aethelflaed: fills three carts with snack cakes, those church basement paper cups, and generic brand soda because no one can negotiate a surrender on an empty stomach
Athelstan: that is far too much coffee
Aethelred the Unready: just buying every single item on his wife’s list. This is the fourth store he’s been to because Emma is very specific.
Cnut: only came here for all his Special Haircare Products
William the Conqueror: fills up a cart and just leaves without paying. just fucking books it to the parking lot I hate him
Matilda: comes in with three rowdy boys, tells them to not ask for ANYTHING, buys an armload of 5-hour energies, leaves with two rowdy boys
Henry II: walks around the store eating a bag of grapes he has not bought while Eleanor does the actual shopping
Richard I: will find a way to talk about his study abroad last year with the deli guy if it kills him. Is also texting his mom to ask what groceries he needs to buy because he has no idea
John: verbally berating everyone in customer service because they won’t let him return a dented can of peas that expired 7 years ago
Edward I: tries to use a 24 year old coupon to buy lentils in bulk (he doesn’t even like lentils?) and knocks over an elaborate pepsi display in a fit of rage
Edward II: has his card declined and demands to know why the cashier had to be so loud about it
Edward III: says “guess it’s FREE THEN HAHAHA!!!” when an item doesn’t scan right away. several items do not scan. Gets a veteran’s discount.
Richard II: that’s uhhh… a lot of advil there buddy
Henry V: also has his card declined but drops the “DO YOU KNOW WHO MY FATHER IS” line, is dressed like lucky luciano
Henry VI: begins to panic when Margaret leaves him in line for two minutes because she forgot eggs. the line is moving quickly…so quickly
Edward IV: he has one cart filled with wine. Elizabeth Woodville has another filled with kid cuisines.
Henry VII: pulls out the fattest binder you have ever seen and it’s filled with coupons. His transactions usually take 2 hours and he tsks the entire time.
Henry VIII: buys bags of charcoal and dog food just so he can pick them all up and be like “yeah this isn’t even heavy to me I don’t even feel it” also buys condoms and laughs nervously
Edward VI: literally just buying root vegetables even though he’s 9 because he is so weird
Mary I: just coming in for her weekly supply of “praying for you” cards, always gives exact change thank you mary
Elizabeth I (if these even count as medieval anymore): no longer allowed to do her own shopping after the sweet n low incident. Now a personal shopper gets her groceries for her. it is robert dudley
Uhtred: What if the person who named Walkie Talkies named everything? Uhtred: Like socks are Feetie Heaties. Finan: Forks are Stabbie Grabbies. Sihtric: Defibrillators are Heartie Starties. Osferth: Nightmares are Dreamie Screamies. Alfred, to a visiting king: Yes, these are my warriors.
Uhtred: Here you are Alfred, a nice hot cup of coffee. Alfred: It’s cold. Uhtred: A nice cup of coffee. Alfred: It’s horrible. Uhtred: A cup of coffee. Alfred: I’m not even sure this is coffee. Uhtred: A cup.
Uhtred: I’m using my veto. Alfred: Veto? You don’t get a veto. Uhtred: You veto my ideas all the time! Alfred: That’s because your ideas are the worst! Uhtred: Name one!
Uhtred: Hey Alfred, it’s really muggy outside today. Alfred: If I step outside and all the mugs are on the front lawn, I’m firing you. Uhtred: … [casually sips coffee from a bowl]
Uhtred: …Take one down, pass it around, two jugs of ale on the wall! Well, that’s all, I’m heading home now. Alfred: You made it all the way down to two and you’re quitting now?? Uhtred: Just drives you nuts, doesn’t it Alfred?
uhtred: hey alfred if you give me bebbanburg i’ll help you unite england alfred: sure but only if you help me first uhtred:fine
[season 2]
uhtred: alfred i did what you asked, give me bebbanburg alfred: no ask me later i’m doing kingly things uhtred: wow ok
((slavery happens))
uhtred: i’m back wanna talk about bebbanburg alfred:no uhtred: but you said- alfred: no uhtred: alfred i’m Tired can i have bebbanburg please alfred: you obviously haven’t worked hard enough for it, try again later uhtred: oh come on-
[season 3]
uhtred: alfred i have fought wars for you and your children and i have done everything you’ve asked of me what more do you want uhtred: you are DYING and i will NOT live the rest of my life a slave, i demand you give me bebbanburg alfred: ok fair enough, you can have bebbanburg. mad props to you. thanks for helping me out go talk to my son uhtred: really? aight neat
[season 4]
uhtred: hey can i have bebbanburg back now edward:no uhtred:wHAT edward: i make the rules now punk
