The account of the Danish invasions given below is taken from a biography of King Alfred commonly attributed to Asser, a monk of Welsh origin connected with the monastery of St. David (later bishop of Sherborne) and a close friend and adviser of the great king. It gives us some idea of the way in which Alfred led his people through the darkest days in their history, and of the settlement known as the "Peace of Alfred and Guthrum" by which the Danish leader became a Christian and the way was prepared for the later division of the English country between the two contending peoples. Source--Johannes Menevensis Asserius, _De rebus gestis Aelfredi Magni_ [Asser, "The Deeds of Alfred the Great"], Chaps. 42-55 _passim_. Adapted from translation by J. A. Giles in _Six Old English Chronicles_ (London, 1866), pp. 56-63. [Sidenote: Alfred becomes king (871)] [Sidenote: The struggle with the Danes] In the year 871 Alfred, who up to that time had been of only secondary rank, while his brothers were alive, by God's permission, undertook the government of the whole kingdom, welcomed by all the people. Indeed, if he had cared to, he might have done so earlier, even while his brother was still alive;[257] for in wisdom and other qualities he excelled all of his brothers, and, moreover, he was courageous and victorious in all his wars. He became king almost against his will, for he did not think that he could alone withstand the numbers and the fierceness of the pagans, though even during the lifetime of his brothers he had carried burdens enough for many men. And when he had ruled one month, with a small band of followers and on very unequal terms, he fought a battle with the entire army of the pagans. This was at a hill called Wilton, on the south bank of the River Wily, from which river the whole of that district is named.[258] And after a long and fierce engagement the pagans, seeing the danger they were in, and no longer able to meet the attacks of their enemies, turned their backs and fled. But, oh, shame to say, they deceived the English, who pursued them too boldly, and, turning swiftly about, gained the victory. Let no one be surprised to learn that the Christians had only a small number of men, for the Saxons had been worn out by eight battles with the pagans in one year. In these they had slain one king, nine dukes, and innumerable troops of soldiers. There had also been numberless skirmishes, both by day and by night, in which Alfred, with his ministers and chieftains and their men, were engaged without rest or relief against the pagans. How many thousands of pagans fell in these skirmishes God only knows, over and above the numbers slain in the eight battles before mentioned. In the same year the Saxons made peace with the invaders, on condition that they should take their departure, and they did so.