Will linguistic research pinpoint 9th century battlefield?


For years, suspected sites of the battlefield have been at Hoxne in Suffolk, Hellesdon in Norfolk, or at Bradfield St Clare near Bury St Edmunds. Briggs proposes that the site is actually a hill in Essex where the the town of Maldon is now situated, and used historical documents to make his case. The hill, he says, was called Hailesdon, a close match for Hægelisdun. He also believes that place names and personal names prove that the area "was of strategic importance and likely to be a target of the Vikings."