Æthelred of Wessex of Mercia, appealed to him for help against the Vikings. Æthelred and his brother, the future Alfred the Great, led a West Saxon army to Nottingham, but there was no decisive battle, and Burgred bought off the Vikings. In 874 the Vikings defeated Burgred and drove him into exile. In 870 the Vikings turned their attention to Wessex, and on 4 January 871 at the Battle of Reading, Æthelred suffered a heavy defeat. Although he was able to re-form his army in time to win a victory at the Battle of Ashdown, he suffered further defeats on 22 January at
The Daughter Of King Under-Waves bundle of rushes, and they were glad to see each other. She told him she had lost three gulps of blood; when he told her he had them, she told him she needed the cup of Righ Magh an Ioghnaidh, the King of Plain of Wonder, to drink from to recover. He set out and came to a rivulet he could not cross. A little russet man brought him over, and he reached the castle. There he shouted that he wanted either the cup or battle, and the king three times sent out forces against him, and Diarmaid killed them