Battle of Reading (871) a camp at Reading, defended by the Thames and Kennet rivers on two sides, and by a rampart on the western side. Three days after their arrival, a party of Danes rode out towards nearby Englefield, where a West Saxon force under the command of Æthelwulf, the Ealdorman of the shire, was waiting for them. In the ensuing Battle of Englefield many of the Danes were killed, and the rest driven back to Reading. Four days later, Æthelwulf had been joined by the main West Saxon army, led by King Æthelred and his brother, Alfred the Great. The entire Saxon
The Summer of the Danes the Danes in full battle array. Gwion takes the moment to charge his own men again. Owain orders his men to stop. There are more casualties. Gwion takes a fatal wound from Otir. In the presence of Cadfael and Owain, Gwion confesses to the murder at Aber. His compatriot Bledri would not ride to Cadwaladr that night. The horse was gone. Cadwaladr received no intelligence, so the murder gained him nothing. His death is rough justice for the murder Gwion committed at Aber. Heledd accepts her capture by Ieuan equably. She approaches what had been Otir's camp. At sunset, Turcaill