History of Reading, Berkshire earlier folk, or tribal, name. Anglo-Saxon names ending in "-ingas" originally referred not to a place but to a people, in this case specifically the descendants or followers of a man named "Reada", literally "The Red One." In late 870 an army of Danes invaded the then kingdom of Wessex and set up camp at Reading. On 4 January 871, the first Battle of Reading took place, when an army led by King Ethelred and his brother Alfred the Great attempted unsuccessfully to breach the Danes' defences. The battle is described in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", and this account provides the
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