Norse activity in the British Isles the back and left shaggy on the front, whilst in contrast to this the latter typically wore their hair long. Under the reign of Wessex King Edgar the Peaceful, England came to be further politically unified, with Edgar coming to be recognized as the king of all England by both Anglo-Saxon and Norse populations living in the country. However, under the regimes of his son Edward the Martyr, who was murdered in 978, and then Æthelred the Unready, the political strength of the English monarchy waned, and in 980 Viking raiders from Scandinavia once more started making attacks against England.
Æthelstan Half-King brother Ælfstan became Ealdorman of some parts of Mercia at about the same time and both of them may have participated in king Æthelstan's invasion of Scotland in 934. His other brothers, Eadric and Æthelwald, were witnessing charters as Ealdormen by 940. Æthelstan and his family were supporters of the monastic reforms of Saint Dunstan which introduced the Benedictine rule to Glastonbury. Both Glastonbury, and Abingdon Abbey, were endowed by Æthelstan. Æthelstan's wife was named Ælfwynn. Her family came from the east Midlands. She was foster-mother of King Edgar of England. Ælfwynn's lands would later endow Ramsey Abbey, refounded by