The primary sources for the location of the battle are Asser's "Life of King Alfred", which names the place as ""Ethandun"" and the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", which has "Eðandun". The chronicle was compiled during the reign of Alfred the Great and is thus a contemporary record. It is believed that Asser's "Life" was originally written in 893; however, no contemporary manuscript survives. A version of the Life written in about 1000, known as the "Cotton Otho A. xii" text, lasted until 1731 when it was destroyed in a fire. Before its destruction this version had been transcribed and annotated; it is this transcription on which modern translations are based. Some scholars have suggested that Asser's life of King Alfred was a forgery.