264
THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
" In the years succeeding the date of his coronation, East Anglia could
boast of peace and prosperity beyond that of the other Saxon kingdoms, but
the shadow of the terrible Northmen's raven soon caused gloom through-
out the land, and in 865 the shores of England were invaded by 20,000
pagan Danes. I may not occupy your time with the story of the next five or
six years but pass to the sad year A.D. 870, when East Anglia's dauntless
Christian king vainly fought the pagan host. Chronicles of the mediaeval
monks tell how boldly the king, then 29 years old, bore himself before his
conquerors and persecutors.
" The final scene was enacted on a gloomy November day in the Forest
of Eglesdune (now represented by Hoxne, near Eye in Suffolk). Here the
pagan savages bound the king to an oak tree, scourged his body and made him
a target for their iron-tipped arrows, finally cutting off his head.
Greensted Church, near Ongar.
(From a Print dated 1809. Block lent by Mr. A. Lockyer.)
" The story goes on to tell that when the Danish host had gone thundering
on to further pillage, the body was sought for by Christian Saxons, that they
found it in an open clearing, but discovered not the head till in the depths of
the forest they heard a voice as of the king cry "here ! here ! here!" And
there they saw a strange sight--a great grey wolf crouching down with its
paws expanded and between them the head of the monarch! Peacefully
giving up possession, the wolf retired and the mourning Saxons gave the
remains burial near the forest.
" There the body rested for 33 years, till in A.D. 903 it was translated to
Beodricsworth, the place afterwards known as St. Edmund's Burh, now
Bury St. Edmund's, where it remained peacefully for over 100 years.