The Battle of Brunanburh: The Yorkshire Hypothesis

Disputes about where the battle of Brunanburh in 937 was fought continue, but in recent years one particular area, Yorkshire, has been proposed by Michael Wood. This article re-examines some of the strategic detail underlying assumptions about York as the goal of the invading forces and the Humber as their place of arrival and departure. It is demonstrated that lines of Castleford’s Chronicle suggested by Wood to refer to the Brunanburh campaign refer to Athelstan’s expedition of 934. The lack of interest of northern sources in the battle suggests that it was not fought in the north-east. The paper then analyses the evidence proposed to support the identifications of Burghwallis as Brunanburh and Went Hill as We(o)ndun and demonstrates that these identifications are implausible. It is concluded that the “Yorkshire context” of the battle argued for by Wood is not supported by the evidence he deploys.