and the midlands of Roman Britain; the Saxons came to the Thames, and
won the plains and the downs of the south-east. In 577 the Saxons,
after the battle of Deorham, pierced to the western sea at the mouth
of the Severn; they crept up along the valley of the Severn, burning
the great Roman towns. Before they reached Chester and the Dee,
however, they were defeated at the battle of Fethanlea in 584. But
the Angles soon appeared, from the north; and after their victory at
Chester in 613, they won the plains right to the Irish Sea.

Wales was now surrounded on the land side by a people who spoke
strange languages, and who worshipped different gods, for the Angles
and the Saxons were heathens. From the sea also it was open to
attack. Sometimes the Irish came. But the most feared of all were
the Danes, whose sudden appearance and quick movements and desperate
onslaughts were the terror of the age. The "black Danes" came from
the fords of Norway, the "white Danes" from the plains of Sweden and
Denmark. The Danes settled on the south coast: Tenby is a Danish
name. Offa, the king of the Mercian Angles, took the rich lands
between the Severn and the Wye; but Offa's Dyke (Clawdd Offa) is
probably the work of some earlier people whose history has been lost.
It was only by incessant fighting that the enemy could be kept at
bay.

Of all the kings who tried to defend his country against the enemies
which now stood round it, the greatest is Rhodri, called Rhodri Mawr-
-"the Great." From 844 to 877, by battles on sea and land, he broke
the spell of Danish and Saxon victories; and his might and wisdom
enabled him to lead his country in those dark days. Like Alfred of
Wessex, who lived at the same time and faced the same task, he
stemmed the torrent of Danish invasion and beat the sea-rovers on