"Year 200. In this year was found the Holy Rood."

And so on it goes, and every now and again, among entries which
seem to us of little or no importance, we learn something that
throws great light on our past history. And when we come to the
time of Alfred's reign the entries are much more full. From the
Chronicle we learn a great deal about his wars with the Danes,
and of how he fought them both by land and by sea.

The Saxon Chronicle, as it extended over many hundred years, was
of course written by many different people, and so parts of it
are written much better than other parts. Sometimes we find a
writer who does more than merely set down facts, who seems to
have a feeling for how he tells his story, and who tries to make
the thing he writes about living. Sometimes a writer even breaks
into song.

Besides causing the Chronicle to be written, Alfred translated
Bede's History into English. And so that all might learn the
history of their land, he rebuilt the ruined monasteries and
opened schools in them once more. There he ordered that "Every
free-born youth in the Kingdom, who has the means, shall attend
to his book, so long as he have no other business, till he can
read English perfectly."*

*Preface to Boethius' Pastoral Care, translated into English by
Alfred.

Alfred died after having reigned for nearly thirty years. Much