Sources and method
Narrative from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (cited by annal, s.a.), Asser's Life of King Alfred (by chapter) and Æthelweard's chronicle, paraphrased. The Chronicle's year in this period began in autumn or at Christmas, so modern dates for the early annals run up to a year earlier than the annal number. Dates in the 890s follow the corrected chronology; manuscript A numbers several of these annals a year later.
The sources give places, not routes. Lines join the recorded places in order and are schematic; dashed lines mark movements by sea or where the start point is not recorded. Where a site is disputed, the map draws the march to the working location, marks it with a dashed ring, and shows the other candidates as open dots. Pick a different candidate in the panel or tap a dot to redraw the routes. Straight-line distances are computed from the chosen candidates.
Relief, the higher-ground tint (deepening from 40 m to 260 m OD) and the modern coastline come from OS Terrain 50; areas outside it use Natural Earth. The modern coast does not show the 9th-century Wantsum Channel, Limen estuary, Fens or Somerset Levels shoreline. Shaded low ground (below 6 m OD) is a rough guide to former wetland only. Rivers are named main channels from OS Open Rivers; minor ones appear as you zoom in. Roman roads are from Itiner-e (static version 2024): solid where the course is conjectured, dashed where hypothetical. The prehistoric ridgeways are schematic, drawn through principal points. Burhs follow the Burghal Hidage, a text of c. 914–919 that records the defensive system of Alfred's reign; positions are approximate and Eorpeburnan is unlocated.
Site identifications: Ashdown (Peddie; Kelly), Meretun (VCH Wiltshire; Kelly), Cynuit (Plummer; Alexander 1930–31; Clifford; Arnold 2008; Historic England), Egbert's Stone and Iley (EPNS Wiltshire; Kelly, King Alfred: A Man on the Move), Ethandun (consensus Edington, Wiltshire). Camp archaeology: Hadley and Richards, The Viking Great Army and the Making of England (2021).
Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Natural Earth data in the public domain.
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