In the year 878 AD Alfred, King of Wessex, faced the fourth and most serious attempt by the devious Viking chieftain Guthram to seize the last remaining Saxon kingdom. Thwarted in their conventional attempts in 871, 876 and 878 AD, the Vikings ‘stole away’ from their base in Gloucester and descended on Alfred’s court while they were celebrating Twelfth Night on the borders of wintery Wessex at Chippenham. Alfred escaped but was driven into hiding in the Somerset Marshes, while the Vikings fanned across Wessex. All seemed to be over for Alfred and the Saxons!