To the West Saxons belongs nearly the whole of Anglo-Saxon prose.  Whatever may have existed in Northumbria perished in the inroads of the Northmen, except such parts as may have been incorporated in West Saxon writings.  It will be remembered, however, that the great Northumbrian prose writers had held to the Latin as their medium.  The West Saxon prose literature may be said to begin in Alfred’s reign.

The most important production that we have to consider is the famous Anglo-Saxon ‘Chronicle.’  It covers with more or less completeness the period from 449 to 1154.  This was supplemented by fanciful genealogies leading back to Woden, or even to Adam.  It is not known when the practice of jotting down in the native speech notices of contemporary events began, but probably in very early times.  It is believed, however, that no intelligent effort to collect and present them with order and system was made until the middle of the ninth century.  In the oldest of the seven MSS. in which it has come down to us, we have the ‘Chronicle’ to 891, as it was written down in Alfred’s time and probably under his supervision.

The meagreness of the earliest entries and the crudeness of the language, together with occasional picturesque force, indicate that many of them were drawn from current song or tradition.  The style and fullness of the entries differ greatly throughout, as might be expected, since the ‘Chronicle’ is the work of so many hands.  From mere bare notices they vary to strong, full narrative and description.  Indeed, the ‘Chronicle’ contains some of the most effective prose produced by the Anglo-Saxons; and in one instance, under the date 937, the annalist describes the battle of Brunanburh in a poem of considerable merit.  But we know the name of no single contributor.

This ‘Chronicle’ is the oldest and most important work of the kind produced outside of the classical languages in Europe.  It is meagre in places, and its entire trustworthiness has been questioned.  But it and Bede’s ‘Ecclesiastical History,’ supplemented by other Anglo-Saxon writings, constitute the basis of early English history; and this fact alone entitles it to the highest rank in importance among ancient documents.

A large body of Anglo-Saxon prose, nearly all of it translation or adaptation of Latin works, has come down to us under the name of King Alfred.  A peculiar interest attaches to these works.  They belong to a period when the history of England depended more than at any other time upon the ability and devotion of one man; and that man, the most heroic and the greatest of English kings, was himself the author of them.

When Alfred became king, in 871, his throne seemed tottering to its fall.  Practically all the rest of England was at the feet of the ruthless Northmen, and soon Alfred himself was little better than a fugitive.  But by his military skill, which was successful if not brilliant, and by his never-wavering devotion and English persistency, he at last freed the southern part of the island from his merciless and treacherous enemies, and laid the firm foundation of West Saxon supremacy.  If Alfred had failed in any respect to be the great king that he was, English history would have been changed for all time.