2-720-375 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'King Athelstan saving the Life of his Father, Edward the Elder, at the Battle of Sherwood, by taking Leofrid the Dane Prisoner', c1786. Aethelstan, holding shield and sword, stands over the kneeling Leofrid who surrenders, as the battle continues behind. At the Battle of Sherwood, in 920 AD: '...a desperate battle ensued. During the action Leofrid encountered hand to hand with Edward, and the contest continued equal for some time, till Edward in giving the Dane a violet blow, broke his sword at the hilt, and he must have fallen a victim to Leofrid had not his son Athelstan flew to his assistance. That prince was more fortunate than his father; he wounded Leofrid so desperately in the arm, that he dropped his spear, and surrendered himself a prisoner. The forces of the enemy were totally defeated, and forced to abandon the kingdom'. King Athelstan (894-939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons and King of the English. He was the son of Edward the Elder (874-924), King of the Anglo-Saxons and son of Alfred the Great. [From "A New, Universal and Impartial History of England" by George Frederick Raymond, c1786]