Scandinavian-Britain

84 SCANDINAVIAN BRITAINforming a separate kingdom, but a dependency mightbe stirred up to take part in attacks on the power whichhad robbed them of the supremacy they boasted in thedays of Redwald. Their king, afterwards known asSt. Eadmund the Martyr,is not mentioned in thesetransactions ;when his turn came he fought his fightand suffered his fate with a courage no less than thatof the greatest hero of the Sagas. There was no lackof courage in England, but there was one thing needfulthe master-mind, which had not yet shown itselfhere. We cannot but suspect, however, that on theside of the Vikings there was one who, if we knew moreabout him, would deserve mention with the Hannibalsand Napoleons of history.When we consider the strategy of these invaders,the great war-game which was going on ;how fleetafter fleet sought the weakest points ; how, on thefailure of frontal attack, new attacks were made inflank ;how the diplomacy of alliance with discontenteddependencies was followed ;how the maxim of " divide"and conquer was understood ;how the net was drawnaround England from point to point on either hand,until the time came for the final effort that shouldstrangle the power of Wessex and make the BritishIslands wholly Scandinavian when we consider :this,it is impossible to escape the idea that some greatplan was in operation, some strong mind directing awarfare which, however originated, had become nocasual scramble of independent adventurers, nor evenan organisation merely to exploit their sporting instincts,but a resolute scheme of conquest played with