Note 685 — Chapter V · THE DANISH CONQUEST OF ENGLAND.[464] 975–1016. (continued 2)

Chron. and Flor. Wig. in anno. Thietmar, who, for a time, becomes an authority of some value, is amusing in the way in which he brings in English affairs (vii. 26, ap. Pertz, iii. 847). “Audivi sæpius numero, Anglos, ab angelica facie, id est pulcra, sive quod in angulo istius terræ siti sunt, dictos, ineffabilem miseriam a Sueino, Haraldi filio, immiti Danorum rege, perpessos esse, et ad id coactos, ut qui prius tributarii erant principis apostolorum Petri ac sancti patris eorum Gregorii spirituales filii, immundis canibus impositum sibi censum quotannis solverent, et maximam regni suimet partem, capto ac interemto habitatore, tunc hosti fiducialiter in habitandam inviti relinquerent.” This last clause reads more like a description of the settlement of Guthrum than of anything that happened in Swegen’s time.