The Last Kingdom Has Edward the Elder Completely Wrong

The Last Kingdom Season 4 came out about a week ago and while I did really enjoy this new season and the direction it went in, I have a major bone to pick with the producers regarding the portrayal of Edward the Elder. Edward was the eldest son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith, and was responsible for the conquest of large parts of the so-called "Danelaw" of Danish controlled East Anglia, Essex and Eastern Mercia during his lifetime. His portrayal in season 4 is of a young man who is both shown as being indecisive whilst then flipping to the other extreme of being rash and reckless towards the end. Furthermore, he is shown as disrespecting and seeking to harm both his mother Ealhswith and Æthelflæd. The historical record of Edward the Elder directly contradicts many of the things shown in the Last Kingdom with regards to his personality and his campaigns against the Danelaw and will be what I look at in this video.

Related Videos of Mine:

The Droom of the Rood - Anglo-Saxon Poetry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8niohtns4w

How the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings Used Money Differently:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwIgZS0MnCo&t=157s

The Lindybiege Video on The Last Kingdom Season 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCJUDdEirco

My Oldest Video (A Response to the Above):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dPpByJuSv4

Were the Vikings Meaner Than Other Medieval Peoples@
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nn2zO3vJsA&t=2s

Anglo-Saxon and Norse Paganism - The Same:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1jPjOBhUFw

Old English - The Langauge of the Anglo-Saxons:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw6dIxg6PjE&t=1s

Alfred the Great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C-g1J5EKwQ&t=734s

Wessex Before Alfred:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xg7hTwX5YE&t=128s

Alfred the Great's Brothers and Sisters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn8Q0e8RZro&t=334s

History of the Viking Age in England:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNQM29ZUXvk&t=48s

Further Reading:

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles - anon. ed. & tr. Michael Swanson.
(Really any edition of the ASC is fine but this is just the one that I was reading from and quoting and which has all the relevant manuscripts within it. While this is a primary source and a great wealth of information, do keep in mind the historical context and possible agendas of its authors who had a vested interest in portraying Edward and the West-Saxons in a positive light.)

Edward the Elder: King of the Anglo-Saxons - Michael John Key
(A very recent work on Edward the Elder which I would highly recommend as it compiles textual evidence from both the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Asser's Life of Alfred and later sources as well as charters and law codes and archaeological evidence to create a narrative of Edward's life.)

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Music Used:
Eine Kleine Nachtsmusik - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Lost Frontier - Kevin MacLeod
Loopster - Kevin MacLeod
Teller of Tales - Kevin MacLeod
"Sunday Dub” - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

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#TheLastKingdom #Vikings #AngloSaxon

Видео The Last Kingdom Has Edward the Elder Completely Wrong канала History With Hilbert