Post B #2

In this free response, I would just like to mention in detail how stupid King Alfred was and, even though he was an idiot, how pathetic Sigfried and Erik were in not attacking Wessex. I personally believe that one of the main reasons they made this decision was because of Lord Uhtred. He is a fearless warrior in battle, an amazing strategist, and a ruthless yet effective leader of men. He could have easily been a better king than Alfred, and his religion, being that of the Old Gods, would not interfere as heavily in daily life as Christianity does to Alfred. If you compare a pious viking to a pious Christian, the northmen would spend maybe twenty minutes a day praying or touching his hammer of thor, etc... But on the other hand, a pious Christian could easily spend every waking moment of his life praising God. A religion that is based on war and strength will easily outstrip one that is founded on peace and loving thy neighbor. The truth is that if all the Christians were pitted up against an equal number of northmen, and if the Christians didn't have Uhtred on their side, they would surely lose.

Another great problem of Alfred is his priests. He trusts them more than his military advisers, and because of this they are constantly in the way. He sends priests with envoys. He sends priests with convoys. Heck, he even sent priests on a naval raid in which they cause half the fleet and Alfred's daughter to be killed or captured because they claimed they needed to have a Sunday service on land behind enemy lines. Many of these priests are overzealous and yet greedy and mischievous. Alfred trusts them too much to realize that they posses great wealth yet he refuses to tax them or even consider to make them help pay for his daughter's ransom when it is their fault she got captured!