But a generation only had passed since the shadow of a great woe fell on
the family of Aescendune.
Offa, who was then the thane, had two sons, Oswald the elder, and Ella
the younger, with whom our readers are already acquainted.
The elder possessed few of the family virtues save brute courage. He was
ever rebellious, even in boyhood, and arrived at man's estate in the
midst of unsettled times of war and tumult. Weary of the restraints of
home, he joined a band of Danish marauders, and shared their victories,
enriching himself with the spoils of his own countrymen. Thus he
remained an outlaw, for his father disowned him in consequence of his
crime, until, fighting against his own people in the great battle of
Brunanburgh, [iv] where Athelstane so gloriously conquered the allied
Danes, Scots, and Welsh, he was taken prisoner.
The victor king sat in judgment upon the recreant, surrounded by his
chief nobility and vassal kings. The guilt of the prisoner was evident,
nay undenied, and the respect in which his sire was held alone delayed
the doom of a cruel death from being pronounced upon him.
While the council yet deliberated, Offa appeared amongst them, and, like
a second Brutus, took his place amongst his peers. Disclaiming all
personal interest in the matter, he sternly proposed that the claims of
justice should be satisfied.
Yet they hesitated to shed Oswald's blood: the alternative they adopted
was perhaps not more merciful--although a common doom in those times.
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